Published: by Dina
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Homemade Kiev Cake Recipe with rum Infused Buttercream is the dessert of your dreams. A classic Slavic dessert that combines rum infused buttercream, chocolate, and hazelnuts will make your taste buds scream with happiness.
If you love traditional European Cakes, you should definitely try my chocolate honey cake (Spartak)
This recipe was originally posted March 16, 2016. We’ve tweaked it a bit since then. This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Homemade Kiev Cake Recipe with Infused Buttercream
Kiev cake is perhaps one of the most well known Slavic cakes. It is made with layers of crunchy hazelnut meringue (made with a little bit of flour) and rum-infused buttercream (a little different from regular buttercream). The original Kiev cake uses cashews instead of hazelnuts though.
This is my mother’s tried and tested recipe. Since I grew up in the states so I’ve never actually tasted a real Kiev cake. Our local European store sells Kieve cakes made by the Roshen company. My father grew up in Kiev and he told me my mother’s cake is very similar to the Kiev cake he used to eat in his childhood.
Fortunately, I too have been able to taste Roshen’s cake at our local European store. I’ve seen many Kiev cake recipes with layers of Russian sponge cake, but I prefer to make it the more traditional way. I happen to love meringue and hazelnuts, so the more the merrier 🙂
Ingredients for the Kiev Cake:
- wheat flour
- granulated sugar
- toasted hazelnuts
- whole eggs and egg whites
- milk
- butter
- cocoa powder
- rum or cognac
- cream of tartar
- vanilla extract
Directions for making a Kiev Cake with Infused Buttercream
- Prepare your baking circles using baking pans and set aside for later.
- Combine ingredients as shown in printable option below to build the cake layer.
- Use a stand mixer for convenience to beat eggs until frothy as directed.
- Fold in egg and flour mixtures gently using a spatula carefully not overwhip the eggs.
- Layer and cook the meringue layer
Create and bake the cake batter as directed
Infuse the buttercream with your choice of rum or cognac
Create the cake layers as directed and top with chocolate buttercream. You may ice or decorate the cake as shown in my images, or as you prefer.
Top the cake with the deliciously rich chocolate buttercream base
More Delicious Homemade Desserts
While I love the flavors of this homemade kiev cake with rum infused buttercream, it can be a bit rich for every day. Below I am sharing even more of our best homemade dessert recipes for you to create at home. Enjoy these with your family!
- Chocolate Mousse Cake Recipe (With Raspberry Infusion)
- Tiramisu Cake Recipe
- Homemade Nutella Croissants
- Lemon Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream
Printable Kiev Cake Directions
Below you can print the Kiev Cake directions and full ingredient list for your convenience.
Full Recipe Instructions
Kiev Cake
Homemade Kiev Cake Recipe with Infused Buttercream is the dessert of your dreams. A classic Slavic dessert that combines flavors in one rich dessert!
5 from 11 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: European, Russian, Ukrainian
Prep Time: 1 hour hour
Cook Time: 4 hours hours 10 minutes minutes
Total Time: 5 hours hours 10 minutes minutes
Servings: 10
Calories: 425kcal
Author: Dina
Ingredients
- Ingredients for the meringue layers:
- 1/3 cup wheat flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar for the nut mixture
- 1 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts
- 8 egg whites aged for at least 12 hours at room temp
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar for the cake base
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Ingredients for the buttercream:
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3-4 sticks butter 1 3/4- 2 cups softened
- 3 tbsp rum or cognac
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
Instructions
Trace a 9 inch circle on 2 sheets of parchment paper. Set aside for later use.
In a bowl combine wheat flour with 1/3 cup sugar. Then add the chopped hazel nuts and mix to combine.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites on high speed until foamy,
Add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks begin to form. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold in the hazel nut and flour mixture into the egg whites.
Dab 5 dots of the meringue onto each baking sheet. Lay the prepared parchment paper on top (traced side down). This will help hold the parchment in place.
Split the hazelnut meringue amongst the 2 (9 inch) circles. Try to spread within the lines as bet as possible. Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes then drop the temperature to 220 degrees Fahrenheit, bake for another 3 hours and 45 minutes.
Let the meringue cool completely. Place a 9 inch round pan on top and cut around the edges. Do this to both cakes. Reserve the outside edge that's been cut; you will need it to coat the sides of the finished cake.
In a bowl lightly beat 2 eggs with 1 1/4 cup sugar.
In a sauce pan, bring the milk to a simmer (not a boil). Slowly pour it into the eggs and sugar making sure to stir constantly.
Pour the egg and milk mixture back into the saucepan and continue stirring over medium low heat until it becomes yellow and thickened. This may take up to 10-15 minutes.
Remove the saucepan from heat and add the vanilla extract. Stir to combine. Let it cool to room temperature.
Beat the room temperature butter in a stand mixer using the whisk attachment.
Pour in the cooled egg mixture while continuing to mix. Then add the rum.
Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the butter cream. Combine it with 1/4 cup cocoa powder.
Spread the white buttercream on top of the first meringue layer. Don't use up all of the white butter cream; reserve about 1/3 cup for decorating.
Place the second meringue layer on top of the buttercream. Then spread enough buttercream to thinly coat the sides of the cake.
