Prune Honey Cake Recipe
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My entire family was smitten with this prune honey cake; especially Mom. She had 2 slices ;). This cake is traditionally called Chernosliv (black prune cake). I’ve been developing the recipe for months and was really close to throwing in the towel because my initial cake layers looked more like bowls rather than cakes.
I felt this cake was worth-while so I stubbornly continued on with my experiments. Now it’s finally perfect! This prune honey cake rose beautifully and was stunningly tall. The layers are fluffy, moist, creamy, and studded with sweet prunes.
P.S. There’s a very cool baking soda/honey chemical reaction in this cake. Like “kids come check this out” type of cool!
Ingredients for the Prune Honey Cake Layers:
6 large eggs, room temp
1 cup white granulated sugar
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour *measured correctly
5 Tbsp honey
2 tsp baking soda
Ingredients For the Frosting:
32 oz sour cream
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Fillings/Toppings/Decor:
1 1/2 cups chopped prunes
Melting Chocolate or Chocolate chips to melt for decor
Chocolate block for shavings
How to Make the honey cake layers:
Butter and line the bottoms of 2 (9-inch cake pans) with parchment paper. Preheat the Oven to 325˚F.
1. Using your electric stand mixer, beat 6 large eggs with 1 cup sugar 5 minutes on high-speed.
2. {Here’s the cool chemical reaction part: did you know honey activates baking soda?} Heat 5 Tbsp honey in a saucepan over medium heat until it is very hot, but not boiling (about 125˚F), stirring often.
Just as soon as you see faint bubbling on the edges, use a spoon to stir in the 2 tsp baking soda into the honey stirring continuously until your mixture turns a yellow/light caramel color (about 30-45 seconds seconds) and immediately remove from heat. It will continue to cook even after you remove from heat. Continue stirring until you’re finished adding it to the egg mixture.
This is what it looks like by the time you are ready to spoon it into the egg mixture. You don’t want it darker than this and it happens quick so don’t step away from it!
3. With the mixture on high speed, add hot honey to the egg mixture about 1 Tbsp at a time so you don’t cook your egg mixture. Also, don’t wait for your honey mixture to cool down or it will harden and you won’t be able to blend it into your egg mixture.
See that honey on the edges of the bowl? That’s pretty much candy. It’s expected. You won’t be able to scrape it down into the bowl, but don’t worry, it washes off easily.
4. Reduce mixer speed to med/low and blend in flour 1 cup at a time. Use a spatula to scrape down the mixing bowl to make sure the flour is well blended.
5. Just as soon as the flour is well incorporated, divide into two prepared baking pans and bake at 325° for 25-28 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
Once they are cool enough to handle, remove from the pans and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the Honey Cake frosting:
1. Beat the heavy cream until stiff and spreadable (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.
Honey Cake Assembly:
1. Once your cake is completely cooled to room temp, slice your cake layers in half and keep the halves stacked until ready to assemble so your cake doesn’t dry out.
2. Order of layers (assemble the cake on your serving platter).
(A) First cake layer (B) enough frosting to cover the layer (C) 1/3 of your chopped prunes (D) thin layer of frosting on the bottom of the next cake layer (like putting mayo on both sides of bread for a sandwich), then repeat steps (A-D). Frost the outside of the cake and sides then decorate with piped strips of melted chocolate, chocolate shavings and more prunes. Prunes prunes the magical fruit, the more you eat, the more you,… did I really just go there? Sorry about that. Lol. Anyway, I think the song was meant for beans. oh nevermind! :-O.
3. I melted some chocolate and piped it on over the top in a checkerboard fashion, then put some horizontal lines on it for extra awesomeness.
Come to Mama.
P.P.S. This cake is best eaten the next day after the layers and prunes have gotten a chance to soften up with the velvety sour cream frosting.
Prune Honey Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 6 large eggs, room temp
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 5 Tbsp honey
- 2 tsp baking soda
For the Frosting:
- 32 oz sour cream
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
Fillings/Toppings/Decor:
- 1 1/2 cups chopped prunes
- Melting Chocolate or Chocolate chips to melt for decor
- Chocolate block for shavings
Instructions
How to Make the honey cake layers:
- Butter and line the bottoms of 2 (9-inch cake pans) with parchment paper. Preheat the Oven to 325˚F.
- Beat 6 large eggs with 1 cup sugar 5 minutes on high-speed.
- Heat 5 Tbsp honey in a saucepan over medium heat until it is very hot, but not boiling (about 125˚F), stirring often. Just as soon as you see faint bubbling on the edges, use a spoon to stir in the 2 tsp baking soda into the honey stirring continuously until your mixture turns a yellow/light caramel color (about 30-45 seconds seconds) and immediately remove from heat. It will be fluffy. It will continue to cook even after you remove from heat. Continue stirring until you're finished adding it to the egg mixture. You don't want it darker than a yellow caramel by the time you are ready to add it to your egg mixture and it happens quick so don't step away from it!
- With the mixture on high speed, add hot honey to the egg mixture about 1 Tbsp at a time so you don't cook your egg mixture. Also, don't wait for your honey mixture to cool down or it will harden and you won't be able to blend it into your egg mixture.
- Reduce mixer speed to med/low and blend in flour 1 cup at a time. Use a spatula to scrape down the mixing bowl to make sure the flour is well blended.
- Just as soon as the flour is well incorporated, divide into two prepared baking pans and bake at 325° for 25-28 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Once they are cool enough to handle, remove from the pans and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting,
- Beat the heavy cream until stiff and spreadable (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.
Assembly:
- Once your cake is completely cooled to room temp, slice your cake layers in half and keep the halves stacked until ready to assemble so your cake doesn't dry out.
- Order of layers (assemble the cake on your serving platter).
- (A) First cake layer (B) enough frosting to cover the layer (C) 1/3 of your chopped prunes (D) thin layer of frosting on the bottom of the next cake layer (like putting mayo on both sides of bread for a sandwich), then repeat steps (A-D). Frost the outside of the cake and sides then decorate with a checkerboard design of piped strips of melted chocolate, chocolate shavings and more prunes.
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Loved this cake! Do you think the batter could be used for cupcakes?
Hi Karina, I haven’t tried this as cupcakes, but here is what one of my readers wrote: “1. Cupcakes: I wanted to test this recipe, so I made half a batch of batter, added blue berries (the prunes just didn’t work for me), and spooned it into a 12 serving muffin tin sprayed with non-stick cooking spray (fill each cup almost full with batter.They will be taller and a better color). Next time, I’ll put the batter in a ziplock bag, cut the corner, and pipe it to avoid the mess. Be sure to flour the berries to keep them from sinking. I forgot. I cooked as directed above, but only 10-turn-10 minutes. At about 12 minutes, they were looking very brown so I covered them with tin foil. Be sure to spray the foil to keep it from sticking.
