Medovik, an Emotion : Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (a COVID-19 Coronavirus Quarantine version)

 

This post is a story post (so its going to be long-ish).

This post also contains a recipe (and various versions of it).

This post also has a moral (come on, it’s the COVID season. Everything has a moral).

Going off Social Media also means a huge decrease in the Klout. I can’t be pimping out my blog posts like I used to before- you know, posting on Insta stories and then making a post separately for the gram, scheduled to go out at a designated time, then cross posting to twitter, facebook, hyping myself up every other day, plugging my work into daily conversations (if you know, you know). I’m guilty of all those things but I have no regrets. Social Media has helped me meet some of the most important people in my life. However, at this point, I’m just talking to a wall. I can count the number of people who are going to read this post on my finger tips while secretly hoping I’m proven wrong. After all, I would not want you guys to miss out on the story I’m about to tell, and more so the recipe that accompanies it.

Remember Rashi, the girl who introduced me to all things amazing in the world of food and then decided to go Vegan herself? If not, flashback to the Cold Cha Soba Noodle Salad recipe. During my visit to Singapore, Rashi was raving about this “amazing Honey Cake” which was only available at a bakery called Twelve Cupcakes. The cake was essentially a log shaped beauty, and it was so good that you had to make an advance booking for it. She was kind enough to book a couple of cakes for me to travel back home with. I carried the boxes with me all the way to Mumbai, unaware that my life was waiting to be changed forever. One bite of this cake would have you closing your eyes to just take a moment, that moment where time has stopped and everything stands still, for nothing exists except you and the cake. You want that moment to last an eternity but before you know it you’re reaching for another bite and there you are, in an infinite loop, until you realize that the cake is over and your life will never be the same again. Such was my luck with this log of perfection, that I could find it one more time on my Singapore trip, only to be leaving for the airport and realizing at the boarding gate that I forgot it back at Rashi’s house in her refrigerator. I tried and tried on my numerous trips back to Singapore, but never got lucky again and eventually getting to know that they stopped making the cake altogether. Oh! The Agony!

I am not exaggerating when I say that every single person who tasted this cake could not believe how good it was. They wanted to know what exactly is it. Is it a cookie? Is it a cake? Is it more on the sweeter side or slightly bitter? Is this really Honey? The questions never ended and nor did the craving. I just had to take matters into my own hands (fingertips to be precise) and Google away. This cake is called a Medovik, and while traditionally Russian, there are also origins of this cake in the Czech Republic. It is essentially a Honey cookie/sponge, baked in really thin layers, sandwiched between a creamy filling- Some prefer condensed milk, some prefer sour cream, some prefer custard and some prefer just a plain sweet whipped cream. The cake is made a day in advance before it needs to be served, as the slightly runny filling penetrates into the crisp and short cookie-cake and develops into heaven. There are so many different recipes for this cake online that you can pick and choose, and either way you’ll end up with a cake experience you’d savour for life (again, not exaggerating. Seriously, I don’t even like Honey).

I decided to give this cake a go in December 2019, when my blogging frequency was scarce but my cooking was in full force. I sourced all my ingredients. I decided to go with a combination of recipes, keeping in mind that texture and flavour from the Honey Cake in Singapore, and came up with a version that worked perfectly. Thinly rolled out Honey based cookies, baked till short and crisp in the oven, put together with a combination of Dulce de Leche and Sour Cream, coated with leftover cake crumbs mixed with Walnuts. We had a winner! Now, forgive me for the less than satisfactory level of pictures, they were clicked at the birthday party of a very special girl who got to cut this cake. She loved the cake so much that she sent me a text saying thank you for two weeks straight, even after the cake was long gone.

Cut to the Quarantine era. Here we are, trying to make do with whatever we’ve got. I tried to score my baking staples along with other essentials, in the hope that they would come in handy during April – the birthday season. I was all set to bake The Ultimate Chocolate Cake for my special someone on his birthday (it was going to be a surprise) but he mentioned how he really wanted to eat the Medovik again. Hmm, baking a Medovik in the Quarantine times, let me check my refrigerator. I have no sour cream, I barely have 400 ml of Whipping Cream, I have a can of condensed milk and I have just enough Honey in my pantry. Challenge accepted! I decided to spread the whole process over a period of three nights, ‘coz you know, it’s quarantine season and everyone wants to cook at home and the kitchen is occupado during the day time so I have to only conduct my baking shenanigans at night. I made my Dulce de Leche on the first night (for all those who don’t know what Dulce de Leche is, your life is incomplete. But you can complete it by getting yourself a can of Condensed Milk and making some for yourself as shown in this post by Serious Eats). On the second night, I slaved, I baked 20 layers of the Honey Cookies, in 2 different sizes. I planned to send one over to him while I made one for home, for you guys to see and adore the layers. On the third night, I decided to make the filling, and that’s when everything decided to go down the drain.

