Polish Honey Cake
Description
The layers bake up simply and quickly. Of course, this isn’t quite the usual way to make the dough, but the cake is worth it. You can use the cream with plain condensed milk or a sour cream frosting, but we like this version better. The thinner you spread the dough on the paper, the more layers you’ll get. To know which circle to spread, trace the pan with a bright marker on a sheet of paper and slip it under the parchment. It will be easy to adjust the size of the dough. The baking is done. Serve at the table.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Prepare all necessary ingredients.
- 2
Step 2
First, prepare a custard cream with condensed milk. Crack the eggs into a saucepan, add the sugar and cornstarch, and stir until smooth. Add one quarter of the milk and stir again.
- 3
Step 3
Bring the remaining milk to a boil over low heat in another saucepan. While whisking vigorously, pour in the egg mixture. Stir until smooth.
- 4
Step 4
Cook the cream until thickened. Remove the cream from the heat, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface and set aside until cool. The cream should come to room temperature.
- 5
Step 5
While the pastry cream is cooling, work on the cake layers. To do this, crack the eggs into a bowl and add the sugar.
- 6
Step 6
Add the honey and baking soda slaked with vinegar, then mix.
- 7
Step 7
Sift the flour into a bowl and knead until you get a smooth, even dough.
- 8
Step 8
Place the bowl over a water bath and keep the cream at a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally, for one hour. The dough should become more uniform and smooth.
- 9
Step 9
Preheat the oven to 200 °C. On parchment paper spread one tablespoon of dough in a thin layer into a circle slightly larger than the shape you want. Mine is 20 cm in diameter.
- 10
Step 10
Place in a hot oven and bake for 4–6 minutes until gingerbread-brown. Take the baking sheet with the sponge layer out of the oven and immediately mark a circle with the ring cutter. Trim the edges and remove it from the paper while the layer is still hot. Bake all the layers this way. I ended up with 8. Chop the scraps into crumbs.
- 11
Step 11
Beat soft butter (it must be at room temperature) for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add boiled condensed milk, also at room temperature, beating well after each addition.
- 12
Step 12
While whisking, gradually add pastry cream at room temperature. The cream should become smooth and fluffy.
- 13
Step 13
Assemble the cake by spreading frosting between layers and stacking the layers one on top of the other.
- 14
Step 14
Spread the frosting over the top and sides of the cake.
- 15
Step 15
Coat the cake on all sides with crumbs made from the trimmings. Refrigerate for 6 hours so it soaks through.
- 16
Step 16
Decorate the cake as you wish and serve it at the table.