Honey Cake
Make sure you don't overbake cake layers because they tend to burn easily. Once they cool, the cake layers become hard and stiff. Handle them with care because they are fragile and tend to break easily. They will soften up considerably overnight under plastic wrap, and the cake will melt in your mouth.
Category: Croatian cuisine, Cakes
Cuisine: Croatian
Recipe in PDF format (print friendly)
- Makes one 25x30cm cake
- Prep time: 1h 30min
- Cook time: 30min
- Total time: 2h
- Difficulty: Advanced
For the honey cake layers:
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 150g sugar
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 400g flour
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
Directions
Mix flour and baking soda and set aside. In a saucepan, heat milk, oil, honey, and sugar on medium heat until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, add flour and egg. Mix with a wooden spoon until it starts coming together, and then knead with your hands into a dough. Cover the dough with a clean kitchen cloth and leave it to rest for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Divide the dough into four equal pieces. Take one part of the dough and roll it out on a piece of parchment paper into a rectangle 2 mm thick. Transfer the flattened dough together with parchment paper on a baking tray and bake for 5 minutes or until just barely golden but not brown. Make sure you don't overbake it. It tends to burn easily since it is very thin. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely. Once they cool, the cake layers become hard and stiff. Because of that, handle them with care because they are fragile and tend to break easily. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough.
For the cream filling:
Ingredients
- 500ml milk
- 6 tablespoons semolina
- 150g sugar
- 10g vanilla sugar
- 200g butter, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons dark rum
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
Directions
Heat milk, sugar, and vanilla sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in semolina and cook until it thickens. Remove from heat and let it cool completely. Meanwhile, beat the butter until light and creamy and mix it into the filling. Mix cocoa powder into 1/3 of the filling
Assembly:
Sprinkle one cake layer with some rum, spread half of the white filling over it and cover with another layer. Press gently with your hands, so it sticks to the filling. Again sprinkle the cake with rum and now spread the dark filling over it. Cover with the third cake layer, press gently, and sprinkle with rum. Spread the remaining white filling over it, cover with the last layer and sprinkle with some rum. Don't worry if your layers aren't perfectly shaped. Cover tight with plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge overnight (two days would be ideal). You will probably notice that the cake layers are quite hard when you're assembling the cake, but don't worry. They will soften up considerably overnight under plastic wrap, and the cake will melt in your mouth. You can cut away the non-perfect parts the next day and shape or cut the cake as you like. Sprinkle with some powdered sugar before serving.