Honey Cake Recipe from 20th Century Cafe

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My favorite cake. That’s a pretty big statement to make but it’s true. I love the Russian Honey Cake from the former 20th Century Cafe in San Francisco. I’ve posted about it one, two, three … okay, many times. Tender honey cake is separated by luscious burnt honey and dulce de leche cream, for a total of 20 layers!

Every time I enjoyed a slice at the cafe, I told myself, I need the recipe. My wish came true when it was published in The New York Times. UPDATE: Pastry chef Michelle Polzine published a revised version in her new cookbook that I’m sharing here. I followed the instructions exactly and was very pleased with the results. The textures and flavors were spot on.

My baking tips and notes from making the cake:

Read the recipe (see below).
I know this is a given, but for this project, it is especially helpful to mise everything. There are a lot of components that require quite a few prep bowls and pans, plus counter space.

Ingredients.
Michelle Polzine uses wildflower honey, which is more floral than clover honey. I really like the depth of flavor it brings to this cake. She uses the SF Bay Area’s Marshall’s Honey. They have a great stand on the front side of the Ferry Building Saturday Foodwise farmers’ market.

It takes time.
I recommend this as a weekend project. The technique isn’t difficult; there are just a lot of steps. It’s 2-3 hours active time (my sister helped), plus overnight. As the cake sits, it absorbs the cream and soften, similar to an icebox cake technique. I’ve made the cake 3 times now and still think it’s worth it, because you’ll get about 20 slices. Definitely good for a big celebration cake. It will keep for a few days. Just cover the exposed sides with plastic wrap or parchment.

Make it any size you want.
No cake pans are needed. The recipe says to draw circles on parchment and then spread the batter on top. I made it 9″ as stated. I’ve also done an 8″, but kept the batter quantity the same, the cake ended up being 1-2 layers taller. 6″ was a fun size but the slices didn’t have the same beautiful wide layers.

Baking time.
I cut the oven time in half by baking 2 cake layers at a time, one on each sheet pan. At the 4-minute mark, I swapped the pans from the top and bottom racks, so the cakes would brown evenly.

The cake layers will bake up like thin pancakes.
After they bake, let them sit for a few minutes. Then, while still warm, peel the parchment away from the cake.  It’s much easier to do before they’ve cooled down.

Assembly
Chef Michelle Polzine uses an ice cream scoop to mound the honey cream on each layer before spreading. I found that the cream got a bit melty during assembly, so I kept the bowl in an ice bath. You can also re-whip it if needed. Also, with all the layers, a rotating cake stand really helped when putting the cake together.

Slice it thin.
Less is more. The cake is very rich and flavorful, so a thin 3/4″ slice is all you really need. The first slice is always the most difficult to get out. I experimented with a thicker slice, but it didn’t have the same melt-in-your-mouth experience.

Honey Cake

From Michelle Polzine
Makes one very tall 9 1/2-in (24-cm) cake; serves 16 to 20

Ingredients

For the burnt honey:
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (200 ml) wildflower (or other mild) honey
2 tablespoons (30 ml) water, plus more as needed

For the cake:
2/3 cup (150 ml) wildflower (or other mild) honey
1/4 cup (50 ml) Burnt Honey (from above)
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (165 g) sugar
11 1/2 tablespoons (168 g) cold unsalted butter, cubed
5 large eggs
1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon (15 ml) cold water
3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour

For the honey magic frosting:
1 recipe Dulce de Leche (recipe follows) or one 14-ounce (396 g) can store-bought dulce de leche
1/2 cup (118 ml) Burnt Honey (from above)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 cups (1.42 L) heavy cream

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). With a dark marker, trace ten 9-inch (23 cm) circles onto ten 11-by-17 inch (28-by-44 cm) sheets of parchment; flip the sheets over.
   
   
2. Make the burnt honey: Put the honey in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. It will foam up like crazy; continue cooking, stirring, until it starts to color. Now pay close attention: Keep simmering, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula. Once the honey starts to smoke, reduce the heat to low and let it cook for 30 seconds longer. Remove from the heat and carefully swirl the honey in the pan for about a minute, to release some of the heat, then set the pan down and pour in the water, staying way the hell out of the way; it will steam and sizzle!
   
   Once the honey stops bubbling like it’s going to kill you, give it a stir and pour it into a heatproof measuring cup. Stir in enough hot water to make 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (200 ml) burnt honey. (The burnt honey can be made ahead; stored at room temperature, it will keep infinitely.)
   
   
3. Make the cake: In a medium heatproof bowl, combine the honey, burnt honey, sugar, and butter and set the bowl over a pot of simmering water. Crack the eggs into a separate bowl and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
   
   
4. Whisk the honey and butter mixture. When the butter has melted and the mixture is hot to the touch (but not so hot it will burn you), add the eggs all at once while whisking. Continue whisking until the mixture is once again hot to the touch, then whisk in the baking soda mixture: The mixture will look a little foamy and smell kind of weird. (When I taught this cake to my pal Samir Nosrat, she described it as having a “curious odor.”) Remove from the heat, whisk in the cold water, and let cool until warm but not hot.
   
