Russian honey layer cake (Medovik)

1. Melt the honey, butter and sugar together in a metal bowl over steam and heat until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda: the mixture will foam up and turn caramel-coloured – this gives the cake its characteristic flavour.

2. Take off the steam, let cool a little, then quickly whisk in the eggs one at a time, and finally the flour; you'll get a soft, sticky dough. Divide into 8 pieces, cover and chill for 15 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Roll out each piece on baking paper, with floured hands or a rolling pin, into a thin round of about 24 cm and bake for 5-6 minutes until golden; while still warm, trim into a circle around a plate and set the offcuts aside.

4. For the cream, stir the sour cream with the condensed milk until smooth (no need to whip it).

5. Stack the cooled layers, spreading each generously with cream, and cover the top and sides too; crush the reserved offcuts into crumbs and sprinkle them all over the cake.

6. Chill for at least 8 hours (ideally overnight) – during this time the crisp layers soak up the cream and the cake becomes soft, tender and almost creamy.

Tip: Medovik is the legendary cake of the Tsar's court: the story goes that a clever chef baked it because the wife of Tsar Alexander I couldn't stand honey – she liked it so much it immediately became her favourite.