{"id":8306,"date":"2026-10-19T15:18:50","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T06:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8306"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:49:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:49:36","slug":"medovik","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/medovik\/","title":{"rendered":"Medovik"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Many thin layers of honey-enriched dough are baked, stacked alternately with cream and left to rest. Medovik is a many-layered cake whose layers soften as they absorb moisture from the cream. It is popular across the former Soviet sphere, including Russia, Ukraine and the Baltic states, and similar cakes are also found in neighboring areas. Besides the aroma of honey, the way the layers are baked and the length of time they are left to absorb moisture from the cream determine the texture of the layers.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
A medovik published by its creator as a 6-layer homemade cake (April 26, 2020; location unknown). It is assembled in a round and its sides are covered with crumbled cake layers. Photo: NDElsga \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Downscaled version obtained from Commons. No alterations or cropping made by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Dough rolled out with a rolling pin and batter spread onto paper<\/h2>\n

Rather than slicing a thick sponge horizontally, thin layers are baked one at a time. In one method, honey, sugar and butter are warmed, baking soda is added, and then flour and eggs are mixed in; in another, baking soda, eggs and flour are combined with warmed honey, and the batter is spread thinly onto paper with a spoon. Some recipes (the ingredient proportions and method) for the latter add neither butter nor sugar to the batter, so even within medovik the firmness of the dough and the way it is handled differ.<\/p>\n

Honey provides sweetness and aroma, and it also creates the acidic environment that baking soda needs to work. The reaction with the baking soda introduces bubbles into the dough, so the layers bake up light even though they are thin. The warmed, mixed dough is baked thin so that it rises, and it is stacked with cream afterward.<\/p>\n

In a recipe presented by a Ukrainian chef, the dough is chilled to reduce its stickiness, rolled out to 26 centimeters in diameter and about 1 millimeter thick, pricked with a fork and baked at 200\u00b0C for about 5 minutes. After baking, the layers are trimmed to 24 centimeters, and 7 to 9 of them, sometimes 12, are stacked. In the Latvian method of spreading the batter, about 10 layers are baked, cooled and trimmed into squares. The trimmings are crumbled and scattered over the top and sides, so the aroma of the honey cake can be enjoyed from the outside as well.<\/p>\n

\n\"Cross-section\n
A sliced medovik (March 28, 2011; location unknown). Thin cake layers and white cream are stacked in many layers. Photo: Edinburgh blog \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY 2.0<\/a>. Full-size image obtained. No alterations or cropping made by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Layers that soften with moisture from the cream<\/h2>\n

With smetana or sour cream, the tang of the fermented dairy overlaps with the sweetness of the honey. There are simple methods that mix in only sugar, methods that add whipped cream for a lighter texture, and methods that add condensed milk. Even if the cake is firm right after stacking, moisture from the cream migrates while it rests, and it becomes soft enough to cut with a fork.<\/p>\n

The resting time also varies by method. The Ukrainian recipe refrigerates the cake for 24 hours, and a London maker\u2019s recipe for 12 to 24 hours. The Latvian version, in which a soft batter is spread and baked, is left for a few hours. The time needed for the moisture to settle in is adjusted according to the firmness of the baked layers and the differences in the cream.<\/p>\n

The single-layer bake of 1960 and the layered cake made in Soviet homes<\/h2>\n

Page 323 of the 3rd edition of \u201c\u0423\u043a\u0440\u0430\u0457\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0456 \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0438\u201d (\u201cUkrainian Dishes\u201d), published in Kyiv in 1960, also includes a \u201c\u041c\u0415\u0414\u041e\u0412\u0418\u041a.\u201d However, it is made by boiling honey, sugar and butter, combining them with flour, adding eggs, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves, chilling the dough for 2 days, and then rolling it out into a single sheet about half a finger thick and baking it. It was a honey confection baked as a single layer, with no cream in between. Despite the same name, its method differs from the version widely known today, in which many layers of cake and cream are stacked.<\/p>\n

Food historians Pavel and Olga Syutkin state that medovik with many layers of cake and cream was commonly made in Soviet homes in the 20th century. In the method handed down in the couple\u2019s family, the honey dough is divided into 8 or 9 portions and left overnight, each layer is baked quickly one at a time, and the layers are spread with a cream of boiled condensed milk and butter and left to absorb more moisture. The cream differs from versions filled with smetana, but softening the baked layers by letting them absorb moisture is common to both. Both the cake baked as a single layer and the cake stacked in many layers have come down under the same name, medovik. When and how the method changed is not clear.<\/p>\n