The results were amazing. They have a flavor reminiscent of a sugar cone. It dissolved in my mouth. I can’t imagine how decadent they would be with a frosting. The cream+sour cream recipe above might be very, very good.” I hope this helps!
Hi Natasha why is the sponge not rising evenly? What the problem can be?
Hi Tina, several different factors could explain why it didn’t rise or rise evenly. I recommend ensuring there were no substitutions made to the recipe. Also, I recommend double-checking the steps with the honey, and baking soda – those steps are critical to activate the baking soda and have the cake rise properly – also, be sure you are beating the eggs and sugar at high speed with a high-powered mixer.
I’ve been making this cake for years. It’s always been a smash hit, always have my uncle’s ask for me to make them their own. Lol
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Suz!
Absolutely the best, everyone enjoys this cakes and it usually gone in minutes!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Alina!
Hello Natasha, Could you tell why my frosting is runny? Do I need add more powdered sugar?
Hi Zhenya, make sure to use HEAVY whipping cream and beat until stiff and spreadable. Also, make sure to use a thick full-fat sour cream like the Daisy brand one that I have in the photos and that will help. If the heavy cream was not beaten enough it will be difficult to thicken it up after that.
This is one of my favorite cakes to bake and eat, it’s so decadent, and I’ve made it far too many times now for years.
The only changes I do is tort the two cake layers into four pieces, so in all, I have eight layers. I find that thinner layers soak up the sour cream frosting better and the cake is so much more moist.
Next, instead of putting 32oz of sour cream into the frosting, I put 16oz, because with 32oz it’s very thin and I would always have lots of extra frosting. 16oz is perfect to frost the whole cake.
Thank you for the recipe Natasha <3
Nice, thanks for sharing some of the changes that you’ve tried for this recipe. I’m glad you loved it!
This cake is amazing! Ive made it countless times. However every time i make the frosting, it comes out super thin. It’s impossible to frost with. I always need to add extra heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar to thicken it. I follow your recipe exactly but always have trouble with the frosting. Any ideas why?
Hi Natasha, are you sure you’re using heavy whipping cream and not just whipping cream?
Would this be good with added nuts? Would you toast them if so? Or better without?
Hi Mary, I haven’t tested that to advise. If you happen to experience I would love to know how you like that.
Hi Natasha! This cake looks amazing and I can’t wait to bake it. I was wondering if I could make the cakes one evening and frost them the next day? I have 4 little children and I can easily get overwhelmed with baking..
Hi Lydia, That should work! I hope you love this recipe!
Hi, Natasha!
I noticed you use a 9-inch cake pan for a lot of your desserts. How deep is your cake pan? I’m looking at purchasing a couple of pans and I am having trouble deciding on the depth. What size, in depth, do you tend to use most?
Hi Victoria, I believe it is 2.5 inches but our favorite tools can be found in our blog shop HERE.
Can I substitute prunes with dried apricots?
Hello, I haven’t tried this personally to advise. Please share with us how it goes if you do an experiment.
Love this cake! Made it many times. How far in advance can I bake the layers before frosting them? Do I need to keep the layers in the fridge?
Hi Nataliya, once the layers are at room temperature, you can cover in plastic wrap and let them sit at room temperature for 24 hours. I would refrigerate or freeze if keeping for longer before assembling.
This is the best cake ever!!! I been craving some russian old fashion cakes and I thought I’ll give this a try and now this one will be my favorite cake, people loved it at the party. I made it 2 days in advance and cake came out so moist and delicious, the longer it stands, the better it gets! I had some pieces left on fourth day and it was even more moist. These cake layers rise up so good and I usually have problems with that in other cakes.
Awww that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m all smiles!
Hi, I love this cake. Have you ever noticed a green tinting to the outside portion of the cream after it stands for a day? Almost like the acidity of the sour cream is reacting to the honey baked cake layers. I’ve had this happen both times I’ve made this cake.
Hi Vera, I have not experienced that so I cannot advise.
I’ve had the same thing happen each time I’ve made it, I also wonder why.
I’ve noticed this happen usually when it’s a thin layer of frosting. When I do my second thicker layer it’s fine. Make sure you cover it up.
Hi Natasha
I was wondering if I can double the recipes and bake it in 9+13 pan?
I think that should work Oksana!
Cupcakes: I wanted to test this recipe, so I made half a batch of batter, added blue berries (the prunes just didn’t work for me), and spooned it into a 12 serving muffin tin sprayed with non-stick cooking spray (fill each cup almost full with batter.They will be taller and a better color). Next time, I’ll put the batter in a ziplock bag, cut the corner, and pipe it to avoid the mess. Be sure to flour the berries to keep them from sinking. I forgot. I cooked as directed above, but only 10-turn-10 minutes. At about 12 minutes, they were looking very brown so I covered them with tin foil. Be sure to spray the foil to keep it from sticking.
The results were amazing. They have a flavor reminiscent of a sugar cone. It dissolved in my mouth. I can’t imagine how decadent they would be with a frosting. The cream+sour cream recipe above might be very, very good.
Thank you for sharing this with us Tanya!
Absolutely LOVE this cake recipe, definitely one of my favorites! ❤
Hi Larisa! That’s so great! I’m so happy you found a new favorite!
Hello. I have a question. I don’t have powdered sugar. Do u think I can substitute with regular sugar
Hi, I don’t think granulated would work in this frosting – it is too coarse. If you have a high powered food processor or blender, you can make powdered sugar using granulated sugar. Here is a tutorial I came across on how to make powdered sugar.
Thank you so much for quick reply.
My pleasure, glad I can help!
Mine came out flat,rose in the begging then got flat
Hi Masha, double check the steps with the honey and baking soda – those steps are critical to activate the baking soda and have the cake rise properly – also be sure you are beating the eggs and sugar on high speed with a high powered mixer.
Hi, Natasha. Is it ok to use Creek Yogurt in the frosting instead of sour cream?
Hi Halyna, one of my readers, Lana, wrote in with the following helpful review: “I love this cake. I’ve been looking everywhere for this recipe. this is exactly what i wanted!! I made it. everything turned out perfectly. I made the frosting with plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream to save my family the extra calories and it tasted just as good as with sour cream!! my hubby couldnt even tell the difference… Im loving the greek yogurt for the extra protien and its nonfat.”
