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The Russian sour cream cake “Mishka na severe” tastes incredibly tender, creamy and airy. Walnuts give it a slightly crunchy note. Not without reason, it was one of the most popular homemade Soviet cakes, along with the cake “Damskiy kapriz” and the cake “Muraveynik”. You can find a detailed Smetannik cake recipe with the exact quantities and step-by-step instructions here at the very bottom.
Who invented the Smetannik cake?
Unlike the classic cakes, such as the cake “Skazka”, Leningradsky cake or Kiev cake, which could be bought in the Soviet confectioneries, the Smetannik is a homemade cake. It was invented by housewives during the Soviet period. The handwritten recipe was passed down from generation to generation.
Each housewife added her own flavor to the cake “Mishka na severe”. Thus, there are several recipes for it, which are slightly different from each other.
The word “Smetannik” comes from “smetana”, which translated from Russian means “sour cream”. “Mishka na severe” means “bear in the north”. So it is the Russian sour cream cake “Bear in the north”.
Why the cake got this enchanting name is not known. Sometimes it is just called “Mishka”.
What is the cake “Mishka na severe” made of?
Both the cake layers and the cream for the cake “Mishka na severe” are prepared with sour cream. The recipe does not use eggs.
The cake is a layer cake, which consists of vanilla and chocolate cake layers. Thanks to sour cream they are incredibly fluffy and soft.
The cake cream contains only sour cream, powdered sugar and vanilla. This is the same cream with which the classic medovik cake is prepared.
In addition, the Smetannik cake is often refined with nuts. This gives it a slightly crunchy, nutty flavor.
With or without nuts?
I prepared the Russian sour cream cake with roasted walnut kernels, just like the honey cake “Winnie-the-Pooh”. They give it an aromatic crunchy note and combine perfectly in taste with the soft cake layers and creamy sour cream filling.
Instead of walnuts, you can use other nuts. Hazelnuts, for example, are suitable.
If you want the Smetannik without nuts, just leave them out. In this case, you just get an incredibly tender cake that practically melts in your mouth, similar to the nut rogaliki.
How many cake layers?
My cake “Mishka na severe” consists of eight cake layers – four light and four dark. They are quite thin for that.
Alternatively, you can make three or even two each of vanilla and chocolate cake layers. In this case, roll them out thicker. By the way, this saves you time – both for rolling out and for baking.
This Russian sour cream cake is
- tender,
- creamy,
- soft,
- fluffy,
- nutty,
- slightly chocolaty,
- heavenly delicious,
- aromatic,
- with sour cream cake layers and sour cream cream,
- easy and quick to make,
- a sweet eye-catcher on the coffee table,
- with a fabulous name,
- ideal for a Christmas party,
- delicious at any time of the year,
- a homemade Soviet classic.
Easy Smetannik cake recipe
The Smetannik cake recipe you’ll find here at the end of the post in the recipe box is probably, along with the cake “Charodeyka” recipe, one of the simplest Soviet cake recipes. However, in terms of taste, the cake can more than compete with any other from that era.
Step 1:
First you knead a very soft vanilla dough from sour cream, sugar, soft butter, vanilla, flour and baking soda, divide it into four pieces and let them cool for a short time.
Then, using the same ingredients, but replacing a small portion of flour with cocoa powder, knead a soft chocolate dough. Divide it into four pieces and place them in the refrigerator in the same way.
Step 2:
Now you start baking the light cake layers. To do this, roll out each piece of vanilla dough thinly into a circle, bake it for about 5 minutes, and then immediately cut off the uneven edge by the circle. Do the same with the remaining three pieces of dough.
Then bake the four chocolate cake layers in the same way.
Crush all the leftover dough into fine light or dark crumbs.
Step 3:
Now you can make the cream. It is ready in a flash. Just mix sour cream, powdered sugar and vanilla.
Step 4:
You are ready to assemble the sour cream cake. Spread each cake layer with the cream, sprinkle lightly with roasted and chopped walnuts (except for the last one) and stack the light and dark cake layers alternately.
Sprinkle the outside of the cake with the light and dark crumbs and decorate it with walnuts as you like. After it has cooled for a few hours, you can cut it.
How to make Smetannik cake: tips and tricks
- The amount of flour specified in the recipe may differ in each case. Therefore, add it to the sour cream mixture in portions until the necessary consistency of the dough is reached. Both the vanilla and chocolate dough must be very soft and only slightly sticky.
- The baking time given in the recipe may differ slightly for you. Bake the light cake layers first. With them you can visually better determine whether they are ready. The dark cake layers will take the same amount of time to bake.
- You can adjust the amount of powdered sugar for the cream according to your taste.
