This honey cake is so soft and fantastic. The honey baked into the cake layers pairs perfectly with the simple sour cream frosting.
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For my own safety, I’ve been delivering quarters of this goodness to various family members and I’ve received rave reviews across the board. It stays amazing in the fridge for a several days (the longest we’ve tested was 4 days), so this is also a great make-ahead cake. Woot!
It’s definitely a special occasion cake and will WOW your crowd, but it’s easier to make than typical Russian honey cakes that require a double boiler. This one’s not that sensitive, making it more attainable for everyone. Woot! Woot!
Honey Cake Layers Ingredients:
4 Tbsp (1/4 cup) honey
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
3 large eggs, room temperature, beaten with a fork
1 tsp baking soda
3 cups all-purpose flour (I used unbleached, organic) *measured correctly
Sour Cream Frosting Ingredients:
32 oz sour cream
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
For the topping:
1/2 lb Fresh Berries, optional
How to Make a Honey Cake:
1. Add 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup honey and 2 Tbsp unsalted butter to a medium sauce pan and melt them together over medium/low heat, whisking occasionally until sugar is melted (5-7 mins). Don’t put them over high heat or they may scorch to the bottom.
2. As soon as the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and while it’s still hot, add in your beaten eggs in a slow steady stream while whisking vigorously until all of your eggs are incorporated (whisk constantly so you don’t end up with scrambled eggs).
3. Whisk in the baking soda until no lumps remain, then fold in your 3 cups flour 1/2 cup at a time with a spatula until the dough reaches a clay consistency and doesn’t stick to your hands. Mine took exactly 3 cups flour (measured precisely, scraping off the top of the cup). Watch our easy video tutorial on how to measure correctly!
4. Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces and move on to the next step right away (these roll out best when the dough is still warm)
5. On a well-floured surface, roll each piece out into a thin 9″ circle (about 1/8″ thick). You can sprinkle the top with a little flour too to keep dough from sticking to your rolling pin.
Place a 9″ plate or base from a springform mold over your rolled dough and trace around it with a pizza cutter to get a perfect circle. Keep the scraps for later.
Transfer the dough to a large sheet of parchment paper and bake 2 at a time at 350˚F for 4-5 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before stacking. Repeat with remaining layers
6. Finally bake the scraps separated evenly on a re-used sheet of parchment.Once the scraps are baked, cooled and firm, you can crush them with a rolling pin or pulse them in a food processor until you have fine crumbs.
Tips for Success:
Roll out the next layers while the first ones are in the oven and total combined baking time shouldn’t take more than 25-ish minutes. Some of mine bubbled up a little on top which is fine since after it’s frosted, it won’t make a difference. I deflated any real whopping bubbles after they came out of the oven. Oh and I re-used my parchment paper (because I’m frugal that way).
If you don’t have a baking sheet large enough to place the parchment paper on, just bake directly on the rack (that’s what I did!)
How to make the frosting:
1. Beat 1 cup heavy cream until fluffy and stiff peaks form (1-2 min on high speed).
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together 32 oz sour cream with 2 cups powdered sugar. Fold the whipped cream into the sour cream and you have your frosting. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Assembling your Cake:
1. Spread about 1/3 cup frosting on each cake layer (don’t skimp on it since the cake needs to absorb some of the cream to become ultra soft. Press the cake layers down gently as you go to keep the layers from having air gaps. Frost the top and sides with the remaining frosting
2. Dust the top and sides with your breadcrumbs, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. This cake needs time to absorb some of the cream and soften, so be patient. It’s worth the wait!
Here’s the Print-friendly for your recipe books:
8-Layer Honey Cake Recipe (Medovik)
Ingredients
Cake Layers Ingredients:
- 4 Tbsp honey, (1/4 cup)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 large eggs, room temperature, beaten with a fork
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, I used unbleached, organic
Sour Cream Frosting Ingredients:
- 32 oz sour cream
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
For the topping:
- 1/2 lb strawberries, optional
Instructions
How to Make The Cake Layers:
- Add 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup honey and 2 Tbsp unsalted butter to a medium sauce pan and melt them together over medium/low heat, whisking occasionally until sugar is melted (5-7 mins). Don't put them over high heat or they may scorch to the bottom.
- As soon as the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and while it's still hot, add in your beaten eggs in a slow steady stream while whisking vigorously until all of your eggs are incorporated (whisk constantly so you don't end up with scrambled eggs).
- Whisk in the baking soda until no lumps remain, then fold in your 3 cups flour 1/2 cup at a time with a spatula until the dough reaches a clay consistency and doesn't stick to your hands. Mine took exactly 3 cups flour (measured precisely, scraping off the top of the cup).
- Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces and move on to the next step right away (these roll out best when the dough is still warm)
- On a well-floured surface, roll each piece out into a thin 9" circle (about 1/8" thick). You can sprinkle the top with a little flour too to keep dough from sticking to your rolling pin. Place a 9" plate or base from a springform mold over your rolled dough and trace around it with a pizza cutter to get a perfect circle. Keep the scraps for later. Transfer the dough to a large sheet of parchment paper and bake 2 at a time at 350˚F for 4-5 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before stacking. Repeat with remaining layers.
- Finally bake the scraps separated evenly on a re-used sheet of parchment. Once the scraps are baked, cooled and firm, you can crush them with a rolling pin or pulse them in a food processor until you have fine crumbs.
How to make the frosting:
- Beat 1 cup heavy cream until fluffy and stiff peaks form (1-2 min on high speed).
- In a separate bowl, whisk together 32 oz sour cream with 2 cups powdered sugar. Fold the whipped cream into the sour cream and you have your frosting. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Assembling your Cake:
- Spread about 1/3 cup frosting on each cake layer (don't skimp on it since the cake needs to absorb some of the cream to become ultra soft. Press the cake layers down gently as you go to keep the layers from having air gaps. Frost the top and sides with the remaining frosting.
- Dust the top and sides with your breadcrumbs, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. This cake needs time to absorb some of the cream and soften, so be patient. It's worth the wait!
Notes
If you don't have a baking sheet large enough to place the parchment paper on, just bake directly on the rack (that's what I did!)
Nutrition Per Serving
(And the Pinterest friendly). Thanks so much for sharing this recipe with your friends and family. Good things are meant to be shared 😉
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Hi Natasha, I love honey cake! I’m going to make this for someone who can’t have honey but would love this sort of cake -do you think maple syrup would be a good substitute or should I consider a different cake altogether?
Hi SK! I haven’t tested maple syrup myself so I can’t say. One of my readers said, “Maple syrup is thinner so I used 1/4 honey and the rest Maple syrup in the same volume and it was loved. If you do experiment, we’d love to know how it turns out.
This is the one cake I make where everyone says, “you made that???” It is that good! While not simple, it is worth the effort. What you get is a well balanced cake that will be a bit different to what your US guests are used to. The only thing I do differently than the recipe is add a thinly sliced layer of spread out strawberries in between each layer. Yum Yum and thank you for the recipe.
That sounds really good! Thank you for sharing. I’m so glad you’re enjoying this recipe.
I make very similar honey cake and it is delicious. I’m going to make it this weekend to take to the office on Monday!! 😊
For frosting – I always use only sour cream. Wonder what the heavy whipped cream add to it?
I hope you love this recipe! The heavy cream gives it like a whipped cream consistency, it’s delish! Let us know how it turns out.
This one is a winner! I’ve made it many times. Everyone loves it! Not too sweet. I made strawberry/raspberry/cranberry sauce to serve with it. Maybe others have better rolling pin skills than me- Even with warm dough I find it difficult to roll it out into 9” circles, with barely any scraps left for the crumb coating. I multiply all of the dough ingredients by roughly 1.5, adjusting the eggs to 4 plus an additional yolk, and a little less than 4 cups flour was perfect. Baking time increased to about 7 minutes. There are usually a few bubbles to deflate with a fork midway through. Watch for the perfect doneness! So much easier for me to work with a little extra. Thank you Natasha!
Hi Stephen! Thank you for the review. I’m so glad you love this recipe!
I have made this cake so many times and it’s a 10/10. Russian and Ukrainians love it!
So glad to hear that, Jessica!
Hi Natasha,
Do you have an alternative recipe for the layers? Eg I’m finding rolling the layers relatively time consuming. Do you have a hack for perhaps a batter-based recipe that can be poured into a tin?
Thanks!
Hi Chantal! No, I’m sorry. I do not have an alternative for this recipe. Feel free to experiment with it or check out some of my other cake recipes for ideas or inspiration.
Anything worth making is time-consuming. This cake is not a batter like every other cake – that’s the whole point of the cake, actually. It shouldn’t take that long to separate into balls and roll out. If you want to make something in 15 mins you’ve come to the wrong recipe and are perhaps looking for a box.
Hi Natasha! How sweet is this? Can I omit some of the sugar?
Hi Diana! I haven’t tried cutting the sugar but we don’t love desserts that are overly sweet and I would not say this cake is too sweet.
I always recommend making the recipe once as written and then adjusting from there next time. I hope you love this cake!
so delicious.
heads up for anyone making this in Australia – I think our all purpose flour is different, I had to add almost 2 cups more to achieve the clay, rollable dough texture. otherwise it was more like a batter.
Hey Grace, I make it with raising flour and skipping the baking soda, and it turns out just fine! Always a winner!
I love this cake, every time I’ve made it, it has been loved by everyone who tried it on are. I would like to make this again for my daughter’s birthday party, but I’m a little worried about the fact it would need to be out of the fridge for about 3 hours right before being served. Will it be okay?
Great to hear that, Sara! You can store them at room temperature, loosely covered in a plastic bag away from the humidity.
