Skazka Cake: Soaked Sponge with Colorful Cream

Name: Skazka Cake: Soaked Sponge with Colorful Cream
Prep time: 50 min
Total time: 230 min
Yield: 12 servings
Cuisine: Eastern European
Ingredients: 1 store-bought 24 cm vanilla sponge cake; 150 ml cold milk (for soaking); 100 g sweetened condensed milk (for soaking); 500 ml well-chilled heavy cream (for the cream); 200 g cold cream cheese (for the cream); 100 g powdered sugar (for the cream); 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (for the cream); 300 g drained canned peaches, diced, or strawberries (for the filling); Gel food coloring in two or three colors (pink, green, yellow, to decorate); Sprinkles or sugar pearls (to decorate, optional)

⏱ 3 h 50 min in total🔪 50 min prep🧊 3 h resting🍽 12 servingsEasySlavic

Skazka cake covered in white cream and decorated with pink, green and yellow cream rosettes and leaves, with a slice cut to show vanilla sponge, cream and peaches

Skazka means «fairy tale» in Russian, and it's the name of a bakery cake people remember for how it looked: a very moist sponge, lots of cream and a decoration of colorful flowers and swirls. This version simplifies the hardest part with a store-bought sponge and puts all the effort into what sticks in the memory: the moistness and the cream.

The decoration has two routes, and both work. With a piping bag and a star tip you get rosettes and flowers. Without one, you dollop the colored creams with a spoon and drag them with a spatula for a watercolor effect anyone can pull off. The cream has cream cheese in it so the colors stay firm and don't run.

Ingredients

Measurements

🍽 12 servings

1 store-bought 24 cm vanilla sponge cake
150 ml cold milk (for soaking)
100 g sweetened condensed milk (for soaking)
500 ml well-chilled heavy cream (for the cream)
200 g cold cream cheese (for the cream)
100 g powdered sugar (for the cream)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (for the cream)
300 g drained canned peaches, diced, or strawberries (for the filling)
Gel food coloring in two or three colors (pink, green, yellow, to decorate)
Sprinkles or sugar pearls (to decorate, optional)

Method

1
Cut the sponge into three even layers with a serrated knife.
2
Mix the milk with the condensed milk. This is the cake's soaking syrup: it gives the moistness and that bakery-cake flavor.
3
Beat the cream cheese with the powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add the heavy cream and whip to stiff peaks that don't fall off the spoon. Don't overdo it: if you keep whipping, it will split.
4
Take a third of the cream and divide it between two or three bowls. Tint each one with a tiny dab of gel coloring and stir gently.
5
Place the first layer on a platter and soak it well with a third of the syrup, using a spoon or brush. Spread with white cream and half the fruit.
6
Repeat with the second layer. Add the third, soak it with the rest of the syrup and cover the whole cake, top and sides, with the remaining white cream.
7
To decorate with a piping bag, put each color in a bag with a star tip and pipe rosettes, flowers and borders around the edge.
8
To decorate without one, place dollops of each color on top with a teaspoon and drag them with a spatula in a single stroke, without over-mixing. Finish with sprinkles if you like.
9
Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, so the sponge absorbs the moisture and the cream sets.