Honey sponge cake with sour cream filling

Today I want to share a cake that will be the star of any festive table. This time we'll prepare a honey sponge cake interspersed with beautifully smooth sour cream filling.

The sponge cake brings deep caramel notes with underlying honey flavour. Plum jam not only makes it moist, but also brings fruit aroma, while smooth, lightly vanilla filling adds the characteristic sour cream undertone. And, importantly, the whole cake is not too sweet, which means you'll reach for the next slice in no time!

You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below.

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List of ingredients (18 x 28 cm baking tin)

Sponge cake

• 160 g butter
• 180 g clear honey
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• 4 large eggs
• 150 g (~3/4 cup) sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 250 g (~1 and 2/3 cup) wheat flour

Filling

• 1200 g sour cream
• 150 g icing sugar
• 1.5 tsp vanilla paste
• 200 g plum jam

Decoration

• 100 g dark chocolate (72%)
• 100 g whipping cream (36%)
• 100 g walnuts

Method

1. Prep work for the cake starts a day ahead. Transfer 1200 g thick sour cream (18%) onto a sieve lined with gauze and put it into a fridge overnight, covered, to remove excess moisture. Remember to put the sieve into a large bowl to give water space to gather.
2. On the next day, put a pot with thick bottom over the smallest cooker hob heater. Turn on low heat and add 160 g cubed butter as well as 180 g clear honey into the pot. Stir through the contents of the pot with a wooden spoon until uniform liquid forms. It should not take long, around a minute should be enough.
3. Once honey and butter combine, add 1.5 tsp baking soda. Stir through the contents of the pot for 5 or 6 minutes until liquid becomes beautiful and amber. Once you add soda everything will foam up, so it is wise to use a large pot. Otherwise honey may boil over, and you'll not only have to clean up, but also start afresh. Don't turn heat up or you'll risk burning your honey.
4. Once honey and butter mixture starts to resemble caramel in colour and texture, take pot off heat, pour the mixture into a jug and stir until it stops foaming again. Set the jug aside until the honey caramel cools down, but remains liquid. Around 30 minutes should be enough. 
5. Move on to the next step after this time. Pour 4 large eggs into a large bowl and 1dd 150 g fine white sugar. Beat the contents of the bowl with an electric mixer until eggs become light and fluffy, and at least double in volume, and sugar dissolves completely. I recommend starting at low mixer speed and increasing it gradually as eggs increase in volume.
6. Once mixer starts leaving marks in the batter, start adding honey caramel. Do it slowly, in a slow trickle, while continuing to beat at medium-high mixer speed. This way the ingredients will combine without issues and you will get a thick, uniform mixture. Once you've added all of caramel continue beating the batter for another minute, and set the mixer aside. We won't need it for a while.
7. Sift 250 g wheat flour into the batter. Do it in two batches, carefully combining flour with batter with a silicone spatula. Splitting flour into two batches will make it easier to combine it with batter. If you want, you can use a mixer here, but choosing a spatula will almost guarantee that you won't overmix the cake.
8. Pour ready batter into a baking tin, 18 x 28 cm, and even out the top. Bottom of the baking tin should be lined with baking paper, and sides should be left dry and clean.
9. Bake the cake in an oven preheated to 180 deg C, no fan, for 30-35 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the thickest part of the cake comes out clean. Once the cake is ready, take it out of the oven and set aside in the baking tin for 15 minutes to cool slightly. Take it out of the baking tin, remove baking paper and cool it completely on a wire rack.
10. Once the cake has cooled down, move on to filling. Transfer drained cream into a separate bowl and add 150 g icing sugar and 1.5 tsp vanilla paste. Beat the contents of the bowl with an electric mixer until thick and smooth filling forms.
11. Transfer cool sponge cake onto a worktop and slice it into three even layers. If the top of your cake is too rounded, you can cut it off too. Put bottom layer back into the baking tin. The baking tin should be clean, its bottom should be relined with baking paper, and its sides should be lined with baking paper or acetate foil. Transfer 100 g plum jam onto the cake and spread it in a thin layer across the whole surface. Put half of sour cream filling on top and spread it evenly, creating a generous layer. Put the next cake layer on top and press it down lightly to make the cake layers stick. Don't crush the bottom layer while doing it.
12. Repeat all the steps with the second part of the cake. Put 100 g plum jam on top and spread it. Cover jam layer with remaining sour cream filling and the final cake layer. Press the cake down lightly again. Once you've assembled the cake put it into a fridge for a few hours, or best overnight, for filling to set completely.
13. Prepare chocolate glaze on the next day. Put 100 g chopped dark chocolate (72%) and 100 g whipping cream (36%) into a small bowl. Put the bowl into a microwave for 15 seconds, take it out, stir through the contents and return the bowl into the microwave for the next 15 seconds. Repeat these steps until uniform, thick, smooth chocolate glaze forms. It should not take more than about a minute altogether. If you don't have a microwave oven, you can prepare the chocolate glaze in a water bath.
14. Put ready chocolate glaze on top of the honey cake and spread it evenly. Finally, scatter roughly chopped walnuts on top. Set the cake aside for around 15 minutes, for chocolate glaze to set.
15. Enjoy!

Approximate nutritional value

100 g

• 359 kcal
• Carbs: 36 g
• Fat: 22 g
• Protein: 5 g
• Fibre: 1 g

1 slice (recipe makes 16 slices)

• 524 kcal
• Carbs: 52 g
• Fat: 32 g
• Protein: 7 g
• Fibre: 1 g