Natasha, this is an amazing recipe! I’ve made this cake (sans prunes though) Like 5 times and every time it’s even better then before. It’s so light and sponge-like! Best cake I’ve made so far! Thank you so much for your recipes!
I’ve been cooking so many things from your website and it’s my to-go website for anything from kids related to pelmeni to desserts. Thanks again for very clear instructions, photos, videos and mainly recipes! My well fed family is very greatful 🙂
I’m happy to hear how much you love this recipe Jovana! Thanks for following and sharing your encouraging, thoughtful comments!
We love this cake and I always get asked about it so I direct them to you! Thank you, great recipe! Never failed, super easy and delicious. I add pecans in the layers for extra crunch 🙂
Now, I noticed you have a rylet version of your poppy seed cake and was wondering if it’s possible to make relyt out of this recipe? So it’s less fancy for every day dessert :))) Please advice!
Thank you 🙂
Hi Rita, thank you for your amazing review and for sharing our recipes with your friends and family :). I sure appreciate you!! I haven’t tried this as a cake roll but I do love your idea!! This is one of my very favorite cakes so if you try it as a rylet before I do, let me know how you liked it! 🙂
A truly delicious cake!
I’m glad you love it Lily!
Hi, this cake looks and sounds amazing. Do you think it will work with white whole wheat flour and coconut sugar? Thank you
To be honest, I have never tried that substitution so I really cant guess. Sorry I can’t be more helpful!
This cake is awesome. We enjoyed. Thank you for sharing.
Great! I’m glad you enjoy the recipe as much as I do! 🙂
Made this cake because my husband tried it at our family Christmas and said its the best! My cakes raised so well I’m sure I could have cut into 3 layers each! It turned out so tall and big that it is way too big for the 2 of us. I’m wondering if it can b refrigerated for 5 days and still be good. What do you think? Have you tried freezing maybe? Thank you!
Hi Rita, I’m so happy you enjoyed it for Christmas!! It’s really one of my favorite cakes :). I think it would be fine covered and refrigerated for 5 days. 🙂 I haven’t tried freezing it so I’m not sure how the sour-cream based frosting would hold up after freezing…
Natasha, I don’t have any white sugar in the house. What happens if I use Raw sugar? Thank you!
Hi Olga, I haven’t tested this with raw sugar so I’m not sure if the cake would rise properly or if it would take longer to mix it properly. It’s difficult to guess without testing it first. To be on the safe side, I would process the sugar either in a good food processor or a high powered blender to get the granules smaller to the size of granulated sugar.
Thank you!!
I’ll have to try it next time. And since I already made it, I can tell you, it rose beautifully!! The tops of the layers were almost above the edges of the cake pans. 🙂
I don’t know how the taste is, but I’ll let you know after the 31st. 🙂
I actually have another question. How thick are you supposed to layer the frosting? I thought I had plenty on each layer but at the end I had quite a bit of frosting left. Is that normal or did I not use enough on the cake? If it’s the latter, I hope it will still be moist. Waiting to try it is going to be hard! 😉
Thank you!!!
Olga, did you frost both sides of the layers like shown in the photos? I don’t usually have leftover frosting on this recipe. It should be still pretty moist with less frosting. Let me know the final results 😬 and have a great New Year!
Hi Natasha,
Do you think it will be OK to bake the cake two days before an event?
Hi Elena, yes I do think that would work fine 🙂
Thank you for this recipe! I made three cakes for church and everyone loved it…I also moistened it with simple syrup..but the cake itself is amazing!!!!!! Thank you!
I hope your blessings will be multiplied!
That’s so great Diana! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
Not sure if anyone asked already but how do you get the chocolate on the sides of the cake without it melting? I was thinking to use my hands to “pat” it on but it melts fast.
Thanks.
I mentioned on one of your other recipes (Artisan bread) that I’ll be attempting to make the cake and I have to say…Rookie baker here…apparently it takes more than an hour or so for eggs to become room temperature. Duh. The cake came out flat. After trying 2 times I realized it might be the eggs and decided to take them out the night before. Came out perfect. Everyone loved it. I love how you can make it a day or so ahead of time. Considering I never bake (if I actually had the eggs room temp like you said) I would have had the perfect cake from first try just because your directions are so easy to follow. When I was decorating, I realized I had no idea how to do the chocolate sides. My sister in law suggested chopped roasted hazelnuts on the sides, that’s how she does it and its a very yummy combo but I would love to know how to do the chocolate sides to try next time.
Hi again 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I’ve used colder eggs before and had to beat the mixture longer for it to work. I do love the idea of roasted hazelnuts and they would add some wonderful flavor!
Hi Lana, It helps to use a spoon. If you slide a piece of parchment paper under the cake, it will catch any chocolate that falls and then you can flick the paper up towards the cake to get the chocolate to adhere to the cake.
My goodness, I asked a few people that have baked before and they had no clue how to put chocolate on the sides. Who would’ve thought it is as simple as using a spoon. Haha. Thanks for the tip. Also thanks for the tip about the colder eggs, next time if I forget to take them out in time, I know what to do.
Hi Natasha! This is a great recipe I have tried it and love it. I do have a question though! Can I bake the layers in 9″x9″ square pans instead? How will that change the baking time or texture?
Thanks so much!
Hi Juli, I’ve only made this in a 9″ round but I do think a 9×9 square pan would work fine instead without having to change anything else.
What happens if I use bleached flour?
Nothing. You can use bleached flour. I always just write what I use exactly.
Hey Natasha,
If I were to add some nuts into this cake, what would be some of your suggestions on which ones I should add???
Hi Yulia, I haven’ tried it but I do think it prunes and walnuts would taste good together. Even if you just decorated the top with walnuts it would probably taste great with the prunes.
Now it’s my hubby favorite one!!! 😉
I’m glad he likes it 😀.
Hi Natasha!
So I made this cake today for my daughters birthday and it’s chilling in the fridge. It looks beautiful, just like yours😁
I did something different though and I’m curious to see how it will affect the flavor of the cake… I soaked the cut prunes in sweet red wine!!! I don’t think you can go wrong there, but we will see I guess! 🍷🍰 after the prunes soaked, the wine was more of a syrup and there’s wasn’t so much of it, so I just spread it evenly on the korzhi. It won’t soak the layers, but it should add just a little kick to the cake!
Im so excited to try it! As soon as I do try it I’ll let you know how that worked….
