Russian Honey Spice Cake Recipes

PRYANIKI - RUSSIAN HONEY SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, dissolve the instant coffee in the water.
• Add the butter, sugar and honey to the dissolved coffee in the saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil on medium heat and cook, stirring, just until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves and the mixture is homogenous. Take off the heat, pour it into a large bowl. and cool for about 10-15 minutes.
• Add all the spices - vanilla, allspice, nutmeg and anise. You can also add cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, mint extract, etc.
• Whisk in the eggs, the baking soda dissolved in vinegar and baking powder. You will notice that the mixture will fizz a little when it's all mixed up.
• Add the flour and mix with a large wooden spoon until all the flour is incorporated.
• Cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and set aside at room temperature for at least 4 hours or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Shape the cookie dough into approximately 1 Tablespoon balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet, leaving some room around each cookie, since they will expand while baking. I use a 1 Tablespoon measuring scoop to get the cookie dough out of the bowl and then roll it around in my hands. This will make sure that all the cookies are the same size and will bake evenly.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. Do not over bake, or the cookies will be too hard.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and the milk to make a glaze. You can flavor the glaze by adding some kind of extract to it, like vanilla, mint, almond, etc.
• Dip the cooled cookies into the glaze, letting the excess run off. Set the glazed cookies on a rack or parchment paper to dry. When the glaze is dry, you can flip the cookies over and glaze the other side as well. When glazing the cookies, work fast, since the glaze will be harder to work with when it starts to dry up. You can add a tiny splash more of milk to thin it out if it hardens.
• Store the cookies at room temperature in a sealed container.

RUSSIAN SPICE COOKIES (PRYANIKI)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves (be careful with the cloves-too much can produce a bitter taste), optional nutmeg, optional allspice, and salt. Set aside.
• In a separate large bowl, beat together 2 egg yolks , 1 whole egg, melted butter, and honey or agave syrup. If using agave, bake 25 degrees lower because products brown faster. In this case, bake at 325 F instead of 350 F when using honey.
• Mix in the dry ingredients until well incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 350 F. Place parchment paper the size of your cookie sheets on a clean surface. Using a cookie scoop, portion out mounds of dough and roll them in your hands until they are a completely smooth ball. Place on the prepared cookie sheets leaving 2 inches between each cookie. They will flatten out somewhat but still retain a domed shape.
• Bake for 10 to 20 minutes, or until just golden, rotating the sheets halfway through for even baking. Cool on the sheets until the cookies firm slightly. Transfer to racks to finish cooling.
• Gather the ingredients.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar and enough water (1 to 2 tablespoons) to form a thin icing.
• Spread on cooled cookies with a pastry brush.
• Allow icing to harden before storing cookies in an airtight container.

RUSSIAN HONEY CAKE

Steps:

• To make the icing, put the honey into a small pan and cook over a medium heat for 5-10 minutes or until it turns a couple of shades darker, and stop just before it starts to smoke. Remove the pan from the heat and pour in 150ml of the double cream and the sea salt. Pour this mixture into a small bowl, cover and chill until fully cooled.
• Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 and line with baking paper as many baking trays as you can fit into the oven at one time. Draw a 23cm-diameter circle on the back of each piece of paper - this will act as a template for the cake layers.
• To make the cake layers, put the butter, honey and sugar into a large pan, and cook for 5 minutes over a medium heat or until everything is melted and the mixture is bubbling and smelling toasty. Remove the pan from the heat and put aside to cool slightly, then pour into a bowl.
• Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Put the eggs and vanilla extract into a jug and whisk briefly. Begin whisking the butter mixture, slowly pouring the eggs into the bowl (make sure you do whisk as otherwise the eggs could cook). Add the dry ingredients and mix in with a wooden spoon until fully combined. The finished result will resemble a slightly softer and more pliable gingerbread dough.
• Working while the dough is still a little warm, divide into 8 equal portions, putting aside and covering with a kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out. Working with one piece at a time, put a ball of dough onto one of the prepared pieces of baking paper, lightly flour and roll until they are very thin and just a little bigger than the template. Trim back to the 23cm circle and put the trimmings aside. Once you have rolled out as many as you can fit in the oven at once, bake for 8-9 minutes or until slightly firm to the touch and browning slightly around the edges. The finished cakes will be like gingerbread biscuits but with a little more flexibility. Slide the discs onto wire racks to cool and continue until all the discs are baked. To finish, bake all the scraps on a baking-paper-lined tray for 10-12 minutes or until fully dried out and a little crisp, plus a shade darker than the discs.
• To finish the icing, remove the honey mixture from the fridge and mix in the dulce de leche and the soured cream. In a large bowl, whisk the remaining double cream until it just holds soft peaks, then fold in the honey mixture. The final texture should not quite be soft peaks, it should still be a little fluid.
• To assemble, sandwich the honey cake layers with a little of the icing and then spread the remainder over the top and sides of the cake. Chill the cake in the fridge overnight so that the moisture in the filling can soak into the layers - this is essential to give the finished dish a more cake-like texture.
• When ready to serve, put the scraps of cake into a food processor and pulse until crumbs. Use them to cover the top and sides of the cake.