Spread the chocolate buttercream on the top portion of the cake.
Coat the sides of the cake with the left over meringue crumbles. From here, decorate the cake as you wish.
Nutrition
Calories: 425kcal | Carbohydrates: 70g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 66mg | Potassium: 255mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 63g | Vitamin A: 85IU | Vitamin C: 1.2mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 1.5mg
Did you make this recipe? Snap a photo of it and tag me on Instagram @simplyhomecooked or use the hashtag #simplyhomecooked so I can see it and feature it!
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Hi, I’m Dina, so glad you stopped by! I believe life is too short for bad coffee and boring meals. With my easy to follow step-by-step recipes, you’ll be surprised at how quickly a wholesome and delicious meal can come together. I hope you find something you enjoy!
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Reader Interactions
Comments
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Kathy Dudgeon says
Hi Dina – why do you tell us to put the meringue dots on a baking sheet and afterwards putting the meringue within the circles drawn but then link us to Amazon for cake pans. Thx for your help!!
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Dina says
Hi Kathy, the baking pans are used as a guide when cutting out the meringue after it’s baked. I hope that helps clear up some confusion.
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Kathy Dudgeon says
Hi! Our book club just read “A Gentleman in Moscow” and now we meet to chat about it and everyone brings something Russian-ish for our meal. I chose your Kiev Cake. I bought Trader Joe’s roasted hazelnuts which still have some skins on them. Do I need to roast them too or remove the skins? Also, please, how small should they be chopped? Thank you!! Looking forward to this cake!
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Dina says
Hi Kathy, the hazelnuts should be roasted and chopped. No need to clean off the skins 🙂 I hope you and everyone in the book club enjoy this cake! 🙂
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Alla says
My family really loved this cake, thank you for the recipe.Reply
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Dina says
You are very welcome Alla! So happy to hear your family loved this Kiev cake! Thank you so much for your feedback! 🙂
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Terry says
Dina
I was curious about using almond flour to replace the wheat flour. I doubt that such a small amount of almond flour would alter the taste of the hazelnuts. The leavening you use is egg whites, so that would work well with almond flour. I think I’ll try it and see. Do you have any suggestions?Reply
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Dina says
Hi Terry 🙂 Glad to hear you found my recipe! I haven’t tried that substitution so I can’t say for sure how it will turn out. However, that small amount should be fine. I hope you love this Kiev cake! Let me know how it goes! 🙂
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Valerie says
Hi Dina,
How long can/should the cake be left in the fridge? I’m thinking about making it a day in advance of a family event (since it seems to be a fairly time intensive recipe) and want to make sure it won’t be negatively affected by spending 24 hrs in the refrigeratorReply
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Dina says
Hi Valerie 🙂 This Kiev cake will be totally fine in the fridge for 1 day. I hope you love this recipe! Let me know how it goes! 🙂
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Lana says
Can all-purpose flour be replaced for the wheat flour?
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Dina says
Hi Lana 🙂 I have not tried using wheat flour so I can’t say how it will turn out. If you give it a try let me know how it goes 🙂
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Michele says
A man my boyfriend works with brought us one of these cakes today and a bottle of what he called church wine. If we like it I will make your recipe.
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Dina says
Hi Michele 🙂 I hope you love that Kiev cake! If you give this cake a try let me know how it goes 🙂
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Lynda Rushing says
Hi Dina,My husband came from Kiev in 1975 and we buy a commercial Kiev cake for New Year’s every year. We pick it up from a Russian store from their freezer and the cake sometimes tastes old with nuts that have begun to turn. My husband recently retired and I thought I would make him a Kiev cake and used your recipe. I’m a decent cook but a very novice baker and I want to tell you that he and my entire family were really impressed by how delicious it was! I flavored the buttercream with cognac and used very fresh hazelnuts, which I chopped, and roasted using Mary Berry’s on-line recipe for dacquoise. It’s obviously a time-intensive recipe since the meringues bake for so long but it’s actually not that difficult. The result tasted so much better than the commercial cake and I now want to make it every New Year’s!
Thank you for posting this. It was a fun part of our little retirement party.
Lynda
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simplyhomecooked says
Wow, Lynda, that is a HUGE compliment! Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a sweet and honest recipe review. I am so glad that you and your family loved this Kiev cake recipe! You totally made my day 🙂
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Becky Beers says
I’m going to make this cake for a friend and I have a question about the hazelnuts. Did you use a food processor to chop them or do you just chop them by hand? I wasn’t sure how fine the chop should be. Also, did you measure the 1 1/2 cups of nuts pre-chop? Thank you for your help!
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simplyhomecooked says
Hi Becky! Great questions. I usually chop the nuts by hand since you want larger chunks. You can measure the nuts before or after chopping. You will get a little more nuts if you measure after they are chopped. But it won’t really make a huge difference. I hope this helps answer your question 🙂
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Samantha says
Hi!
I ended up with much more meringue base than what 2, 9”
Layers would make so I made multiple layers and stacked them like a torte.
Do you ever have this happen?Reply
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simplyhomecooked says
Hi Samantha, I have never had this happen. But you can definitely stack the extras 🙂
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