I absolutely loved it! Did it twice and turned out amazing. I used to eat this cake a lot back home but I can’t find it in Canada so I’m glad to find a recipe that tastes exactly the same!! The only thing I noticed is that I ended up with a lot of the frosting than what was needed for the cake. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
You’re very welcome! I’m so glad you loved it. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
I made this recipe! Turned out fantastic. Our neighbor is Polish and she’s 80. She gave me tip to try, even with this recipe. So, after each layer bakes, take a pastry brush and brush on Baileys irish cream liqueur or Kahlua (coffee liqueur) onto each cake layer! Let it absorb overnight. Do not saturate layers, just enough to moisten.
Thank you for sharing, Lesley! I’m glad it was fantastic.
Dear Natasha,
I made your honey cake, it turned out great. In fact I made the layers gluten free. I’m the pastry chef at a restaurant that is dedicated gluten free.
I have a question, once the layers are baked off, can the layers be frozen for future use?
Thank you,
J. Roberts
Hi Jo! That’s so awesome to hear! I haven’t tried freezing the layers, but I think that could work. They do keep at room temperature really well for several days, covered loosely in a plastic bag.
Thank you so much. I appreciate your reply. By the way, I put a piece in the freezer yesterday and I will check it today. I will let you know how it turned out.
Jo
Thanks for this. I was scrolling to see if I could make them ahead.
Hi Jo, I’ve always made this cake, which consistently gets rave reviews, with all purpose flour. I’d love to have a gluten free version that turns out as well as the original. Would you share the brand of gluten free flour you used? I have just begun experimenting with gluten free recipes and I have had mixed results (no pun intended!). Thank you!
Natasha, thank you so much for this recipe. I’ve become known for my honey cakes among friends and coworkers.
You’re very welcome, Stef. Thanks for sharing that with us, hope you’ll love all the recipes that you will try from us!
Hi Jo, would you mind please sharing the GF recipe you did for this? I need to make it GF for my 7yo boy’s B’day and I don’t think I have a lot of time to experiment with quantities etc. Thanks!
Cake layers were good but the frosting way too runny which caused it leaking out and cake turned out too dry. I made it again using whipping cream and cream cheese with mascarpone instead of sour cream and it turned out much better.
Hi Yulia, make sure to use HEAVY whipping cream and beat until stiff peaks form, and also it helps to use a thick sour cream. The looser Canadian-style sour cream will make the cream runnier.
I did use heavy whipping cream and thick sour cream, not Canadian.
It also helps if they are both cold (not at room temperature) and to make sure you beat the cream until stiff peaks form.
My husband’s been dreaming of a Medovik cake like the one he used to have back home in Moldova, and this recipe finally satisfied his wish:)
I followed the recipe exactly as described and the cake turned out super delicious: moist and flavorful.
The one thing I would stress again just like Natasha did, is to make sure you whisk super vigorously when you add the eggs because ending up with an omelet is a very high risk. I almost had that happen to me:)
5 stars!!! this is a keeper
That’s wonderful, Mariana! Thank you for sharing that with us. So glad it was a hit!
Don’t even THINK about trying to roll out the dough before putting it in the fridge first. The warm dough is unimaginably sticky and will soak up as much flour as you try to throw at it. I ended up throwing my batch away because I just couldn’t get it to work, even though I followed the recipe to the letter. Every other recipe I’ve seen since then says to wrap the dough in Saran wrap like pie dough and refrigerate for multiple hours before rolling out to reduce stickiness.
Natasha, I appreciate how patient and kind you are to everyone! I’ve made this a few times for different events and everyone loves it. Tomorrow I will prepare it for family gathering for dad’s 88th birthday. He is doing great and still working! I must try more of your recipes soon~
Hi Stephen! Thank you for the wonderful review. Happy Birthday to your dad!
Hello Natasha
I really love medovik I made it few times, but my boys do not like honey. So I was wondering if I have to add honey in it? Or what I can do to substitute it?
Glad you and your boys love it! I haven’t tested that to advise. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe
Being Canadian I had to try Maple syrup. Maple syrup is thinner so I used 1/4 honey and the rest Maple syrup, to the same total volume. It was loved.
Thank you so much for sharing that with us!
Definitely some work to complete but it was tasty in the end. If you’ve ever had teddy grahams it tastes exactly like those combined with whipped cream. On the lighter side of sweetness overall.
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
I made this recipe for the first time last weekend and it worked perfectly by carefully following the instructions! A new family favorite! I suggest making the cake when you have time to dedicate to the steps – its not hard, just can’t be rushed. And leaving it in the fridge overnight will magically transform your creation into a wonderful treat next day! Thanks for this great recipe.
Hello Robyn, I’m glad you followed the recipe as it is and enjoyed the result. Thanks for sharing that with us!
Hi, I’ve got a question about the sour cream fat level. Is it supposed to be regular like 15 or 20 or more like crème fraiche around 30?
Thanks
Hi Sam, Sour cream has a fat content of about 20%.