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Fluffy sponge cake, crunchy meringue with nuts, fruity apple filling and light airy Italian meringue make the cake “Yablonka” very versatile in taste. So popular in the Soviet Union, it has now been almost forgotten. You can make it at home with ordinary ingredients. You can find a detailed cake “Yablonka” recipe with the exact quantities and step-by-step instructions below.
What is cake “Yablonka”?
The cake “Yablonka” was one of the most popular Soviet cakes, along with the cake “Podarochnyi”, the Prague cake and the Kiev cake. At the time, it was made according to the GOST (State Standard) recipe and sold in pastry shops, bakeries and grocery stores.
The cake consists of two sponge cake layers, a nut meringue base, an apple filling and, like the Minsky cake, lots of Italian meringue. It is decorated with pink “apple blossoms” and green “leaves” from the frosting.
“Yablonka” translates from Russian as “young apple tree”. Incidentally, the cake was eaten in the Soviet feature film “Sueta suet”, similar to the Karabakh kyata eaten in the feature film “Kidnapping Caucasian Style”.
Which nuts for meringue base
I made the meringue base for the cake “Yablonka” with cashews. Hazelnuts are also very suitable. You can use a mixture of different nuts too.
How to decorate the cake “Yablonka”
During the Soviet era, the cake “Yablonka” was decorated with a sprig of apple blossom from the Italian meringue. For the flowers, dye some of the cream with pink food coloring and for the leaves, dye some of the cream with green food coloring, similar to the cake “Vetka”.
You can use a rose piping nozzle to pipe the flowers. You will need a leaf piping nozzle for the leaves.
How to serve cake “Yablonka”
The cake “Yablonka” tastes best on the day it is made. Then the nut meringue base is really crispy. Over the next few days, it softens, similar to the Pavlova cake, and no longer tastes as crunchy.
This cake is
- fluffy,
- crispy,
- nutty,
- fruity,
- airy,
- tender,
- sweet,
- heavenly delicious,
- aromatic,
- with apple filling,
- versatile in taste,
- easy to make with a certain amount of time,
- an eye-catcher on the coffee table,
- ideal for a special occasion,
- a classic of Soviet cuisine.
How to make cake “Yablonka”: tips and tricks
- Instead of cashews, you can use hazelnuts or a mixture of nuts for the meringue base.
- According to the original recipe, sugar is added to the apple filling. I have left it out as the Italian meringue tastes quite sweet. However, you can add sugar to the apples to taste and leave out the water. Then heat the apple pieces slowly until the sugar has dissolved.
- You can puree the apple filling after cooking if you don’t like chunks of fruit in the cake.
- Weigh the ingredients for the Italian meringue carefully, as the success of the meringue depends on it.
- Use a kitchen thermometer to measure the temperature of the sugar syrup for the meringue.
- Instead of rum, you can use vanilla or lemon zest, for example, to flavor the sugar syrup.
- Decorate the cake “Yablonka” as you wish. I piped flowers onto the cake from the Italian meringue and decorated it with fresh rosemary.
- If possible, serve the cake on the day of preparation or the next day at the latest. Over time, the nut meringue base softens and no longer tastes crispy.
Did you make the cake “Yablonka” using this recipe? I look forward to your result, your star rating and your comment below on how it turned out and how it tasted.
Try these Soviet cakes too:
- Cake “Zolotoy Klyuchik” – just like in Soviet pastry shop
- Khreshchatyk cake – from the treasure chest of Soviet cake recipes
- Cake “Charodeyka” – Soviet classic cake with magic
Cake "Yablonka"
Equipment
- Ø 24 cm springform tin
Ingredients
for the sponge cake
- 4 eggs
- 130 g sugar
- 90 g flour
- 40 g cornstarch
- 1 pinch of salt
for the meringue
- 4 egg whites
- 120 g sugar
- 100 g cashews roasted
- 1 tsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
for the apple filling
- 3 apples medium-sized
- zest of 1 organic lemon
- 3 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 4 g agar-agar gel starch 900
- 100 ml water
for the Italian meringue
- 130 g egg white (from approx. 4 eggs)
- 260 g sugar (twice as much as egg whites)
- 90 ml water (approx. 1/3 of the amount of sugar)
- 1/4 tsp citric acid food-grade
- 1 pinch of salt
for the sugar syrup
- 90 ml water
- 30 g sugar
- 20 ml rum
Instructions
Preparation of the sponge cake
- Line the base of the springform tin with baking paper.