The story of an empress who disliked honey yet was delighted<\/h2>\n

There is a legend, set in the court of Alexander I in the 19th century, that a new cook, unaware that Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna disliked honey, made a honey cake. Despite the cook\u2019s worries, the empress is said to have loved it from the first bite.<\/p>\n

This court story is popular as a legend about the birth of medovik. The Syutkins are cautious about the claim that the cake as it is today, with many layers of cake and cream, was created for the empress.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
A slice of medovik topped with fruit and chocolate decorations (June 1, 2015; location unknown). The photo was already cropped in the original image published on Commons. The type of cream cannot be identified from the photo alone. Photo: insatiablemunch @ Flickr ; cropped by Off-shell \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY 2.0<\/a>. Full-size image obtained. No alterations or cropping made by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Regional differences in honey and cream<\/h2>\n

In Ukraine, the aroma and color are chosen through the type of honey, such as nearly colorless, transparent acacia, golden sunflower or dark buckwheat. Even with the same quantities of ingredients, the intensity of the layers\u2019 aroma changes.<\/p>\n

Some versions of Czech medovn\u00edk are filled with caramel-colored sweetened condensed milk and butter, and their tops are covered with crumbled cake mixed with walnuts. In Bulgaria it is also called \u201cFrench country cake,\u201d and there are examples that pair sour cream with blueberry jam. Marlenka is a brand that began production in the Czech Republic in 2003 based on an Armenian family recipe. Layered honey cakes have also spread through migration and commercial production.<\/p>\n

Medivnyk, baked in one go with fruit and nuts<\/h2>\n

In Ukraine, medivnyk does not refer only to layered cakes. A version handed down in families in Lviv adds generous amounts of spices, nuts, raisins and candied fruit and is baked in one go in a long, narrow pan. It shares a name derived from honey, but its cut surface reveals fruit and nuts rather than layers of cream.<\/p>\n

Lithuanian medutis, with layers left to absorb moisture before stacking<\/h2>\n

A home recipe for medutis warms honey, butter, sugar and eggs in a bain-marie, cools the mixture, mixes in flour and baking powder, and bakes it divided into 5 or 6 layers. The filling is sour cream with 30% fat, combined with powdered sugar and lemon juice. Nuts and raisins or cranberries rehydrated in water are scattered over it.<\/p>\n

Its distinctive feature is the order: each layer is spread with cream and left to absorb it for about 1 hour before being stacked. Rather than resting only after assembly, the layers also absorb moisture from the cream before they are stacked.<\/p>\n

Polish miodownik made with 3 layers<\/h2>\n

In one method for miodownik, 3 layers of honey dough made with butter and egg yolks are baked separately. They are filled with a cream made by cooking milk with vanilla- or cream-flavored pudding powder until set, cooling it and combining it with whipped butter, and with a cream combining kajmak with mascarpone and heavy cream.<\/p>\n

After assembly, the cake goes into the refrigerator until the cream layers are chilled and set. Whereas medovik uses many thin layers, this miodownik combines 3 thicker layers with 2 kinds of cream. What they share is letting the honey dough and the dairy meld together.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Bain-marie<\/strong>: A method of warming ingredients indirectly by placing their container in the heat of hot water.<\/p>

Kajmak<\/strong>: A caramel-colored sweet paste made by cooking down milk and sugar, used in Polish confectionery.<\/p>

Mascarpone<\/strong>: A smooth, high-fat cheese made from cream.<\/p>

Smetana<\/strong>: A fermented cream used in Russia, Ukraine and other countries. Its fat content varies by product.<\/p>

Baking soda<\/strong>: Sodium bicarbonate. An ingredient used to make dough rise.<\/p>

Elizabeth Alexeievna<\/strong>: Empress consort of Russian Emperor Alexander I. She appears in the court legend of medovik.<\/p>

Alexander I<\/strong>: Russian emperor in the early 19th century. Ruler of the court in which the legend about the empress is set.<\/p>

Pavel \/ Olga Syutkin<\/strong>: Food historians who have examined the court anecdote and cookbooks. They have also published their family\u2019s recipe for multilayer medovik.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n
  1. \n

    Ukrainian Institute \/ \u0457zhakultura, \u201cUkraine. Food and History,\u201d 2020, pp. 189\u2013191, 230\u2013231<\/a> \u2014 Types of honey; chef Vitaly Huralevych\u2019s thin layers, smetana and fresh cream, and 24-hour rest<\/p>\n<\/li>

  2. \n

    COST Action BeSafeBeeHoney, \u201cRecipe Book,\u201d 2025, pp. 104\u2013105<\/a> \u2014 Latvian spread batter, the step of melting crystallized honey, about 10 layers, reuse of the trimmings, origin story<\/p>\n<\/li>

