Modern youth does not exactly know the taste of this cake, however, like the taste of real halva, too. But those who lived in the early and mid-80s should remember the amazing taste of this cake. The recipe for Slavyanka according to GOST was unknown for a long time, and all people wondered: what ingredient gives the cream in the cake such an unusual flavor. Only many years later it became clear that this was an ordinary halva, which was very much on the shelves in the Soviet years. This recipe is a clear example of how to make a masterpiece of taste from simple products.
GOST recipe
According to the classic recipe, the Slavyanka cake is prepared on the basis of a biscuit, although it also has a small feature: the amount of proteins prevails, which makes the crumb of the finished base very light and airy. Such biscuits are very easy to soak and go well with butter types of cream.
Also, due to the small number of yolks, the dough has a very pale color, according to which it can be easily determined whether a sponge cake is prepared for Slavyanka cake according to GOST or according to the usual basic technology. So, to prepare the test you will need:
- eight eggs;
- 40-45 grams of potato starch;
- two hundred grams of granulated sugar and the same amount of high-quality wheat flour.
Cooking dough
The first and prerequisite for the preparation of a magnificent biscuit is to sift the flour through a sieve, it is better several times to maximize its enrichment with oxygen molecules, which will give the biscuit for the Slavyanka cake the necessary structure. Starch can be sifted with flour, evenly distributing it over the bulk product.
Divide the eggs into yolks and proteins: leave two yolks for the cream, and use the rest in the dough. The process of whipping proteins to start at low speed, and after 30 seconds to increase them, gradually adding sugar to the whipped mass. When the protein mass increases several times and becomes stable, add the yolks to it and beat a little more. Then pour flour with starch and a spoon (!) Into the mass with stirs from the bottom up in one direction to mix, forming a gentle biscuit dough. It is advisable not to delay this process so that the beaten eggs do not settle. It is also not recommended to use a mixer for this final mixing.
Baking and impregnation
The Slavyanka cake baking dish is usually used in a square or rectangular shape. Line it with parchment paper and lightly grease it. Pour the finished dough into it and place in an already warmed oven (200 degrees). By the way, earlier the dough was spread on parchment in thin layers, and then folded in a pile, smeared with cream. This was done so as not to cut the finished cakes along, which takes a lot of time, and also to make the baking time as short as possible, because the Slavyanka cake was very popular and the factory of the same name sometimes did not have time to bake it on time.
The biscuit should be baked until cooked for about 20-25 minutes, although the cooking time depends on the thickness of the dough: naturally, a thinner layer will bake faster. After baking, do not immediately remove the biscuit from the oven: you need to open the door and let it stand for another 10-15 minutes. Only then carefully remove from the mold, remove the parchment and allow to cool completely on the wire rack. Biscuits of this kind usually turn out to be rather dry, so professional confectioners recommend impregnating them with sweet impregnation, which is prepared from one glass of water and a hundred grams of sugar, which should simply be boiled and cooled to room temperature. Next, cut off the edges of the finished biscuit, giving it perfectly even shapes, soak in syrup, distributing it with a spoon evenly over the entire area of the cake.
What is needed for cream?
To prepare a cream for Slavyanka cake (a recipe according to GOST), it is necessary to prepare only the freshest ingredients, because the taste of the finished cake will depend on them. What is required for the cream:
- three hundred grams of condensed milk;
- four hundred grams of butter;
- two yolks;
- 230 grams of halva.
Some add vanillin to such a cream, but it is not in the traditional recipe, since halva gives a wonderful aroma to the product even without it.
How to make a cream?
Cream for this type of cake is prepared very simply, one might say, according to the Soviet recipe. According to GOST, the Slavyanka cake is smeared with sweet butter cream based on condensed milk. To begin with, halva should be grated, although some confectioners recommend wiping through a sieve.
This will give the mass a more uniform consistency, which will naturally affect the appearance of the finished cream. You can also try chopping halva with a blender. Then beat the butter until light foam and mix with condensed milk, turning into a traditional cream of Soviet times. At the end of beating, add egg yolks and chopped halva. The finished cream will have a pronounced oily structure and a fairly high calorie content thanks to the main ingredients.
What halva is worth taking?
Usually, sesame halva, which is also called tahini, is used for the Slavyanka cake. If this is not in the assortment, you can try to cook from the usual, which is made from sunflower seeds, the main thing is that the product is fresh, with a good smell.
Especially pedantic lovers can cook halva at home, and then use it to make a cake. Considering that in the modern food industry many products have a dubious composition, halva can be replaced with roasted nuts (peanuts or hazelnuts), crushed into the smallest crumb, mixed with sugar syrup in a 4: 1 ratio.
Another way to make cream
Almost nothing is known about the history of this cake, since it is over sixty years old, so there is no way to find out how the cream was originally prepared. Therefore, another step-by-step version of the preparation is given, and which one to choose is the cook's decision.
- Mix 180 grams of condensed milk and 80 ml of water, heat in a steam bath to a boil.
- Grind three yolks with a spoonful of powdered sugar and pour the resulting mixture into a slightly cooled mass of condensed milk with a thin stream. Be sure to stir so that the yolks do not curl into lumps.
- Return the resulting mass to a steam bath and boil until sour cream, and then cool.
- While the cream is cooling, beat 300 grams of butter into a light foam with a little vanilla.
- In small portions, combine the oil with the cooled cream, add 80 grams of halva crushed in the sand and mix thoroughly.
If condensed milk is not at hand, then it can be replaced with a mixture of ordinary milk, warmed to dissolve with sugar. To do this, take 150 grams of milk and 100 grams of granulated sugar and boil until the sugar grains disappear. Ready to use cream for the layer of cake immediately after cooking, otherwise it quickly thickens and infiltrates the cakes worse.
Cake assembly
When the cake is soaked in sugar syrup (it takes no more than ten minutes), you can begin to form a cake. “Slavyanka” traditionally has a rectangular shape and three layers, therefore it is worth cutting the cakes accordingly, if you want the product to be just like in the USSR. Lubricate each layer with a lot of cream and press gently so that the cakes lie flat.
Coat the sides and top of the cake with the rest of the cream. Trim the edges of the biscuit to dry in the oven and grind into large crumbs - it is used to sprinkle the sides of the finished cake, as well as the outermost part. Leave the square middle of the cake empty and drop small rosettes on it using a pastry bag. The cream is used for this ordinary butter: 100 grams of butter beat with four tablespoons of condensed milk and a pinch of vanillin. Given that the cream is quite dense, the cake needs a lot of time for deep soaking - at least twelve hours. Therefore, you need to put it in the refrigerator and patiently wait for the tasting to begin.
Photo of the finished product
The energy value of the cake is very high: from 392 to 420 calories per hundred grams, depending on the variety of halva and fat content of butter. Therefore, you should not abuse such a dessert, despite the fact that the Slavyanka cake looks very attractive in the photo and practically persuades him to cook it immediately.
Over time, the classic recipe underwent some changes (like any old recipe in cooking): some began to add cocoa powder to the biscuit dough to give it a nice dark color, others began to add cognac or orange liquor to the impregnation, but all this was already a variation on the topic , not a classic of the genre.