Medovo-Makovyi Pliatsok (медово-маковий пляцок, honey-poppy layered cake)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Two flat baking sheets
• •Baking paper
• •Poppy-seed grinder or strong food processor
• •Offset spatula
• •Two boards or trays for weighting
• •Sharp long knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the poppy

   Put the poppy seeds and milk in a small pan and bring them just to a quiet bubble, then pull the pan off the heat and cover it. Leave them until the seeds swell and smell nutty, like a warm bakery with the door closed. Drain well, then grind twice in a poppy-seed mill or pulse in a strong processor until the seeds darken and clump together.

   Whole poppy seeds pass through you without giving much flavor. Grinding is the step that makes the filling taste like mak, not gravel.
2. 2

   Bake poppy sheets

   Beat the butter and sugar until pale, then beat in the egg yolks, vanilla, lemon zest, salt, ground poppy seeds, and semolina. Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks slump gently, then fold them through. Spread the mixture into two thin rectangles on lined trays and bake at 180C until the surface feels set and the edges smell toasted, about fifteen minutes. Let them cool flat.

3. 3

   Make honey dough

   Warm the honey, sugar, and butter together until melted and fragrant, then cool until warm to the finger, not hot. Stir in the eggs and smetana. Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, and cinnamon in a bowl, then pour in the honey mixture and bring it together into a soft dough. It should feel pliable and slightly warm, like it wants to roll.

4. 4

   Roll honey layers

   Divide the dough into three equal pieces. Roll each piece on floured baking paper into the same size as your poppy sheets, keeping the edges as square as you can. Bake each at 180C until amber at the edges and dry to the touch, eight to ten minutes. They will seem too firm. Good. The filling will soften them overnight.

5. 5

   Whip the filling

   Beat the soft butter with the icing sugar until light, then beat in the honey and vanilla. Add the smetana a spoonful at a time, beating until the cream falls from the spoon in a thick ribbon. If it starts to split, stop beating and chill it for ten minutes before continuing with a calmer hand.

   Full-fat smetana matters here. Thin sour cream makes a filling that runs before the cake has time to drink it.
6. 6

   Stack the cake

   Lay one honey sheet on a board and spread it with a thin, even layer of cream. Add one poppy sheet, more cream, another honey sheet, more cream, the second poppy sheet, more cream, and finish with the last honey sheet. Press gently with your palms so the layers meet, not so hard that the cream escapes at the sides.

7. 7

   Weight overnight

   Cover the pliatsok with baking paper, set a second board or tray on top, and add a light weight, a couple of tins is enough. Refrigerate overnight. This rest is where the cake becomes itself: the honey softens, the poppy darkens, and the cream settles into the layers until it sounds right when the knife goes through.

8. 8

   Glaze and cut

   Melt the chocolate, butter, and honey together until glossy, then spread over the chilled top. Scatter with toasted poppy seeds and chill until set. Trim the edges for the cook's plate, then cut into squares with a hot dry knife, wiping between cuts so every slice shows its stripes.

Chef Tips

• •Make this at least one day ahead. Freshly stacked pliatsok is awkward and firm; rested pliatsok cuts cleanly and tastes like someone planned properly.
• •A poppy-seed grinder gives the best texture, but a powerful food processor works if you pulse patiently and scrape often. Pre-ground poppy seed is useful when it is fresh, but it goes stale quickly.
• •If your sour cream is loose, strain it in a sieve lined with muslin for a few hours before making the filling. A bit more modern, yes, and very sensible.
• •The cake forgives uneven rolling because you trim it at the end. It does not forgive warm filling, so chill it if it softens before stacking.
• •Serve small squares. Then serve second small squares. This is how pliatsok behaves at a Christmas table.

Advance Preparation

• •The whole pliatsok should rest overnight under a light weight before glazing and slicing.
• •The poppy layers and honey layers can be baked one day ahead, cooled, wrapped, and stacked the next day.
• •Finished pliatsok keeps well in the fridge for 4 to 5 days; the slices become softer and neater by the second day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 155g)