Markiza Cake

Markiza Cake has been a favorite in my family ever since we first tried it. It is a very well known Russian cake that consists of many thin shortbread layers. Each layer of dough is covered with meringue and toasted hazelnuts then layered with a dulce de leche buttercream. The original recipe of the buttercream for this cake is too sweet for my family so i have adjusted the cream to our liking’s. 

This cake is a bit time consuming to make so definitely plan to spend some time in the kitchen but if you are able to push through the sweat, you will get praises all around. After making this cake over and over again i have come up with a few tips to speed up the process which i will also share with you here.

Dough:

1.5 sticks or 12TBSP Unsalted Butter (room temp)

1.5 sticks  or 12TBSP Margarine

3 cups All purpose Flour

3 egg yolks

3TBSP Sour Cream

1tsp Baking Soda +vinegar to activate

Meringue:

8 egg whites

2 cups of white Sugar

Dulce De Leche Buttercream:

3 sticks Unsalted Butter (room temp)

1 14oz can Dulce de Leche

16oz Cool Whip (refrigerated)

8oz Cream Cheese (room temp)

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl combine 3 cups of flour, 1.5 stick of margarine and 1.5 stick of butter. Work in the butter and margarine into the flour until it resembles fine crumbs.

2. Add 3 egg yolks, 3 tablespoons of sour cream and 1tsp of baking soda activated with vinegar.

3. Kneed the dough until it all comes together and is smooth. The dough will look like it has cracks all over (see pic below)

4. Divide the dough into 10-11 equal parts, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

5. Roll out each ball very thinly and place a dinner plate or a bottom of a springform pan and cut around it to make a perfect circle.

***TIPS***

*Roll out the dough directly onto foil so you don’t have to transfer the dough and risk tearing it.

*Wet the working surface with a damp cloth and then put the foil over it. This will prevent the foil from moving around on the counter and make the rolling out part so much easier.

*Roll out all of the dough layers first and then make the meringue and divide the meringue equally onto each layer. This will help the meringue not deflate or get runny.

*Bake multiple layers at once to speed up the baking process. (adjust time accordingly)

*Put buttercream into a piping bag and draw spirals on each layer. This step helps to equally spread the cream as well as prevent the dry meringue from breaking. Adding cake layers on top will spread the cream on its own.

*Use leftover dough to roll out more layers for a higher cake.

Meringue:

6. Beat 8 egg whites on low until they are frothy and you can see tracks from the whisk, then gradually add sugar 1-2 tablespoons at a time. Once all the sugar is in, bring up the speed to high and whip to stiff peaks.

7. Add about 2 heaping tablespoons of meringue onto each shortbread layer and spread evenly.

8. Sprinkle toasted and crushed hazelnuts on top of each layer.

9. Bake at 350F for about 10-12 min or until the meringue is dry and the base layer is golden brown. (If you will be baking more then 1 cake layer, adjust time according to your oven)

 

Dulce De Leche Buttercream:

10. First, cream 3 sticks of unsalted butter in a stand mixer, then add 1 package of cream cheese, mix until it combines. Secondly, add 1 can (14oz) of dulce de leche, mix again to combine. Lastly, add 16oz of cool whip, incorporate and whip until the cream is smooth and stiff.

11. Place the buttercream in a piping bag (or a ziplock bag and cut off the tip) and assemble the cake by drawing spirals on each layer.

 

Decorate the cake to your preference.

Enjoy!