Kyiv Cake: Hazelnut Meringue and Buttercream
Kyiv cake is the signature cake of the Ukrainian capital: two nut meringue layers, crisp outside and slightly chewy inside, joined with vanilla and chocolate buttercream. For decades it was the gift people brought back from Kyiv in its round box, and the original recipe used cashews, later replaced with hazelnuts.
It's a technical cake, but there's no mystery to it. The meringue bakes low and slow and dries inside the switched-off oven: that's the whole difference between a crisp layer and a gummy one. The filling is a Charlotte cream, a cooked milk and egg base whipped into butter, more stable than ordinary buttercream.
Ingredients
- 5 egg whites at room temperature (about 180 g, for the meringue)
- 250 g sugar (for the meringue)
- 150 g toasted, skinned and finely chopped hazelnuts (for the meringue)
- 25 g all-purpose flour (for the meringue)
- 150 ml milk (for the cream)
- 150 g sugar (for the cream)
- 1 egg (for the cream)
- 250 g butter, at room temperature (for the cream)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (for the cream)
- 1 tablespoon brandy (for the cream, optional)
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (for the cream)
- 50 g chopped hazelnuts (to decorate)
Method
- 1
Preheat the oven to 140 °C. Draw two 22 cm circles on two sheets of parchment paper and place them on two baking sheets, drawing side down.
- 2
Whisk the egg whites until foamy and add the sugar one spoonful at a time, whisking constantly, until you have a firm, glossy meringue, about 10 minutes.
- 3
Mix the hazelnuts with the flour and fold them into the meringue in three additions.
- 4
Divide the meringue between the two circles and smooth with a spatula. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes, swapping the sheets halfway through. Turn off the oven and leave the layers inside for 1 more hour, with the door ajar, to dry.
- 5
While they're still warm, trim the edges with a serrated knife, using a 22 cm plate as a guide: once cold, they shatter. Save the trimmings.
- 6
For the cream, combine the milk, sugar and egg in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring, until it thickens and coats the spoon, about 8 minutes, without letting it boil. Cover with plastic wrap touching the surface and let cool completely.
- 7
Beat the butter for 5 minutes, until pale. Add the cold base one spoonful at a time, beating constantly, then the vanilla and brandy. Set aside a quarter of the cream and mix it with the cocoa.
- 8
Place one layer on a platter and spread with two-thirds of the plain cream. Set the second layer on top and cover the top and sides with the rest of the plain cream.
- 9
Crush the meringue trimmings with the hazelnuts and press them onto the sides. Decorate the top with the chocolate cream, with a piping bag or the back of a spoon, however it turns out.
- 10
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before slicing with a serrated knife.