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Soviet shortcrust cake "Landish"
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Shortcrust cake "Landish"

The cake "Landish" tastes crumbly, fruity and tender. It was one of the most popular cakes of the Soviet era and a staple in many Soviet pastry shops. With this recipe, you can easily make the shortcrust cake "Landish" at home.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Russian, Soviet
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Cooling time 1 hour
Servings 8

Equipment

  • kitchen thermometer
  • hand mixer

Ingredients

for the cake bases

  • 160 g butter room warm
  • 100 g powdered sugar
  • 1 egg room warm
  • approx. 350 g flour
  • 3 g baking powder
  • 1 pinch of ground vanilla bean
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • flour for the work surface

for the filling

for the fondant

  • 150 g sugar
  • 50 ml water
  • 2 - 3 drops of lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp cocoa powder
  • approx. 1 - 2 tsp warm water

Instructions

Preparation of the fondant

  • Put water and sugar in a small saucepan and heat slowly, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
  • Bring the sugar syrup to a boil, add lemon juice and stir briefly.
  • Place the lid on the saucepan and cook the sugar syrup, without stirring, over a medium heat until it reaches 237 °F - 239 °F (114 °C - 115 °C). Keep removing the lid to check the temperature.
  • As soon as the sugar syrup has reached the required temperature, immediately cool it down to approx. 104 °F (40 °C) on ice water.
  • Beat the sugar syrup with the dough hook of a hand mixer until it becomes snow-white and firm.
  • Now scrape the fondant out of the saucepan using a tablespoon and knead it briefly with your hands (if it is sticky, you can roll your hands lightly in powdered sugar).
  • Wrap the fondant in cling film and leave it to mature in the fridge for at least 12 hours.

Preparation of the cake bases

  • Beat softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt for approx. 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
  • Add egg and beat to a homogeneous mixture.
  • Mix flour with baking powder.
  • Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in portions and knead briefly and quickly to form a soft shortcrust dough.
  • Roll out the dough on a floured sheet of baking paper to a large rectangle (approx. 35 cm x 25 cm in my case) approx. 3 - 4 mm thick and pierce it in several places with a fork.
  • Pull the baking paper with the dough onto the baking sheet, bake the cake base in a preheated oven at 374 °F (190 °C) for approx. 12 minutes and leave to cool.
  • Carefully cut a 0.5 cm thick edge off all sides of the cake base and crumble it finely. You will need the crumbs later for the sides of the cake.
  • Cut the cake base itself into four equally sized, smaller, rectangular cake bases.
  • Spread three of the cake bases generously with jam and stack them on top of each other.
  • Place the last cake base on top and spread it very thinly with the jam.
  • Spread all sides of the cake with the jam.
  • Chill the cake for approx. 20 minutes so that the jam sets.

Covering the cake with the fondant

  • Place the fondant in a heat-resistant container and heat slowly (do not heat above 50 °C!) over a water bath until it thickens.
  • If necessary, thin the fondant mixture with approx. 1 teaspoon of warm water if it is too thick.
  • Quickly cover the surface of the cake with the thick fondant, leaving approx. 1 tablespoon of it to decorate the cake.
  • Add cocoa powder to the remaining fondant and mix. If the mixture is too thick, thin it out again with a little warm water.
  • Fill the chocolate fondant into a piping bag with a narrow hole and draw stripes on the cake.
  • Sprinkle the sides of the cake with the crumbs.
  • Chill the shortcrust cake "Landish" for at least 1 hour.

Notes

  • The amount of flour specified may vary. Add as much flour to the butter mixture in portions until you have a soft, non-sticky dough.
  • Only knead the dough briefly until it has a homogeneous consistency so that the cake bases taste tender and crumbly later on.
  • You can use any jam you like. The cake tastes best with a jam that has a high fruit content, less sugar and a sour note.
  • You can prepare the fondant in advance. It will keep in the fridge for about 2 - 3 months.
  • Dilute the fondant with very small portions of warm water. If you add too much water, the fondant could become too thin, causing it to run off the cake or become transparent.
  • Spread the thick fondant over the cake as quickly as possible, as it sets quite quickly.
  • You can also chill the cake "Landish" overnight before serving. It tastes even better the next day.
  • The time required for the fondant to mature is not included in the preparation time.
  • Take note of the detailed tips and tricks for making the shortcrust cake "Landish" at the top of the article.