Also, thanks for all the wonderful recipes! You are so good at what you do! And oh so enthusiastic! ! Your sense of humor and happiness rubs off on me 😉😘
Your blog is the first one I go to when it comes to finding a recipe or cooking something! Oh, and my little nieces and nephews (and my kiddos of course) love watching your videos! Lol its like мультики for them! 😂
Anyways! Keep up the good work, good luck, and GOD BLESS!!
Awww your comment… the best! I’m all smiles :). Happy Birthday to your daughter! Thank you so much for taking the time to write in. I love that the littles in your family enjoy the videos. That’s so adorable. Can’t stop smiling over here. Thank you. Your comment blessed me so much. And let me know how the prunes taste soaked in wine. It does sound like a great idea! 🙂
This cake is always must be on our table during any winter occasions such as birthdays and Christmas. I have made this cake for Christmas Eve and not only me who loved it but everyone else as well. From 5 times making the same cake, the last one was one of the best because finally, I have made it with a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer 🙂 🙂 :). Making this cake tonight again for my Nephew’s birthday… Thank you and once again Thank you for this recipe and step by step instruction.
Because of You, know I am in love with baking. I love baking and it is not that hard as I though it would be. I am improvising new recipes based on basic techniques that I have learned from you. Thank you once again.
I have all kinds of fuzzy feelings reading your comment. Thank you so much for sharing that with me :). And I’m so happy you love this cake! It’s one of my favorites also 🙂
Hi Natasha
My husband and i we love this cake!!!
I probably made it like five times.lol
Thank you for sharing your fantastic review!! 🙂
How far in advance can this cake be made? I’d like to make it three days in advance, because I work the two days before the event and I’ll be short on time then. Do you think that will work?
It looks really good, thanks for posting.
Yes, it would work a few days in advance, just cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. 🙂
Hi! Can I use cool whip instead of heavy cream? Thank you:)
I haven’t tried that so I’m not sure how it would affect the cream flavor or texture. I imagine it would work, but without trying it, I can’t say for sure.
Hi! I want to try this cake but it looks a bit dry. I know you said to let it sit for a day to moisten up.. Will it really get moist enough? If not, what could you saturate it with? Thank you!!!:)
Hi Irina, It really isn’t a dry cake. The cake layers absorb some of the frosting and it’s great without needing any extra syrup. 🙂
Hi Natasha! I’ve been wanting to make this cake for a long time now! I do have a question though: Have you tried using Canadian flour and how was your results with it? Thank you! Would like to bake this cake for my daughter’s birthday☺ thank you for a great blog!
I haven’t tried using Canadian flour for this one so I’m not sure how it would affect the results. I do like Canadian flour for baking but I don’t use it normally since it’s not readily available for everyone. Sorry I can’t be more helpful.
No problem, and thank you so much for quick response!
Is there any way I can make this cake on a cookie sheet, have a huge cake? Double the recipe, to have 4 layers? Going to have a lot of people over and don’t want to make two cakes.
Olga, I haven’t experimented that way so can’t tell you exact baking time. It sounds like it could work. If you try it, let me know what you end up doing :).
Wow! Natasha, I enjoy your website so much! So glad I found out about it. The website is so well built and organized , the order and pictures make it so easy to follow and remember . The recipes are great . I don’t like to cook, honestly )) but I finaly found the perfect “book” )) I ve already done cheesecake and deruni with your help ;);) my family loved it . Thank you thank you thank you! You are amazing !
Hello and thank you for writing in! I’m so happy you are enjoying the recipes and my blog. I think you will love the new design (coming soon) even more as we focused on making it more user-friendly. Thanks again!
What a great cake! I made it twice in the last 2 weeks and both times it turned out absolutely amazing! Thank you, Natasha, for such a great & detailed recipe!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank YOU for the awesome review!
I really like this cake! My mom used to make this cake in many different ways! And now I am able to make it! It’s actually pretty easy and turned out all so good, except that the cream wasn’t as puffy! But it was a good combination with the cake! Thank you so much for making it a ton easier with the pictures and step by step process! God bless you! 🙂
Thank you for the great review Nita and you are very welcome :).
oh this cake. Advice for everyone use the same sour cream as Natasha’s used if you don’t want to be embarrassed of your cake. I used different sour cream and cake’s frosting wasn’t good (didn’t matter how much heavy whipped cream i have putted to it). This cake is one of my favorite cakes to make. I always make this cake two days in advance. Because the longer this cake stays in fridge the tastier it is…
Thank you for this recipe. This cake is extremely good.
Thanks Ziz’ka! There are sour creams like the Canadian one that don’t work well for this frosting since they are too liquidy. I’m so glad you still liked the cake 🙂
Hello Natasha. U said y melt chocolate and put it over the cake. How dou melt the chocolate chips ? I do it on stove only since I don’t use microwave in my house do I need to add a little bit of butter when I melt or no? Any advice? And I tried this cake before it is amazing and I love it how I can do it before hand and it sits in fridge and is amazing 2 days latter.
You could do it on the stovetop but be super careful that it doesn’t overheat or else it will dry out and become crumbly.Remove it as soon as it starts to melt and stir constantly. If it needs a little more heat, you could always put it back on but you can’t undo overcooked chocolate. When I make ganache, I use heavy whipping cream and chocolate chips. I think a tiny bit of butter or cream would help to keep it from getting too dry.
Would u b able to share the per portions on the heavy cream and chocolate if u don’t mind me asking, I want to try. I never had luck with melted chocolate
Absolutely! Here is the recipe: https://natashaskitchen.com/2014/03/26/perfect-chocolate-ganache-how-to-glaze-a-cake/. You would probably want to cut the recipe down for how much you need 🙂
Hi Natasha! I made this cake two days ago. I think I let the honey to boil, I didn’t expect it to boil so fast, so the color of the soda mixture was darker than yellow. May be it was the reason the cakes didn’t rise. I also used 10′ pans, so it’s an additional reason that I’ve got pretty flat cakes. But I still managed to cut them into halves. All in all the cake tastes great. The only change that I would make in the future is to reduce the amount of sugar, especially in the frosting. Way too sweet, to my taste. Thank you again, I;m also in love with prunes. 🙂
You definitely have to keep an eye on the soda mixture and I’m not sure if that would be the reason for it not rising; possibly? putting in a 10 inch pin would definitely be a reason for it not rising as much. A narrower pan will produce a taller cake. I am a big fan of the prunes also. Aren’t they great after letting the cake sit and moisten them up?
