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Smetannik cake recipe
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Smetannik cake "Mishka na severe"

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". With this recipe you make the Smetannik cake at home.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Russian, Soviet
Prep Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Cooling time 2 hours
Servings 12

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.