Variation on a Theme: Lemon Medovik and Spartak

This... is.... SPARTAK! 

 

(I know, that's a terrible joke. I do apologise)

A few months ago, I did a Medovik: a Russian cake made of layers of honey flavoured biscuit and slightly sweetened sour cream. 

Immediately after making I knew I wanted to do a chocolate version, and took to the internet. I discovered that a chocolate medovik has its own name. It’s called a spartak, and is made a little differently. However, to keep things simple, I just used my medovik recipe, with two changes. 

One, I swapped the honey for condensed milk in the biscuit mixture, and replaced a sixth of the flour with cocoa powder. I made the biscuits in the exact same way thereafter.  

Two, I flavoured the cream with a touch of cocoa powder, to taste. It really does depend on how dark you want your chocolate flavour, but I made mine fairly light. 

I equally thought that something made with a whipping cream and sour cream filling could easily be adapted to have a cheesecake theme. I simply used the medovik recipe and added the zest of a large lemon to the biscuit mixture, and a touch of zest and juice to the creamy filling. This one was very light, summery, and refreshing. 

You could very easily do a strawberry cheesecake theme, too: you could gently fold some strawberry purée or strained jam through the cream and decorate with a strawberry fan. In fact, any tasty summer fruit would work perfectly here. 

All in all, this is an extremely adaptable cake technique. I even think a coffee flavoured one, or even a gingerbread one... or a coconut one.... really, I could come up with loads of variations. Watch this space!

Medovik: Russian Layered Honey Cake

Continuing with my Eastern European experiments, I present my take on the Russian classic: Medovik!

This confection appears throughout the former Soviet countries under several similar-sounding names and it essentially layers of honey flavoured biscuits and sweetened whipped sour cream, which is then coated in biscuit crumbs. The biscuit layers have the texture of a soft gingerbread, and the creamy layers are reminiscent of cheesecake.

I discovered it by accident while researching Eastern European bakery—which generally speaking involves varying ludicrous quantities of cream, butter, eggs, honey, and nuts—and thought to myself oooh, that looks like some kind of cross-breed between a cream gateau and a cheesecake. And my my, I was not disappointed: this is one of the tastiest things I've eaten in recent years.

Like many cakes from this part of the world, however, it does take a bit of making: there are several individual layers of cake that all need to be rolled out and baked separately like giant cut-out biscuits, and if you only have one flat tray like I do, it's time consuming. Also, the dough needs to be chilled overnight, and the whole finished cake has to set overnight too, so it takes two days to make.

Although eight layers is traditional, you may have noticed my cake only has seven: the first cake layer I rolled wasn't as big as the others because I hadn't got into the rhythm yet. I recommend measuring your layers to make sure they're all the same size before trimming them exactly.

Also, another adjustment I made is that the recipe includes more cream than I used, because I think the cake here didn't have enough.

INGREDIMENTS

For the cake layers

12 ounces (340 grammes) plain white flour: wheat, spelt, or gluten free

¾ teaspoon (4 millilitres) baking soda

4 ounces (115 grammes) salted butter

4 ounces (115 grammes) honey

4 ounces (115 grammes) caster sugar

Salt, to taste

For the cream

12 ounces (340 grammes) sour cream

18 ounces (510 grammes) whipping cream

4 ounces (115 grammes) icing sugar
2 teaspoon (10 millilitres) vanilla essence


METHOD

First, make the cake layers

• In a large mixing bowl, sieve together the flour and baking soda, making sure the sieve is held high. Set aside.
• In a medium saucepan, mix together the butter, honey, and sugar. Dissolve over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it begins to bubble. Add salt and carefully taste: the mixture should taste rich and sweet, but not flat and characterless.
• Pour the melted liquid into a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.
• Scrape the mixture onto some cling film, wrap tightly, and chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight for better results.
• Once chilled, preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F, Gas Mk.7) and line as many large flat trays as you have, at least 10 inches (25 centimetres) in size, with non-stick baking paper. 
• Gently work the dough into a sausage and cut into eight pieces. Keeping the other layers covered as you work, roll each piece into a circle, about an eighth of an inch (3 millimetres) thick.
• Lay a circle onto each tray, and bake for 6 or 7 minutes, or until beautifully golden brown and crisp. Cool completely on wire racks. How long this process takes will depend on how many trays you have.