Fantastic web site ! One comment with respect to the baking soda being activated by honey. Baking soda is activated is either by heat or by acid (hence the baking powder = soda + dry acid). One of the commenters below was puzzled about cake not rising – the possible reason can be exactly the fact that all the leavening which was created by soda activated while heated by hot honey, had left soda without leavening power ?
Love the recipes and attention to detail. Really good web site, thank you for making it !
Thanks Natalia, there could be several different factors why it didn’t rise. I don’t think it was heating the honey with baking soda since I’ve tested it this way and it rose really well for me and was super fluffy. You’re so welcome! I’m glad you are enjoying the site 🙂
Sponge not rising is is most likely due the length of duration of the exposure of soda to heat: if left on the stove too long, the leavening power of soda gets greatly diminished.
I tried the 4 eggs with 1.5 cups of flour – works really well, and only 1 tsp of soda, but I also added 1/4 tsp cream of tartar (which is acid) to the egg whites. Acid stabilizes the whites and acts as an activator to the soda, making the batter error proof for raising.
Also, the following combination of two layers of icing works really well with this honey cake:
1. heat 2 egg yolks with 1/4 cup of milk over a double boiler pot. Constantly whisking add 3/4 can of boiled condensed milk (boiled ahead in the can, completely covered by water for 2 hours, then cooled), until eggs thicken. Cool the mixture down and mix (using electric mixer) with a 1/2 lb of unsalted butter. Set aside
2. Mix a tub (454g) off full fat sour cream with a 1/4 cup of sugar
Cut the cake into 3 layers, spreading 1st icing type and then 2d icing type over each layer, all the way to the top. Sprinkle the cake with graham cookie crumbs and let stand for 1 hours in the fridge.
Yes, you definitely don’t want to leave it on the stove too long. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Could you spread a thin layer of plum butter on each layer with the frosting instead of the prunes?
Yes! That would be delicious as well 🙂 If you share a picture online somewhere, do tag me #natashaskitchen so I could see it. I love your idea!
I’ve been looking for this honey cake recipe. Am so excited, will make it for my son’s birthday! Thank you so much!!! I love it with Del Monte sliced peaches or fruit cocktail (instead of prunes). For frosting I use sour cream sweetened with condensed milk and a little bit of vanilla-sugar powder! Try it, you’ll love it! 🙂
Oooh that does sound really really good for frosting. What amounts did you use for sour cream and condensed milk? Also, was it just uncooked, canned sweetened condensed milk?
I was wondering if I make this cake about 24 hours before serving would it still be the same great taste or its better not to make it so early?
Yelena, cake will actually taste better when made 24 hours in advance. This way, the prunes had time to soften and the cake will be more moist. I hope you’ll love it :).
3 packs 20% sour cream (probably 3 16oz tub sour cream); 1-2 tsp. vanilla-sugar powder; condensed milk (uncooked, canned sweetened). Add condensed milk to your preference, I don’t like very sweet frosting so most of the time I use only 1/2 cup but others prefer to use the whole can. I start with 1 tsp. vanilla-sugar powder then I just add more if I want a richer vanilla flavor although my boys love the frosting with just a hint of vanilla in it – they say it tastes like vanilla ice cream! 🙂 Oh and I use a regular spoon to gently mix the ingredients so it doesn’t get runny. 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing that! 🙂
I made this cake today, I used 3 layers for the cake and made the 4th layer into cake crumbs (I used to decorate the sides of the cake). Will bring it to our family get-together tomorrow, my boys ate the leftover cake crumbs and asked me to make this cake again and again!:D I bought the wrong whipping cream so I ended up using only sour cream + vanilla-sugar powder (that I sweetened with condensed milk). Thank you so much for sharing this great recipe Natasha!!! God bless!
I’m so happy you all of the cake. Thank you so much for an awesome review and God bless you also!
Can’t wait to try your fabulous recipe and I’ll be back for a lot more recipes. Wonderful work Natasha.
I hope you love everything you try and find many new favorites 😉
I have to say, this cake is…perfection! I’ve loved chernosliv since I was a little girl, but whenever I tried to make one the recipes always failed me. I followed your recipe exactly and it turned out wonderful! I made it for a family Christmas gathering, and it was the first cake to be completely gone:) Thanks for this wonderful recipe…it’s definitely new favorite!
I sure do love this cake too. It’s one that took me a LONG time to perfect :). I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing that with me!
Hey Natasha, I have a question about the honey prune cake. Do you have to do anything with prunes( like zapariti v kipitky or something) or just use them dry as it is?
No special prep required :). They soften with the cake 🙂
Thanks!:) Merry Christmas to you’re family!!!!! God bless!!!! P.S.Love, love you’re site!!!!!!
Loved this cake! 🙂 But since I didn’t have prunes and the cake is already so sweet I decided to use some fresh strawberries in between the layers! It’s like sweet & sour 😉 thanks for the recipe.
I love the idea of adding strawberries! Yum!!
what kind honey r you using home or store? (brand)
thankyou!!
It’s a raw Idaho honey that I found at Costco. You can use either kind 🙂
Excited to try this one for Thanksgiving!!
It really is a great choice for thanksgiving! I hope you LOVE it! I’ll either make this one or the POM Cake. I’m thinking to save the POM cake for Christmas 🙂
Ablosutely love this cake! It is our favorite:) Thank you for sharing!!
Thank you for a great review Mal, I’m glad you love it :).
YUMM!! I have made this twice already and everyone has loved it! It’s beautiful, looks complicated and absolutely delicious. Thank you, thank you for making me look like a pro! 🙂
Anytime ;-). I’m so happy you liked it!
Hello Natasha,
I’m from the Philippines and I am very inspired by your blog, keep it up! I have tried some of the recipes and they are great. I can’t wait to try the cupcakes and cakes though, maybe next year as I don’t have my oven yet but surely I will.
I hope you love every recipe you try! Thanks so much for your sweet comment 🙂
Hi there,
im just wondering can you tell me how many ingredients shall i need if i want to serve 5 people only instead of 12. and is it possible that i make a cake with layers of the prune honey cake and 8 layers honey cake? what im thinking is the cake can have the goodness of both deserts, is this even doable? Ireally want to combine them together
Thank you
Which honey cake are you referring to? I supposed you could cut the entire cake in half but I haven’t tried that so I couldn’t tell you exactly how different the bake time would be and it wouldn’t be a very tall cake unless you used narrower cake pans.
What percentage of whipping cream do u use for your cakes?
I use a heavy whipping cream. It should be at least 36% milk fat.
Thanks Natasha, it was a truly lovely recipe. I recently tried and came out just perfect, love to try this again.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
Where do u buy your prunes? Are they canned or fresh?