- Mix flour with cornstarch.
- Beat eggs, sugar and salt until light and fluffy.
- Fold the flour mixture into the egg sugar mixture to create an airy, thick sponge batter.
- Pour the batter into the springform tin, bake the sponge cake in a preheated oven at 356 °F (180 °C) for approx. 25 minutes and leave to cool thoroughly.
Preparation of the meringue
- Chop roasted cashews into small pieces.
- Beat egg whites with lemon juice until frothy, add sugar in batches and beat until stiff.
- Fold the cashews into the egg white mixture.
- Spread the nut meringue mixture to a thickness of approx. 1.5 cm in the shape of a Ø 22 cm circle on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Use the remaining meringue to make mounds or strands on the baking tray (they will be crumbled later).
- Dry the nut meringue cake base and the leftover meringue in a preheated oven at 302 °F (150 °C) for 20 minutes. Then switch the oven to 212 °F (100 °C) and dry the meringue for a further 1 hour and 40 minutes until it is dry inside and out.
- Then leave the nut meringue base and the leftover meringue to cool and finely crumble the leftover meringue.
Preparation of the sugar syrup
- Put water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
- Leave the sugar syrup to cool to room temperature and then stir in rum.
Preparation of the apple filling
- Dissolve agar-agar in 50 ml water.
- Peel and core apples and cut them into small cubes.
- Place the apple pieces, lemon juice, lemon zest and the remaining 50 ml water in a saucepan, bring to the boil while stirring and simmer for approx. 10 minutes until the apple pieces are soft.
- Pour the agar-agar dissolved in water into the apples, stir and simmer for another 1 - 2 minutes.
- Leave the apple filling to cool to room temperature.
Preparation of the Italian meringue
- Weigh all the ingredients for the Italian meringue accurately.
- Place egg whites and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Put sugar and water in a small saucepan with a thick base and bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
- As soon as the sugar syrup boils, add the citric acid, stir briefly and leave to simmer without stirring until 248 °F (120 °C).
- At the same time, beat the egg whites in the mixing bowl until very frothy but not stiff.
- As soon as the sugar syrup reaches 248 °F (120 °C) (use a kitchen thermometer!), carefully pour it into the egg whites in a thin stream while continuing to beat (do not stop beating!).
- Now beat the egg white cream for approx. 8 - 10 minutes until very stiff.
Preparation of the cake
- Cut the sponge cake lengthwise into two cake layers of equal thickness.
- Soak the inside of both sponge cake layers with the sugar syrup.
- Spread half of the apple filling on one of the sponge cake layers. Place the nut meringue base on top and spread the rest of the apple filling on top. Place the second sponge base on top of the apple filling.
- Spread the Italian meringue generously over the surface of the cake and cover the sides with the meringue. If necessary, leave some meringue to decorate the cake.
- Sprinkle the sides of the cake with the meringue crumbs.
- Decorate the cake "Yablonka" as you wish and serve.
Notes
- Instead of cashews, you can use hazelnuts or a mixture of nuts for the meringue base.
- According to the original recipe, sugar is added to the apple filling. I have left it out as the Italian meringue tastes quite sweet. However, you can add sugar to the apples to taste and leave out the water. Then heat the apple pieces slowly until the sugar has dissolved.
- You can puree the apple filling after cooking if you don't like chunks of fruit in the cake.
- Instead of rum, you can use vanilla or lemon zest, for example, to flavor the sugar syrup.
- Decorate the cake "Yablonka" as you wish. I piped flowers onto the cake from the Italian meringue and decorated it with fresh rosemary.
- If possible, serve the cake on the day of preparation or the next day at the latest. Over time, the nut meringue base softens and no longer tastes crispy.
- Take note of the detailed tips and tricks for making the cake "Yablonka" at the top of the article.
If you are using Pinterest, you can pin the following picture:
