Named for the country’s capital city, Kiev cake is a classic Ukrainian dessert. Two crunchy layers of hazelnut dacquoise, filled and iced with creamy rum and chocolate-flavored German buttercreams. And if you haven’t heard of or had a German-style buttercream, it’s basically a custard-based frosting. It’s not difficult, and the result is a buttery, rich filling that is a dream to spread and pipe.
Now, this cake is definitely decadent and a bit of a time intensive dessert (albeit mostly bake time), but it is perfect for a celebration. Also, it can easily be made gluten-free and is assembled in stages. Plus, it’s a great make-ahead, it is best made a day or 2 in advance. So let’s do it!
Naptime Tip: You can chill the custard base until ready to move on, just bring it back to room temperature before adding the butter. If your buttercream happens to split, let the bowl warm up to room temp, and beat the mixture again until silky smooth.
Kiev Cake
Recipe slightly adapted from Simply Homecooked. Serves 12-16. 355-266 cal/slice.
Ingredients:
For the dacquoise/meringues-
1/3 cup AP or GF flour
1/3 cup sugar (for the nut mixture)
1 1/2 cups toasted hazelnuts, chopped
8 egg whites, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar (for meringue)
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
For the buttercream-
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 Tbs. corn starch
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups softened butter (3 sticks)
1 tsp. rum flavoring
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Method:
Preheat oven to 300℉. Trace a 9 inch circle on 2 sheets of parchment paper. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, 1/3 cup sugar and chopped hazelnuts. Stir to combine.
Next, pour the egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on low for 30 seconds, then increase speed to medium and whip until foamy. Add the cream of tartar, then continue to beat until soft peaks form.
Then, slowly add 1 1/2 cups of sugar over the next 5 minutes, beating until stiff peaks form. Finally, add the vanilla and beat until incorporated, about 10 seconds.
Gently fold in the hazelnut mixture.
Dab 4 dots of the meringue onto the corners of 2 baking sheets (to glue down your template.) Place prepared parchment paper onto sheet pan, traced side down.
Divide the meringue evenly amongst the two 9 inch circles. Spread meringue into a flat round, staying within your traced lines. Bake at 300℉ for 10 minutes, then lower the oven to 220℉. Bake for another 3 hours and 45 minutes, rotate pans halfway through.
Meanwhile, start the buttercream. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the 1 1/4 cup sugar, corn starch and salt.
Then, in a medium saucepan, heat the milk over medium high heat until simmering. Remove from heat and drizzle the milk into the egg mixture, stirring constantly to temper.
Pour the custard back into the saucepan and cook over medium low heat, whisking frequently, until it becomes yellow and thickened. This may take 5-10 minutes.
Once thickened, stir in vanilla and pour into a bowl to cool to room temperature. (This can be covered and refrigerated at this point for later use. Bring back to room temperature before adding butter.)
When meringues are finished baking, remove from the oven, peel off parchment and cool completely on wire racks. Once cooled, gently place a 9 inch round cake pan on top of each round, with a baking sheet underneath. Cut around the cake pan to create 2, 9 inch dacquoise rounds. Gather the off-cuts and blitz or crush into coarse crumbs to coat the finished cake sides.
In another bowl or stand mixer, whipped the softened butter until smooth. Pour in the cooled custard and rum flavoring. Beat until thick and creamy.
Remove about 1/3 cup of the rum buttercream and place in 1-2 piping bags (one for lines, one for rosettes). Remove another 1 1/2 cups of the remaining buttercream and add to another bowl along with the cocoa powder. Beat to combine. You should now have white buttercream for filling a piping, and chocolate buttercream for topping the cake.
Dot your cake stand with a little buttercream to secure cake in place then set 1 dacquoise round on the cake stand, covering the edges of the cake plate as desired to keep it clean. (Cake is quite sturdy and can easily be transferred from decorating stand to serving stand, if needed.)
Spread the white buttercream evenly on top of the first meringue layer, going all the way to the edges, even a little over.
Place the second meringue layer on top of the buttercream. Coat the top of the cake with the chocolate buttercream, pushing it all the way to the edge and slightly over. Spread enough buttercream to thinly coat the sides of the cake. (The sides will be covered with crumbs, so the buttercream colors can mix.)
With small handfuls of crumbs, carefully coat the sides of the cake with the leftover meringue crumbles. (You may want to have your baking sheet under the cake/stand to catch the fallen crumbs.)
Pipe a diagonal crosshatch on the top of the cake to decorate, adding rosettes along the edge as desired. Refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before slicing and serving.
Naptime Prep Cook 