They are just regular dried prunes. These were actually organic prunes from Fred Meyer 🙂
Hi Natasha,
I finally got around to making this cake. When I took the cake out of the oven it fell and was not as fluffy looking as yours. I thinking it was slightly under baked…
But it has the classic chernisliv flavor and I love it. Not too sweet. Just perfect so I will try I again.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake! Aren’t the flavors amazing together? It sounds like it just needed 3 minutes more or so in the oven. It might be a difference in ovens. I didn’t see it really fall at all after I took it out of the oven. Anything else that could have been different in the process?
Made this cake for a fam get together. lovely cake!!!! I used only 1 cup of powdered sugar in the frosting since the batter had honey and sugar it it. I also zamachila the layers with a mixture of rum, water and sugar. the cake had 24 hrs to absorb all the deliciousness before it was devoured. It hit the spot Natasha, Thanks! Im trying your teramisu cake next :)))))))))
Ohh I love your variations already! Thanks for sharing how you changed it up. I love trying new versions! I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake. 🙂
I love this cake. I’ve been looking everywhere for this recipe. this is exactly what i wanted!! I made it. everything turned out perfectly. I made the frosting with plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream to save my family the extra calories and it tasted just as good as with sour cream!! my hubby couldnt even tell the difference… Im loving the greek yogurt for the extra protien and its nonfat. 😀
I love the idea of using plain G reek yogurt! You’re brilliant Lana! 🙂
making this asap! need to buy prunes today lol thanks for sharing!!!!
I am so bummed out right now! My cake didn’t rise. Basically one of my cakes is half the height as one of your cakes. I just hate when this happens. What do you think I did wrong? I know you said it didn’t work the first time….. did you have trouble with rising? I just want to make sure you meant what you wrote when you said it requires 2tsp of baking soda. I am now thinking maybe you meant to write 2 tbsp, but then that sounds like a lot:((((
I had trouble with the first two cakes that I made because I was using a completely different method. I haven’t had that issue with this method, they both rose really nicely. Did you do anything differently? It’s so hard to say what it could be without being there, but I’d love to help you troubleshoot it. Did you separate them into the pans equally? It’s defintiely 2 tsp and not 2 Tbsp 🙂
I re-read the recipe just to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Although my cake did not rise like yours, I still managed to cut each korzh into two, so the cake was high, but not fluffy. I also baked each cake layer for 28 min, which was too long for my cake since it didn’t have the capacity to rise anyway, but, I didn’t know that at the time I was baking it, so I over baked them. I decided to finish the cake anyway and It turned out good. My cake was not moist like yours, but it wasn’t dry either. I do think next time I will soak the prunes to soften them a bit . I knew I would have to adjust the recipe for the cream since I did not need as much (again.. due to my korzhi). I used one tub of sour cream, 1cup of heavy cream, 4 oz cream cheese, and sweetened the cream with condensed milk and I did not have any cream left over, so nothing went to waste. I will definitely try again. Maybe my flour played a role. I used all purpose Organic flour. I wonder if the amount of gluten in the flour can affect the cake and whether using pastry flour is better. Anyhow, I hate testing recipes, so that’s why we have you Natasha. Thank you for this recipe. I can understand why you didn’t give up on the cake! By the way, I did divide the cake evenly. It came out to be about 2 and 1/4 cups of batter for each layer. Now I wish I knew how much I was suppose to have. If you will remember to measure next time, this would really help. Thank you so much for all you do.
I think I was using an organic all-purpose flour also. I’m not sure what it could have been. Was the baking soda fairly fresh? Did you wait until the next day to eat it? It’s definitely more moist the next day. Sorry, I didn’t even think to measure the batter.
please help! my frosting didn’t come thick enough… what can i add to it (non-dairy stuff, please)?
What did you use if it’s non-dairy? Did you use something instead of sour cream? It isn’t supposed to be any thicker than sour cream.
i used Tofutti non-dairy sour cream…
I put some of the liquidy frosting in between layers and on top. the rest of frosting went to the freezer. if it becomes anywhere near the supposed consistency, I can still put it on the cakes sides. the cake is on the porch (i’m in NYC, so the temperature is right at least for that 😉 ) and will serve it on sunday, so have time to see.
oh, and your easy bread kvas is a staple at my parties now 🙂 (although I think I overdid a bit with sugar this time)
almost forgot – also making 2 salads, a dressing, and one main dish (plov with chicken) from your site 🙂
That’s so great! Thanks for sharing that with me dear 🙂
It will be less sweet over time as you know 🙂 I’m so glad you love the kvas 🙂
Yeah it’s not supposed to be a super thick frosting, but I haven’t worked with the Tofutti before so I can’t really advise on what to mix into it. I hope you love the cake! 🙂
Natasha thank you for perfecting and sharing this recipe! I’m amazed how this cake rose nicely! It’s delicious! Like someone stated, my organic honey didn’t turn yellow. The honey is really dark to begin with, but it turned out perfecto! Love the chemical reaction too 🙂 I made one yesterday(took it to a prayer meeting) and now thinking and weighting my energy levels if I could make another one right this evening…
Thank you for such a good report Irina :), did you have enough energy to make the second cake?
sadly I didn’t get to make it that evening, but I seriously making it one of these days!
Hey Natasha,
I just made this cake and cant wait to try it tomorrow:)
It turned out so high:) so now Im trying to come up with ideas how to pack it and deliver it to the party which is an hour away:) oh boy!!!
Enjoy it! If you get a chance, I’d love to see how you decorated it! Did you post a pic online?
My decoration was nothing special. Just covered the whole cake and sides with roasted walnuts. But prunes and walnuts are perfect combo!!!
Everyone loved the cake! Thanks again!
Wow! I love the way you decorated it!!! So pretty! I have a quick question. This cake looks pretty tall, if I was to use an 8 in pan, should I cut the recipe in half? I wouldnt want a super tall cake…
This was made with a 9″ cake pan and making it in an 8″ pan; you might make 3/4 of the recipe or you’ll end up with a pretty small cake.
I am so in love with this cake:) Made it like for three parties already. Thank you again!
That’s fantastic!! You’re so welcome. I hope to bring you many more new favorites this year 🙂
Hi Natasha,
I made this cake this weekend and it is very good. Thank you for the recipe. I have one question. What is the easiest way to get the chocolate shaving onto the side of the cake?