The lack of sour cream had me substituting with crème fraîche, which ended up making my filling thinner than I’d have liked. I forgot to stabilize my whipping cream so there was some more soup in the extreme heat outside. Well, if I froze this I’d have some pretty amazing Dulce de Leche ice cream, but what about all those layers I baked? I was devastated to say the least. Enter the silver lining – My brother and my partner. While my partner consoled me by saying he would be happy to eat the Honey Cake layers on their own, and the Dulce de Leche ice cream that came with it, my brother suggested I change my perspective and look at things from a different angle. Both of them said the same thing – “I know you can do it! Think!” I feel so blessed to have a rock solid support system. I just couldn’t let them down. I couldn’t let myself down either. That’s when we remembered the Boozy Brownie Stick Toffee Trifle post! That was a Brownie recipe gone south which actually turned out to be a happy disaster! Light Bulb: Let’s make a Medovik Tiramisu!

At this point I was only improvising. I found a tub from an old take-away that I had saved up for a rainy day and it came in handy! I cut pieces of the cookie, layered it alternating between the filling, the leftover cake crumbs and the Walnuts. Just as I was placing the last layer on the top, I noticed that the tub started bleeding. There was a small crack on the side! I secured the tub with many layers of adhesive tape and prayed that it all kept together. This was not the special birthday cake I had planned for, but I had to suck it up. I made a mini version in a glass tiffin box for home, and an individual portion in a Wine glass. Improvisation at it’s peak, you guys. We now had a couple of containers of Medovik Tiramisu, and a Deconstructed Medovik in a Wine glass. They spent the night together in my refrigerator and on the next afternoon we tasted the individual portion at home. It was just as good!

My contactless relationship is being supported by Dunzo at the moment. I sent over the tub of Medovik to my birthday boy, and he cut it (more like spooned it out) at midnight. I got a giant thumbs up from all my taste testers! I am glad that I stuck on to the idea, and I am happy that it was acceptable to the birthday boy, who valued my effort.  I am truly and eternally grateful. It only makes sense that I put this post up on his birthday! From the Medovik I tasted in Singapore, to the one I baked in December, cheers to the Medovik Tiramisu from today and the many more to come in the future!

Now, without further ado, let me put up the recipe for you guys. Here goes:

 

Medovik
Honey Cake Layers by The Cooking Foodie with minor variations and filling by self
Serves 10
Difficulty: Medium with a LOT of patience.

Ingredients:

80 g Honey (40+40), and a Tablespoon of cold water.
100 g (1/2 Cup) Butter (cooled, not softened)
5 g (1 tsp) Baking Soda
450 g (3 and 1/2 Cups) All Purpose Flour
3 Eggs
150 g (3/4 Cup) Sugar

For the filling:

250 g Dulce de Leche
200 g Sour Cream
400 ml Whipping Cream
A pinch of Salt

Extras:

100 g Walnuts

Method:

In a clean pan, place 40 g Honey on a medium low flame and cook till frothy and dark in colour. You will be able to tell it’s done when the honey starts to smoke and smells caramelized. Add a spoon of cold water to arrest further cooking, set aside to cool.

On a double boiler, place a large bowl with the Butter, Honey (the burnt and cooled honey plus the remaining honey), Eggs and Sugar. Whisk till the butter is melted. Once the mixture is uniform, add in the Baking Soda and whisk. You’ll see bubbles around the edges. Sift in the flour and mix together till you get a soft dough. If the dough seems too soft to work with, let it chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Make 8 equal parts of the dough and roll them out into thin sheets (like a Chapati), then use a ring cutter or a cake pan of desired shape to trace and cut out 8 inch diameter layers. I used a parchment paper and cling film to roll out individual layers. Reserve the trimmings for later (we will make the crumb out of them). Pierce the layers with a fork all over, so that they remain flat after baking. This is a very important step. Preheat the oven to 170C/350F and bake each layer for 7-8 minutes or until golden. Let them cool.

 

Bake the trimmings together at the end for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Let them cool. Process them in a blender with 80 g Walnuts to form a fine crumb. Chop up the remaining Walnuts for garnish.

For the filling, Whisk together the Dulce de Leche, a pinch of Salt and Sour Cream until combined. Whip the Whipping cream in a separate bowl to medium peaks (You can use confectioners sugar or cream of tartar to stabilize). Fold in the Dulce de Leche mixture into the whipping cream. This filling will be slightly runnier than the average frosting, but not soupy. If it does turn out soupy you can go ahead and make the Tiramisu version like I did 😉

Assemble the cake by placing around 1.5-2 tablespoons filling between layers. Cover the top and the sides with an offset spatula or a spoon. Coat the entire cake with the crumb mixture and top with chopped Walnuts as desired. Refrigerate overnight or ideally for 24 hours before cutting. Enjoy!

The moral of this story is : Every black cloud has a silver lining!