Medovik with Apricot Coulis

In a saucepan or pot with a thick bottom, mix sugar, honey, butter, and eggs with a whisk.

Place over low heat and stir continuously until the sugar crystals are completely dissolved.

Remove from heat and add baking soda.

Mix well.

The mixture should foam up significantly.

Weigh 550 g of flour, sift it through a sieve into a large bowl, and set aside 50-60 g in a separate container.

Pour the egg-honey mixture from the saucepan into the bowl with flour, mix well with a spoon, and knead a soft, elastic dough with your hands.

If there is not enough flour, add a little at a time from the reserved 50-60 g.

Place the finished dough in a plastic bag or wrap it in cling film and leave it at room temperature for 30-40 minutes until completely cooled.

If you are in a hurry, you can put it in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.

While the dough is cooling, you can prepare 6-12 identical pieces of parchment paper (mine are about 30*30 cm), on which we will roll out and bake the cake layers.

Turn on the oven to 180*C.

While it is heating up, using a rolling pin well dusted with flour, roll out a small piece of dough on parchment paper into a circle, 2-3 mm thick (I roll it out as thinly as possible).

Using a ring 18-24 cm, trim and remove uneven edges, frequently prick the dough with a fork, and send it to the preheated oven for 3-4 minutes or until golden.

Remove the baked cake layer from the oven, immediately take it off the baking sheet, and let it cool on a flat surface.

Place a raw cake layer in its place, send it to the oven, and time for 3-4 minutes.

In this way, we bake 8-14 cake layers within an hour, depending on the diameter.

From this amount of dough, I got 9 cake layers 24 cm in diameter.

Place the apricot puree in a saucepan (preferably with a thick bottom and at least 18 cm in diameter) and heat to 30-45*C.

Mix sugar with pectin and gradually add it to the warmed puree in a steady stream, stirring constantly.

Without stopping stirring, bring the coulis to a boil and boil for 4-6 minutes.

Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Pour well-chilled sour cream and cream into a mixer bowl.

Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract.

Start whipping at medium speed and immediately switch to maximum.

This is if you have a hand mixer.

If you are whipping the cream with a stand mixer, start at minimum speed, and as soon as the powdered sugar dissolves, switch to medium.

The cream whips quite quickly.

As soon as the mixture begins to noticeably thicken (for me, after 2-3 minutes), gradually sprinkle in 1 packet of thickener.

After that, whip for about 1-2 more minutes.

If the cream does not become thick enough during this time (the whisk will not leave confident deep patterns and the cream will not lose its fluidity), gradually add another packet of thickener, then whip the cream for another minute or two.

Gently mix the finished cream with a silicone spatula (the cream at the bottom will be more liquid, which is absolutely normal - the thickener simply didn't reach it) and use immediately.

Pour the apricot coulis into a disposable pastry bag and make a small hole in it.

The cream can also be applied with a bag (if assembling in a ring) or simply with a convenient spatula.

Lightly grease the base with cream so that our cake does not accidentally slide off.

Place the first cake layer on it, press lightly, and generously spread with cream.

Apply the coulis evenly.

Adjust the thickness of the application yourself.

The more coulis you have, the thicker the layer you make.

You can add coulis every other layer.

This is entirely at your discretion.

Repeat the procedure until the last cake layer.

Then you can completely cover the cake with cream and put it in the refrigerator already fully prepared for soaking.

Or you can wrap it with acetate film, put on a ring, and hide it in the refrigerator for stabilization and soaking for 4-6 hours.

After that, finally level and decorate the cake.

This is how I do it.