Then, make the cream

• In a mixing bowl, mix the sour cream, vanilla, and icing sugar together until completely smooth and blended.
• Add in the whipping cream and stir to combine. Using an electric whisk, whip the cream mixture until it hold peaks that fall over slightly.

Now, assemble the masterpiece

• Take each cake piece and, using a bowl or a plate as a guide to keep them all the same size, trim them into circles about 6 or 7 inches (15 to 17 centimetres) across.
• Take all the cake trimmings and using a plastic bag and a rolling pin, or a food processor, turn into crumbs.
• On a board or cake turntable, place the bottom sheet of cake. Ice with a generous dollop of cream, and pop on the next layer. Repeat until all the cake layers are sandwiched with cream.
• Ice the top and sides of the cake with the leftover cream, then coat the top and sides with crumbs.
• Pop the whole cake in the fridge overnight, or for best results a full 16 hours. Transfer the cake to a plate or cake stand before serving.

Honey and Cinnamon Popcorn (Gluten Free)

Is there anything in this world that can't be improved by adding cinnamon and honey? I really don't think there is, and the satisfying crunch of nice salty buttery popcorn is no exception.

For a time, as I may have mentioned, I was very allergic to chocolate. Between the ages of 6 and 21 I couldn't touch the stuff or I would get severe migraine headache with full aura, stomach upset and become incredibly bad tempered. During that time, I tried eating it once or twice but always resumed to abstinence.

When at 21 I realised that I could eat it again, I began making up for lost time by eating shedloads of it quite often, and now it has become quite a part of my life. However, I have recently noticed that after I eat chocolate I get stomach upset and my skin breaks out in spots. 

  

It seems that from birth to death I will always have some difficulty with chocolate in one expression or another, and because of this I am removing it once again from my diet, except for special occasions or if I'm feeling homicidally pre-menstrual and nothing else will do. I can't tell at the moment if it's the cocoa that's causing it, or the dairy and the cocoa in conjunction, but I'm just cutting it out anyway and reducing my dairy intake in general.

Luckily for me during my 15 years of chocolate abstinence I developed a taste for varying different kinds of flavours and desserts, my favourites being anything to do with toffee or fudge. Also, since making my diet a lot more raw food based I have begun to fully appreciate the wonders of honey, and I feel this is sounding in an era of more natural based sweets and confectionery into my diet.

Earlier this week I went to a movie night, and every movie night needs popcorn. I opted to make a sweet popcorn instead of my usual chocolate brownies tactic to remove the temptation of being in the same vicinity of something chocolatey and delicious.

FREE FROM
☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Wheat
☑ Gluten
☑ Eggs
☑ Nuts
☑ Refined sugar products

CONTAINS
☒ Dairy (but the butter can be replaced with margarine or left out)

INGREDIMENTS

• 4 tablespoons (60 millilitres) popping corn kernels
• 3 tablespoons (45 millilitres) sunflower oil
• 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) butter or margarine, or omit
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) salt
• 4 tablespoons (60 millilitres) honey

HOW-TO

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.3, or moderate).
• Add the oil, butter and cinnamon to a large heavy-based saucepan and gently heat until the butter melts. Add the kernels and cover; heat on medium to pop the kernels, shaking often to prevent burning.
• Lightly oil a large mixing bowl and add the honey to the bottom. Once the corn has popped, pour into the bowl, sprinkle with the salt, and mix very thoroughly. You can't over mix this mixture, but you can definitely under mix it, much like granola.
• Pour the honeyed popcorn out onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Dry out in the oven for about 10 minutes, tossing half-way through.
• Allow to cool slightly before serving.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR: Minty Millionaire's Shortbread