Ukraine: Smetannik Cake (Торт Сметанник)
Smetannik is arguably one of my all time favorite cakes. This is the “sour cream cake” that is very traditionally Ukrainian and Russian desert. There are tons versions out there circulating around the internet, many of which I humbly (but adamantly) disagree with. Particularly, I take culinary offense with ones that start adding a ton of eggs, endless cake layers or honey, as these are things for other cakes like Napoleon Cake and Medovik. Both of those cakes are amazing but also different. Smetannik is a much simpler, easy to throw together cake that is much more rustic in look but is incredible in flavor, in my opinion. The sour cream adds a wonderful tang to the taste and makes the layers beautifully moist and tender. Here is the recipe from my family and what consider to be the “original smetannik”.
What you will need
~ 700g Sour cream = 1 Cup for cake (200g)
& 500 grams for cream
200 grams Unsalted butter
2 Tsp Cocoa powder
.5 Tsp White vinegar
.5 tsp Baking soda (bicarbonate soda)
1.5 cups flour
2 eggs
1.5 cups sugar = 1 cup for cake & .5 cups for cream
Walnuts (some halves for garnish)
Prunes
Step 1
Create the batter.
Add 1 cup of sour cream to the 200g of softened butter and begin to blend the two. As you do this, mix in the 1.5 cups of sugar and both eggs. Blend everything until the sugar is largely dissolved and everything is coming together in a consistent mass.
At this point, take half of teaspoon of bicarbonate soda and place it into a clean table spoon. Holding the tablespoon over the mixture, add some white vinegar to the spoon. The goal here is to activate the baking soda and have ti foam off the spoon. So don’t drown the spoon but only add as much as you need to set off the reaction with all of the powder. Mix this into the liquid consistently.
Then, gradually begin to add in the flour as you continue to mix. When you are done, you should have a batch of batter as pictured here. It is neither runny nor dough-like here you can knead it.
STep 2
Split your batter into two equal portions and add coca powder to one of the batches.
Mix this in until you get a consistent chocolaty dough.
Step 3
Line baking sheets with baking paper and pour your batter in evenly into the baking trays.
Place the sheets into the oven and bake at 180C for about 15 minutes.
*Of course the baking time will depend on your oven and the thickness of your layers, but a good test is that the cake is ready when you can poke it with a toothpick and it comes out clean.
Step 4
Once the sheets are done baking, place them onto the cooking racks and peel off the baking paper.
Let the layers cool completely before you begin assembly.
Step 5
While your layers cool, you can chop up your walnuts and prunes.
Also, take this time to prepare the frosting.
For frosting, take approximately 500 grams of sour cream and mix in half a cup of sugar. Continue to mix this until the sugar has dissolved into the cream. Then place this into the fridge until you are ready to use it.
I also cut the cake layers in half as I intent to make a cake out of four layers in total.
Step 6
Begin assembling!
Placing your bottom layer dull side up, cover it generously with your frosting mixture.
Sprinkle the frosting with walnuts and add the prunes. Repeat this with every layer until the top one.
The top layer should be placed shiny side up and no prunes are placed on the top of the cake.
Cover the sides of the cake with your frosting as well as the top layer and coat the outsides of the cake with chopped walnuts. I also like to reserve a few full halves of the walnuts for garnish on the top.
Enjoy!
The cake is best once it has had some time for the frosting to seep into the layers and it becomes softer and comes together better.
This cake is good to make a day in advance and allow it to come together in the fridge overnight.
I love having this cake with coffee and also with a black tea with lemon in it.