   
5. With a fine-mesh sieve or sifter, sift the flour over the batter and whisk it in until it is perfectly smooth. Do not worry about overmixing.
   
   
6. Using an ice cream scoop or a measuring cup, scoop about 1/3 cup (90 g) of the batter into the center of each of the traced circles on the pieces of parchment. With a small offset spatula, spread the batter into thin even circles. Transfer two of the pieces of parchment to sheet pans and bake, rotating the pans at the halfway point, until the cake layers spring back when lightly pressed, 6 1/2 to 7 minutes (it may take up to 1 minute longer, but remember: You can bake it more but not bake it less, and subsequent layers, baked on warm sheet pans, may take less time).
   
   Remove the baked layers from the sheet pans (still on their parchment) and let cool. Repeat the baking process with the remaining layers. I find it easier to peel the layers off the parchment when they are warm, but do not stack the layers until they are completely cool (yes, you will have layers on every surface – clear space!).
   
   
7. Turn off your oven and let it cool for 10 minutes. Take your least favorite layer, slide it onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, return it to the oven, and toast it (in the turned-off oven) until it’s a nice reddish brown and very dry. Remove from the oven and let cool, then grind the layer into crumbs in a food processor, or just crush between sheets of parchment with a rolling pin.
   
   
8. Make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl, using a handheld mixer), combine the dulce de leche, burnt honey, and salt and beat on medium speed, until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add 3/4 cup (178 ml) of the cream and mix until homogeneous. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate, along with the mixing bowl, until chilled; keep the mixer bowl or the large bowl cold in the fridge. (The magic can be made ahead to this point and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.)
   
   
9. Switch to the whisk attachment if using the stand mixer and, in the chilled mixer bowl (or the large bowl, using the handheld mixer), whip the remaining 5 1/4 cups (1.18 L) cream to soft peaks. Gradually pour in the chilled honey mixture and whip until the cream again holds soft peaks. It should be very glossy but hold a nice mound. Refrigerate the frosting while you prepare to assemble the cake.
   
   
10. You can assemble the cake on a 9-inch (23 cm) cardboard round or directly on a cake plate, but beware that this is a very tall cake and your cake dome might not cover it; at the cafe, I build the cakes on cardboard rounds and store them in Tupperware cake holders.
    
    
11. Place your first cake layer on your building surface of choice and place about 1 heaping cup (150 to 160 g) of frosting on top. Spread the frosting evenly across the cake layer, all the way to the edges. It’s okay and even helpful, if you go over the edges a little, which will help you finish the outside of the cake easily. The idea is to have equal parts cake and frosting. Top with a second cake layer, and repeat the spreading and stacking process, until you’ve stacked and frosted all 10 layers.
    
    
12. Using a bench scraper (and a cake turntable if you have one), hold the bench scraper at a right angle to the cake plate and go around the cake, pushing those extra bits of frosting into any cracks as you go, smoothing the cake and straightening the layers by pushing them this way and that, until your frosting is perfectly smooth and your layers are all aligned. Don’t worry, though, if the edges of a few of the cake layers are peeking out from beneath the frosting; the final coating of crumbs will hide it all. I do a lusciously grandmotherly type frosting flourish on the top, like in the picture on the cake mix boxes from my childhood.
    
13. Pick up a handful of the cake crumbs and gently press onto the sides of the cake, re-scooping the ones that fall, going all the way around the cake, and using the remaining crumbs, until the sides are completely coated. I do a final little sprinkle on top, as if it fell from the sky onto my cake.
    
    
14. Okay, this is the worst part: Put it in the fridge until tomorrow. You cannot eat this cake the day you make it. You must satisfy yourself with fallen crumbs and blobs of frosting. (The cake can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
    
    
15. When you’re ready to serve it, remove the cake from the fridge, admire your brilliance, and slice into wedges.
    

Dulce de Leche

To make the dulce de leche, place an unopened 14-ounce (396 g) can of sweetened condensed milk in a large saucepan and add water to cover by several inches (about 8 cm). Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat so the water is barely simmering and simmer for 7 to 9 hours. This is important: You must make sure the can is always covered with water by a few inches (about 8 cm), so check it every half hour or so and replenish with boiling water as needed. Remove the can from the water and let cool before opening.

A cautionary tale: Once when I was making this at the cafe, our gross negligence resulted in the water level dipping too low, exposing the pressurized can of milk. It exploded, the sound like a shotgun blast, sending a mighty spray of sweetened condensed milk everywhere. Don’t do this.

Excerpted from Baking at the 20th Century Cafe by Michelle Polzine (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2024. Photographs by Aya Brackett.