Good question. There is no “easy” way. I tilt the cake (very gently) and after dusting on the first round with my hands (I’m almost tossing it at the cake), I scrape the excess chocolate off the base being careful not to get it into the frosting and pat it with my hand onto the cake for a more even finish. Truth be told, if there is a secret easy method, I haven’t discovered it. I think a rotating cake stand would work well, but I don’t have one yet 🙂
Natasha thank you for a truly wonderful cake. Made it for my husbands b-day and everyone loved it. I enjoy making different kinds of cakes as a hobby, but I don’t always have more than 2 slices of it, but with this one it was different. I kept eating it and eating it. It was just delicious and addicting. The flavors went so great with one another. From the honey cake layers to the sour cream frosting to the prunes. Best of all it was so easy and uncomplicated to make. Thank you again and I can’t wait what cake you come up with next 🙂
Thank you Inna! I’m so glad you loved it. Your comment makes me so happy that I didn’t throw in the towel after my first two flops 😉
Wow! Prunes in the Honey cake. What a wonderful idea, Natasha.
This cake was gone quick, very nice mix of flavors :).
Hi Natasha! I’m making this cake for a Russian dinner party I’m attending this week. Just one question – do you refrigerate the cake during the day prior to when you eat it? Thanks!
Yes refrigerate overnight or keep it in a very cold garage covered with plastic wrap.
Thank you so much Natasha for amazing recipe! Today I made this cake the second time already. My kids and my husband love the honey and baking soda part. The cake rises so well and very soft, my grandma loves this cake.
I’m so happy you all love the cake, even Grandma 🙂 That’s very sweet. Thanks for sharing that with me!
I made this cake and it turned out really good! I love it but for some reason I made the frosting by the directions and that was way too much I ended up using only half of it. Are you sure you didn’t mean 16 oz of sour cream not 32?? Just asking cuz I ended up with way too much frosting. But the cake was really good thank you for the receipe
Yes, it is 32 oz 🙂 I used both the 16 oz tubs photographed. I had maybe 2 Tbsp left over (not much). Did you frost both the top and bottom of each layer? Adding more between the layers ensures a more moist cake the next day 🙂 I’m so glad you liked the recipe!
Natasha, thank you so much for this recipe! It is a winner and definitely a favorite! I have been looking for a good prune cake recipe for a long time, and when I saw this I went right to work. This cake is amazing. Got so may “omg’s” and “wow’s” from people!:)
May God bless your kind sharing heart!
That’s music to my ears 🙂 You must have done an amazing job getting all those omg’s and wows 😉
Lol. Maybe I am. Nurses are weird like that. I am not even gonna say anything else about prunes lol
Lol I know exactly what you mean. Hahaha
This cake is amazing!!! This is my new favorite. I made it for the New Year party and it turned out great. The prunes go really well with this cake. I enjoyed the soda/honey chemical reaction too. It was pretty cool. And I see why you have to be very careful, so it does not get overcooked, as it browns very fast. I was very impressed by the end results. Thank you very much!
Yay!! I’m so glad you loved it and also enjoyed the chemical reaction. I’m not the only nerd here. 😉 Not that you’re a nerd. Oh goodness, nevermind. lol. Thanks so much for your awesome feedback!
What a great cake!
I’ve been making a very similar version for years and it was my go-to recipe for birthday cakes that I would bake for my siblings:) before I got married and went on my merry way to Florida.
I love how fluffy and moist it is. It’s also so versatile, literally a blank canvas, and add so many different toppings and fillings. I’ve never tried adding prunes yet. Sounds like a delicious addition.
The recipe I use is exactly the same except a bit less honey, but I’ve never cooked the honey, just added it to the batter just the way it is. Sounds really intriguing.
Cooking it together with the baking soda has provided the best results for me. Otherwise, I ended up with a caved in center. These cake layers were perfect. And the reaction between the honey and baking soda is really cool!! 🙂
I made this cake and it was delicious. Everyone loved it. Thank you Natasha for sharing!
Awesome!! I’m so glad you all enjoyed it 🙂 Did you post a pic of it anywhere online? I’d love to see it!
Hi Natasha,
Thank you so much for the recipes you post!!!
I just baked the cake, but silly me got distracted and forgot to add the last 1/2 of flour oops:/ unfortunately I realized that already when they were in the oven.. I was so disappointed that they probably won’t turn out, but luckily they came out nicely well not exactly as tall as yours though. I’m happy I don’t have to redo it.. Can’t wait to try it tomorrow
Wow that’s great!!! You know it’s a great recipe when it works with half the flour. lol. I hope you love it anyways 😉
This cake is on my list to make tonight!!!! Natasha, you are so sweet to share all your creations with us!! God bless you and your family!
-Your loyal fan!!!!
Thank you for such a sweet comment Alla, I’m truly honored. Blessing to you and your family as well :).
OMG this cake is a hit at my house!! Family’s favorite so far. Kievsky cake was the favorite for a long time and now this one is by far our favorite!!! Not sure what I would do without your website… so so thankful!
Alla you are the sweetest. And I’m so so thankful for you! 🙂
Another question for my churches new years potluck. Would it work if i made this cake square? Or maybe a little bigger? because its really hard to cut it and put it on plates when its so tall and round. I think it would work better if at least it wasn’t so tall. Any suggestions? Thank You
I think it would work in two 9×13 baking pans. The baking time might be a little different (maybe a little less time in the oven).
Hello, I don’t know if you used raw unfiltered honey, but for anyone that does make sure the honey melts all the way before adding the soda. My honey was crystallized and the first time it wasn’t completely liquid so the cake didn’t rise that well. Also for some reason raw unfiltered honey doesn’t turn yellow even after ten minutes of stirring. It stay a light caramel color, but the cake still turns out good and rises well. Thank you for all your amazing recipes!!!
Thank you for sharing that Anna 🙂
Hi, Natasha! Thank you for your wonderful recipes. I’ve used quite a few of them, and everything turns out delicious! I just finished assembling this cake (your instructions are super clear), and it looks picture-perfect! I’m sure it tastes as good (will be eating it tomorrow). Want to wish you a very Happy New Year and many blessings from our Lord!!!
Thank you Venera for such a good report. Happy New Year to you as well 🙂
Hi Natasha! Just made the cake part and it came out super dry and hard. Don’t know what went wrong, it didn’t rise either. Gonna attempt it again in the morning.
It’s hard to say what went wrong without being there with you. But we will try to troubleshoot. Did you follow all the instructions without changing anything? Did you use all the same ingredients without substitutions? The layers should be soft and tall.
hello natasha… I was wondering what is the reason u cook your honey and baking soda?
