Medovik / Russian 8 Layer Honey Cake

This is another recipe I got through a whatsapp chat. My dear friend, Deena Baby Mathews sent me the recipe and it took me 3 days to convince myself that baking a cake and for that matter, having a biiiiig slice is not going to tighten my pants. But the problem is not that. I baked and O my God, I knew it wasnt going to be one slice. Well, already 3 slices in my tummy and believe me when I say, I might not even consider sharing this with anyone....that good it is.

So, What is Medovik. I googled and found this:

From Wikipedia: The medovik  is a sweet spread to Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union , whose main ingredients are honey and condensed milk. It is a dessert that requires a long preparation and is made ​​of layers of biscuit with cream filling and covered with nuts. 

Ok, when you go through the recipe, you will find that there is no condensed milk mentioned.... Well Dulce de lechi is made by heating condensed milk. Since I didnt get a can of that, I made it by caramelizing sugar and adding cream.....same effect!!!!

For layers

All purpose flour - 500g

Sugar - 200g

Eggs - 3

Unsalted butter - 8 tbsp/1 Stick

Honey = 2 tbsp

Baking soda - 1 1/2 tsp

For cream

Milk - 2 cups

Egg - 3

Corn Starch - 2 tbsp

Milk caramel or dulce de lechi - 8 oz (I made caramel cream since I didnt get Dulce De Leche here)

Honey - 2 tbsp

Butter - 1 stick @ room temperature

Method

Pre heat oven to 180C

Whisk eggs, set aside

Place the sugar butter honey in a heat proof bowl and set over simmering water

Melt stirring occasionally

Add eggs & mix until pale color.

Add baking soda & cook for 1 more min. The mixture should be fluffy & double the size

Transfer the egg-butter mixture from heat and add flour. Mix in low speed until combined, about 2 min. The dough should be warm soft and little sticky. But do not add more flour.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface and press together gently.

Knead dough few times and form into a ball.

Divide dough into 8 equal parts

Shape each into a ball. Cover 7 so as to not lose moisture and roll out the remaining ball into a thin circle, similar to our chapati.

Make sure all the balls are rolled out in the same size & thickness as it needs to be stacked on top of each other

The base of a cake tin can be used for cutting out equal size circles.

I used a round plate and a pizza cutter.

Prick the dough in several places and bake each for 3 min to make 8 perfect cake layers

To make Custard cream

Heat 1 1/2 cup milk but do not boil

In a small bowl whisk the remaining 1/2 cup milk with eggs & corn starch till smooth. 

Slowly whisk the egg mixture into the warm milk, bring it to simmer over moderate heat, whisking constantly until very thick  - 2 minutes

Make sure you dont stop whisking, or else you will get scrambled eggs.

Let it cool.

To make Caramel Cream

Sugar: 2 cups

Water" 2 tbsp

Butter: 1 tbsp

Salt: a pinch

Fresh Cream: 2 cups

Heat Sugar, salt and water on low heat till it is golden brown in colour. Resist your temptation to stir the syrup...Please do not meddle with it but you can swirl the pan

When it is golden brown, add butter, wait for it to melt.

 turn off the stove and add the fresh cream and mix well.

Let it cool completely.

To assemble cake

Mix the caramel cream, Custard cream, honey and butter. Whisk properly.

Top each cake layer with about 1/2 cup cream and spread it around evenly.

Repeat with all cake layers

As each layer is placed over each other some frosting will come out of the side, spread it evenly over the sides

Leave in fridge for 8 hours or over night