HONEY SPICE CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F.
• Grease and flour bundt pan.
• Mix hot water with instant coffee; set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, mix honey, sugar, oil and eggs until very light and fluffy. Add all remaining ingredients including the coffee mixture; mix well.
• Spoon batter into prepared pan.
• Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean.
• Cool 10 minutes.
• Remove from pan; cool completely.
• If desired, drizzled with glaze of your choice.

RUSSIAN HONEY SPICE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Lightly oil a 5 X 9 inch loaf pan or spray with a nonstick cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Mix well. Stir in raisins and walnuts.
• In small bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Beat with a fork or wire whisk until blended. Add to dry mixture, mixing just until all ingredients ae moistened. Place mixture in prepared pan.
• Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then turn out onto rack to finish cooling.
• For best flavor, wrap cooled cake tightly and let it sit at room temperature overnight.

RUSSIAN HONEY CAKE

Steps:

• Pour honey into a deep saucepan over medium heat. Boil until a shade darker and caramel-like in aroma, about 10 minutes. Turn off heat and whisk in cold water.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat (such as Silpat®). Place a mixing bowl and a whisk in the refrigerator.
• Place a large metal bowl over the lowest heat setting on the stovetop. Add butter, sugar, 1/4 cup of the burnt honey, and regular wildflower honey. Let sit until butter melts, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl.
• Whisk butter mixture and let sit until very warm to the touch. Whisk in eggs. Keep mixture over low heat until it gets very warm again; whisk in baking soda mixture. Remove from heat. Sift in flour in 2 or 3 additions, stirring well after each, until batter is easily spreadable.
• Transfer about 1/2 cup batter onto the prepared baking sheet. Spread into an 8- or 9-inch circle using an offset spatula. Shake and tap the pan to knock out any air bubbles.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove liner from the pan and let cake layer continue cooling until firm enough to remove, 6 to 7 minutes. Invert cake onto a round of parchment paper.
• Repeat until you have a total of 8 cake layers, letting each cool on an individual parchment round. Trim edges using a pizza wheel to ensure they are the same size; save scraps for crumb mixture.
• Spread remaining batter onto the lined baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven until edges are dry, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cut into small pieces; toss with reserved cake scraps.
• Return to the oven and continue to bake until browned, 7 to 10 minutes more. Let cool completely, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a resealable bag and beat into fairly fine crumbs using a rolling pin. Set aside.
• Remove the bowl and whisk from the refrigerator. Pour in heavy cream. Whisk until soft peaks form. Add remaining burnt honey and sour cream; continue whisking until stiff peaks form.
• Place a cake layer on a parchment paper round on top of a pizza pan or serving plate. Spread a cup of frosting evenly on top, almost to the edge. Repeat with cake layers and frosting, pressing the layers in smooth-side down. Place last cake layer smooth-side up. Frost the top and sides of the cake. Cover with crumbs; clean any excess crumbs around base.
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 8 hours, to overnight. Transfer to a cake stand using 2 spatulas. Cut and serve.

HONEY CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
• Grease and flour (or use non-stick spray) a 10-inch bundt pan. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients (except the sugar). Set aside.
• In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the eggs for 2-3 minutes. Alternatively, can use handheld beaters or stand mixer.
• Add the sugar and continue to whisk together for 2-3 minutes.
• Next, whisk in the oil, followed by the applesauce, orange juice, honey and coffee. Make sure to properly whisk together.
• Make a well in the dry ingredient and slowly whisk in the liquid ingredients. The mixture will be thin and runny.
• Pour batter in the prepared bundt pan.
• Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 55-65 minutes or until a wooden cake tester comes out dry.
• Cool in pan for about 20 minutes on wire rack; invert to cool completely.
• Dust with icing sugar just before serving.