- Instead of walnuts, you can use other nuts. You can also omit them completely.
- The cake “Mishka na severe” tastes best if you let it warm up a little at room temperature before serving.
Video recipe for Russian sour cream cake
By the way, you can find a short video for the Smetannik cake on my Youtube channel. There you can see exactly how to make it at home. If you don’t want to miss any more videos from me, feel free to subscribe to my channel.
Did you make the Russian Smetannik cake “Mishka na severe” with this recipe? I’m looking forward to your result, your star rating and your comment here below how it turned out and tasted.
Looking for more Soviet cake recipes? Try:
- Cake “Slavutych” – forgotten pearl from the Soviet era
- Cake “Abrikotin” – forgotten Soviet shortbread cake
- Cake “Gusinye lapki” – recipe for Soviet chocolate cake with cherries
Smetannik cake "Mishka na severe"
Equipment
- Ø 22 cm cake ring
Ingredients
for the light cake layers
- 125 g sour cream
- 90 g sugar
- 50 g butter room warm
- approx. 240 g flour
- 2 g baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
- 1 pinch of ground vanilla bean
- 1 pinch of salt
for the dark cake layers
- 125 g sour cream
- 90 g sugar
- 50 g butter room warm
- approx. 220 g flour
- 20 g cocoa powder
- 2 g baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
- 1 pinch of ground vanilla bean
- 1 pinch of salt
for the cream
- 750 g sour cream
- 130 g powdered sugar or to taste
- 1/4 tsp ground vanilla bean
- 90 g walnut kernels or to taste
for decorating (alternative)
- walnut kernels
Instructions
Preparation of the light cake layers
- Mix sour cream, sugar, vanilla and salt.
- Add very soft butter and mix.
- Mix flour with baking soda.
- Add the flour mixture in batches to the sour cream mixture and knead briefly to form a very soft, slightly sticky dough.
- Divide the dough into four equal pieces and refrigerate them, covered, while you prepare the dark cake layers.
Preparation of the dark cake layers
- Mix sour cream, sugar, vanilla and salt.
- Add very soft butter and mix.
- Add cocoa powder and mix.
- Mix flour with baking soda.
- Add the flour mixture in batches to the chocolate sour cream mixture and knead briefly to form a very soft, slightly sticky chocolate dough.
- Divide the chocolate dough into four equal pieces and refrigerate them, covered, while you bake the light cake layers.
Baking the cake layers
- First, take a light-colored piece of dough from the refrigerator and roll it out thinly between two sheets of baking paper into a circle slightly larger than 22 cm in diameter. The edges of the circle do not have to look perfectly round. Keep putting a 22 cm diameter cake ring on the rolled out circle of dough to measure its size.
- Carefully remove the top sheet of baking paper from the rolled-out cake layer, pierce it in several places with a fork and bake it in a preheated oven at 392 °F (200 °C) for about 5 minutes.
- Immediately after baking, place the cake ring on the hot cake layer and cut off the uneven edge.
- Roll out, bake and cut the remaining three light dough pieces in the same way.
- Then repeat the same with the dark dough pieces.
- Let the four light and the four dark cake layers and the leftover dough cool.
Preparation of the cream
- Roast walnut kernels in the oven or in a pan, let them cool down and chop them coarsely.
- Mix sour cream with powdered sugar and vanilla.
Preparation of the Smetannik cake
- Place one of the four dark cake layers on a cake plate, spread it with the sour cream cream and sprinkle it a little with the chopped walnuts.
- Place one of the four light cake layers on top, spread it also with the cream and sprinkle it lightly with the walnuts.
- Repeat the procedure alternately with the dark and light cake layers until all are used up. Leave out the walnuts on the last top cake layer, but only spread it with the cream.
- Spread the edges of the cake with the remaining cream.
- Finely chop the light and dark dough scraps separately.
- Sprinkle the edge of the cake with the dark crumbs, sprinkle the top of the cake with the light crumbs and decorate as desired with roasted and chopped walnut kernels.
- Refrigerate the Smetannik cake for about two hours.
Notes
- The specified amount of flour may differ in each case. Therefore, add it to the sour cream mixture in portions until the necessary consistency of the dough is reached. Both the vanilla and chocolate dough must be very soft and only slightly sticky.
- The specified baking time may differ slightly for you. Bake the light cake layers first. With them you can visually better determine whether they are ready. The dark cake layers will take the same amount of time to bake.
- Instead of walnuts, you can use other nuts. You can also omit them completely.
- The cake "Mishka na severe" tastes best if you let it warm up a little at room temperature before serving.
- Note the detailed tips and tricks for making the Smetannik cake at the top of the post.
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