Will it work if I just added honey and baking soda to the batter instead of cooking? I’m worried mine won’t turn out well for my party. and I just don’t have time to practice 🙂
and thank u thank u for your wonderful blog! Happy New year!!
I’ve tested with by adding baking soda with flour and it did not work well. Heating the honey and mixing in the baking soda gave me the best results, so this is the method I would recommend. Honey activates baking soda.
Ahhh sorry just saw your comment about it being eaten the next day :-D!!!
Yes! It’s better with time (which is also super convenient because you don’t have to make it the day of your party) 😉 Enjoy it!
Oh and one more question, what do u think if i add walnuts to it??
I have read that people add walnuts to it with good results. I haven’t tried only because my son doesn’t eat Walnuts right now. But I think it would work. Are you thinking about putting them in the batter or between the layers with the prunes?
Hey Natasha, sounds amazing, planning to also make it for new years. So u suggest to make it a day ahead right? And also, what do u use to melt ur chocolate, chocolate chips or the cocoa and sugar n milk mix? thnx 😉
I used melting chocolate this time by girrardeli (spelling?), but I’ve also used regular semi-sweet chocolate chips and microwaved them or heated on very low heat on the stove top. You can use either a ziploc bag or a frosting piping bag to decorate the top with chocolate.
Hi Natasha! What a beautiful cake! I am planning on making this for New Year’s, was wondering how much ahead would it be ok to make it? If I make it more than 24 hours ahead of time, will it stay well?
Thanks a lot!
Svetlana
Natasha, I love you site!!! And this cake looks amazing… Have you tried making it gluten free by any chance? Gluten allergies… 🙁 Making your Borscht tomorrow, that’s gluten free 🙂
I haven’t experimented much with gluten free flour so I have no idea how well it would work. The baking soda/honey combo sure makes the cake rise well so maybe it might work. I just haven’t experimented, sorry :(. I hope you love the borscht! 🙂
I really like prunes and this cake looks like it would be fun to make.
Happy New Year!
They are a nice treat in this cake 🙂 Thank you and you have a Happy New Year as well! 🙂
Is it possible to make this cake with other fruit? Or even fresh fruit like strawberries or raspberries?
Yes! I think that would taste good. I think it would be nice with strawberries and peaches. Let me know how much you love it and what kind of fruit you end up using 🙂
This is some aaaamazingness Natasha!! I’m drooling just by looking at this “healthy” version of the cake. lol, let’s not count the heavy whip and all the other goodies:) Thank you and happy New Years to you and your family!!
Yeah, we don’t have to talk about the rest. Lets just keep our focus on the prunes. lol. )
Yay! You did it .. I think I asked for this recipe like about a year ago (on FB) 🙂 Thank you for posting this recipe, cant wait to try it out!!!
Yeah,.. About that. No excuse. Lol 😉
Do you have to use unbleached flour or can you use bleached flour?
You can use either one. I just shared what I used. It was an organic unbleached one from Costco. You can use either one 🙂
YYUUUMM!!! Definatly gonna try this! I bought a whole container with prunes to make this cake but different recipe version and i didnt like it at all:( i was soo bumbed out, kinda came out dry! and i said that im not making that cake again for sure, but now i will give this one a try:) thank you
Don’t quit! I’m so glad I didn’t 🙂 This cake turned out so nice. I think you’ll love it. I’d love to know how it compared to the one that you were bummed out about 😉
Wow! This cake looks fantastic!!! Making it tomorrow for Sunday birthday party:) Thank you Natasha!
I hope you love it!! Is it your birthday?
No, my son is turning 3 on the 30th:) smack dab between Christmas and New Year! I’m suspecting I’ll be making another one for New Year:))) <— that's my triple chins right there, from too much yummy stuff you post;)
Happy birthday to your little guy! Wow that is alot of celebrating for you in 1 week! Is this your busiest week all year? 😉
Thank you! I told him, and he ran to his sister yelling that a “famous person from iPad” wished him happy birthday! Lol:) As far as the busy week of the year goes, it is the busiest! By the way the cakes are cooling as we speak, and I’m getting ready to make the frosting:)
Awww that’s so sweet. I’m smiling ear to ear. Awwww. 🙂
Natasha! I wanted to thank you for this recepie 🙂 The cake turned out great, and my family looooved it!
That is fantastic! Thank you so much for a great review.
I have a similar recipe and we love it a lot. the honey cake layers and the prunes are just yummy for real. (even healthy. lol)
That’s right. Prunes, prunes, the magical fruit… lol. Definitely healthy 😉
I tried this cake before and it was so good! They sell it at our local Russian store and I tried it couple of times. Now my mission is to make it at home. Saving this recipe! Thank you as always!
Thank you Inna! I hope it’s even better than the store-bought one! 🙂
I am making this cake for the New Year party. Thanks Natasha.
I hope you and all your party guests love it!! 🙂
I love, love, love this cake. My aunt in Belarus made this cake for special occasions and it is divine. I have made it several times and unless you tell people that this cake has prunes no one can ever guess. 🙂 Beautiful pictures as always, Natasha!
The prunes on top give it away! Otherwise, you’re right, you would never be able to tell 🙂 Thank you Ksenia for your sweet compliment 🙂
You did it again!!!!! Amazing cake dear!! Happy New Year to your family!!
It felt like a marathon this month. Two major new cakes in 1 month. Phew!! 🙂 Happy New Year to you too! 🙂
It looks incredible! The cake layers look so soft and fluffy. I love Chernosliv but haven’t had it for ages. It would be so great for the New Year’s Eve!
It’s one of my favorites also. I’m so excited to finally get the recipe down and it rose so nicely. I’m just REALLY EXCITED!!! 🙂
I noticed that you whip your heavy cream and sour cream separately and then blend them together. Is there a reason for it?
You want your heavy cream to be whipped up nicely to make the frosting a little thicker.
this cake looks like real beauty. I want to make this cake for new years.. how would u say this cake would taste with raspberries instead? and I’m thinking of making a clock decor on top of cake…. oooooh that works look awesome….
love your cakes natasha. u always give me the passion for baking
What an awesome idea!! I LOVE that! Do you do it with melted chocolate and a steady hand? Get it, steady hand? on the clock? nevermind. lol 🙂 Happy New Years!
Yummy. I always get excited to bake cakes. Thanks Natasha
Oh me too! Me too!! I hope you love this 🙂
Beautiful cake! I have all the ingredients except the prunes, gotta grab some and make this one! Thank you 🙂
Isn’t that the best when you already have what you need. The ingredients in this cake aren’t complicated. The prunes are the only ingredient I don’t stock regularly 😉