Medivnyk - spiced honey cake
6 servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| ¾ | cup | Honey |
| ½ | teaspoon | Cinnamon; powdered |
| ¼ | teaspoon | Cloves; powdered |
| ¼ | teaspoon | Nutmeg; powdered |
| 1 | teaspoon | Baking soda |
| 4 | tablespoons | Unsalted butter; softened |
| ½ | cup | Dark brown sugar |
| 3 | Egg yolks | |
| 2 | cups | Flour |
| ¼ | teaspoon | Salt |
| 1 | teaspoon | Baking powder |
| 10 | tablespoons | Raisins |
| 6 | tablespoons | Currants; dried |
| ½ | cup | Walnuts; finely chopped |
| 3 | Egg whites | |
| 3 | tablespoons | Butter; softened |
Directions
Recipe by: Recipes: Russian Cooking - Foods of the World - Time-Life In a 1- to 1½-qt saucepan bring the honey to a boil over moderate heat, stirring almost constantly with a wooden spoon. Stir in the cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and baking soda and set aside to cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, cream the 4 Tbs of butter and the sugar together by mashing and beating them against the sides of the bowl with a large spoon until they are light and fluffy. Then beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, and stir in the cooled, spiced honey.
Combine 1 ¾ cups of flour with the salt and baking powder and beat them into the sugar-and-egg mixture, ¼ cup at a time. Combine the raisins, currants and walnuts in a separate mixing bowl and toss them with the reamining ¼ cup of flour until each piece is coated. Fold into batter. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Beat the egg whites in a large bowl with a whisk or a rotary or electric beater, until they form stiff peaks on the beater when lifted out of bowl. With a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the batter, using an over-and-under folding motion. With 2 Tbs of the softened butter,coat the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Coat both sides of a sheet of brown paper with the remaining Tbs of butter and lin the bottom and sides of the pan with it. Pour the batter in the pan and bake in the center of the oven for 1 ½ hours, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Insert a knife between the paper lining and the pan, loosen the cake and invert it, with the paper, onto a cake rack. Peel off the paper and let the cake cool to room temperature, then cover loosely with wax paper and set aside for 1 or 2 days at room temperature before slicing.
NOTES : Medivnyk should be made 1 or 2 days before you plan to serve it,
to allow the flavor to develop properly.
from my kitchen to------------------------------->yours..... Dan Klepach