Medivnyk

Ingredients

Cake

• 350 ghoney
• 150 gbutter
• 200 gsugar
• 3eggs, separated
• 250 mlsour cream
• 500 gplain flour
• 2 tspbicarbonate of soda
• 1 tspbaking powder

Spice

• 2 tspcinnamon
• 1 tspground clove
• 1 tspground nutmeg
• 1 tspground allspice
• 1 tspground ginger
• grated zest of 1 orange

Additions

• 100 gchopped walnuts
• 100 graisins soaked in rum or tea

Optional filling

• 300 mlsour cream
• 80 gicing sugar
• chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Warm the honey gently in a pan until runny, then take it off the heat and let it cool to lukewarm. Warming the honey is what lets it blend evenly through the batter; cold set honey stays in stubborn streaks.
2. Beat in the warm honey and the sour cream.
3. Mix the flour with the bicarbonate, baking powder and all the spices. The bicarbonate is doing double work here: it lifts the cake and it reacts with the acid in both the honey and the sour cream, which is what makes the crumb so dark and so soft.
4. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet in three additions, alternating, until just combined. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks and fold them in last. Folding in whipped whites at the end is what keeps a heavy honey batter from baking into a brick.
5. Fold through the walnuts and the drained soaked raisins. Toss the raisins in a spoonful of the flour before folding them in, which stops them sinking to the bottom. Pour into a lined 23 cm tin and bake at 170°C (340°F) for 45 to 50 minutes.
6. Cover the top loosely with foil if it darkens too fast, because honey browns much quicker than sugar. Test with a skewer, which should come out clean but slightly moist.
7. Cool it in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack. It keeps for a week and improves for most of it.

Technique

• Buckwheat honey gives the darkest and most characterful cake.
• It is dense and moist rather than light, and that is correct.
• It freezes very well, wrapped whole.

Substitutions

• Thick yoghurt in place of sour cream, which is slightly less rich.
• Any mixed spice blend, using rather more than a recipe would normally call for.

Variations

• Layered with sour cream filling.
• Baked as a loaf rather than a round.
• With prunes or dried apricots in place of raisins.

History

Baked in Ukrainian homes for Christmas and Saint Nicholas, using the country’s old beekeeping honey.

Frequently asked questions

What is Medivnyk?

Medivnyk is a dessert from Ukraine: dark spiced honey cake, layered with sour cream, moist and dense. Baked in Ukrainian homes for Christmas and Saint Nicholas, using the country’s old beekeeping honey.

How long does Medivnyk take to make?

Medivnyk takes 30 min of preparation and 50 min of cooking. The recipe makes 12 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Medivnyk?

Yes, within limits. Thick yoghurt in place of sour cream, which is slightly less rich. Any mixed spice blend, using rather more than a recipe would normally call for.

What is the most important thing to get right in Medivnyk?

It is dense and moist rather than light, and that is correct.