  3. \n

    Mike Bakes, \u201cHoney Cake in London: A Guide to Medovik\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The maker\u2019s 8 layers, heating and shaping, crumbs from the trimmings, 12\u201324-hour rest<\/p>\n<\/li>

  4. \n

    \u0410\u043b\u0435\u043a\u0441\u0435\u0439 \u0417\u0438\u043c\u0438\u043d, \u201c\u041c\u0435\u0434\u043e\u0432\u0438\u043a,\u201d \u041a\u043e\u043c\u043c\u0435\u0440\u0441\u0430\u043d\u0442\u044a Weekend, June 5, 2020<\/a> \u2014 6\u20138 thin layers, cream of smetana, condensed milk and honey, overnight rest<\/p>\n<\/li>

  5. \n

    Petra Kupsk\u00e1, \u201cMedovnik Czech Honey Cake\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Czech cream of sweetened condensed milk and butter, spread batter, crumbs with walnuts<\/p>\n<\/li>

  6. \n

    Daniela Lambova, \u201cMedovik\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Alternative name in Bulgaria; a modern example with blueberry jam and dairy cream<\/p>\n<\/li>

  7. \n

    Pani Stefa, \u201c\u041c\u0435\u0434\u0456\u0432\u043d\u0438\u043a \u0434\u0443\u0436\u0435 \u0434\u043e\u0431\u0440\u0438\u0439\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Medivnyk baked in one piece with fruit, nuts and spices, as handed down in a Lviv family<\/p>\n<\/li>

  8. \n

    Embassy of the Czech Republic, \u201cMarlenka returns to Armenia\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Armenian-born founder, founding in the Czech Republic in 2003, and exports<\/p>\n<\/li>

  9. \n

    \u201c\u0423\u043a\u0440\u0430\u0457\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0456 \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0438,\u201d 3rd edition, Kyiv, 1960<\/a> \u2014 The \u201c\u041c\u0415\u0414\u041e\u0412\u0418\u041a\u201d on p. 323 of the original (PDF page 371) was examined directly as an image. It is a recipe in which honey dough is rolled out into a single sheet and baked, with no cream layers. This is a record of the name and cannot be used to identify it as the prototype of the multilayer type.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  10. \n

    Pavel and Olga Syutkin, \u201cMedovik: Russia\u2019s Famous and Mysterious Honey Cake\u201d (2022)<\/a> \u2014 Food culture historians\u2019 examination of the court story and old cookbooks, its spread in Soviet homes, and their own family\u2019s multilayer recipe with condensed milk and butter cream. The article cites the 1960 book as a printed example of a cake of the same name, but that recipe, as confirmed from images of the original book, is single-layered.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  11. \n

    Beatos virtuv\u0117 \/ Andrius Plindinas, \u201cSenovinis Medutis\u201d (2019)<\/a> \u2014 A home recipe inherited from his mother. Dough warmed in a bain-marie, 5\u20136 layers, sour cream and lemon, nuts and dried fruit, about 1 hour of absorption before stacking.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  12. \n

    Ania Gotuje, \u201cMiodownik\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The author\u2019s own full ingredients and steps. 3 honey layers, a cream of milk, pudding powder and butter, kajmak with mascarpone and heavy cream, chilling after assembly. Statements giving the chilling time as overnight or two to three days cannot be confirmed in this recipe.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  13. \n

    Charl\u00e9 Visser, \u201cRussian Honey Cake \u2013 Medovik\u201d (2020)<\/a> \u2014 The maker\u2019s explanation. Bubbles from the acidity of honey and baking soda, spreading warm batter, thin baking and moisture absorption. Not used to support the court legend.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  14. Editorial note<\/h2><\/li>

  15. The Syutkins point out that there are no contemporary records or memoirs of the court legend about the empress, and that they did not find a corresponding cake in several cookbooks from the early 19th century. The main text does not detail that research process but retains the story\u2019s status as a legend and the researchers\u2019 cautious view.<\/p><\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In a medovik, fine honey-colored lines run tier after tier between layers of white cream. Found in many parts of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet sphere, this cake requires not only time to bake but also time to rest after it is layered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":6990,"menu_order":61,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Medovik","subtitle":"An Eastern European cake of thin honey layers stacked with cream","topics":"Honey dough \/ Thin layers \/ Sour cream \/ Names across a wide region","country":"Ukraine, Russia and others","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["cream","egg","honey"],"texture":["moist"],"occasion":[],"method":["baked","chilled"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[154],"class_list":["post-8306","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"manual","sweetlore_related_articles":[8297,8252,8253,8256,8261,8262,8263,8264]},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t