San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
20th Century Cafe’s Russian Honey Cake
Makes one 9-inch cake
Chef-owner Michelle Polzine bakes the ultra-thin layers of this cake individually, for no more than 7 minutes each. She also makes her own dulce de leche but you can use prepared dulce de leche, which can be found at many Latin American markets. You’ll also need parchment paper for this recipe.
Burned honey
Heaping ¾ cup honey
Honey magic
1 (14-ounce) can dulce de leche
½ cup burned honey
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Cake
¾ cup plus 1 teaspoon superfine sugar
1 cup wildflower honey
¼ cup burned honey
¾ cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
5 extra-large eggs
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups all-purpose flour
Honey cream frosting
4½ cups heavy cream
To make the burned honey: In a medium pan over high heat, bring the honey to a boil. When the honey begins to vigorously foam, reduce heat to medium and simmer, keeping a close eye on the honey and stirring frequently. When the honey begins to smoke, after about 3 minutes, immediately turn off the heat.
Carefully swirl the honey in the pan for about 30 seconds, then add 2 tablespoons water into the pot. It will bubble a lot, so be careful not to burn yourself. Once the bubbling subsides, whisk to combine and pour into a heat-safe measuring cup. You should have about ¾ cup of the burned honey. If it’s shy of that amount, stir in a bit more hot water to make up the difference. Keep warm.
To make the honey magic: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the dulce de leche, ½ cup burned honey and salt until well combined. Chill until cold.
To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Use a 9-inch cake pan to trace circles onto 11 half-sheets of parchment paper (large enough to fit a baking sheet). Set aside.
Fill a medium saucepan with a couple inches of water and bring to a simmer. Put sugar, honeys and butter in a medium heat-proof bowl and place over the simmering water.
Crack the eggs into a medium bowl. In a separate small bowl, combine the baking soda, salt and cinnamon, making sure there are no lumps.
When the butter begins to melt, whisk the honey mixture to combine. When the mixture is hot — but not so hot it will burn you — whisk in the eggs all at once. Keep stirring until it gets hot to the touch. Whisk in the cinnamon mixture for 30 seconds until combined. The mixture will begin to foam and have a strange smell, but that is normal. Remove from the heat and whisk in 1 tablespoon cold tap water and let cool until warm. Slowly sift the flour over the batter, whisking as you go to combine.
Place a piece of parchment, traced side down, onto a baking sheet and use an ice cream scoop or measuring cup to spoon a heaping 1⁄3 cup of batter onto the circle. Use a small offset spatula to evenly spread the batter to the edges. Try to maintain the circles as best you can. Keep the batter covered in a warm place on top of the stove while you work so it stays easy to spread and repeat with the remaining pieces of parchment.
Bake as many layers at a time as you can until the cakes spring back when lightly pressed, about 6 to 7 minutes. Rotate the pans about halfway through, if needed, for even baking.
Slide the parchments with the baked cakes off the hot baking sheets onto the counter to cool. Repeat with any remaining sheets of batter. (You can reuse the hot sheet pans, just reduce the baking time by a minute or two.)
Allow the cake layers to cool slightly. While they are still warm to the touch, loosen each cake layer from the parchment paper to prevent sticking.
Reduce oven to 200 degrees. Place your least favorite layer back on a baking sheet and toast until very dry and reddish brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool and use a food processor to grind to crumbs.
To make the honey cream frosting: While the cake layers are baking, place the bowl of a stand mixer in the refrigerator to chill.
Pour the heavy cream into the chilled bowl and whip to soft peaks at medium speed. With the machine still running, gradually pour the honey magic into the cream and whip until glossy peaks that hold their shape (just shy of stiff) form. Keep cold.
To assemble the cake: Place a cake layer in the center of a serving plate or on a cardboard cake round. Place ¾ cup of frosting on top, spreading it evenly across so it’s about the same thickness as the cake layer, and all the way to the edges. Repeat with the remaining layers. When you reach the final top layer, spread the remaining frosting on top. Use a bench scraper to smooth the edges of the cake, pushing any extra bits of frosting into any cracks you come across and straightening the layers if need be.
Gently sprinkle and press the crumbs onto the sides and top of the cake. Chill overnight, then serve.