Cakes

A homemade layer cake comes down to three basic skills: bake the layers, cook the cream, assemble and let it soak. Here you'll find cakes for every occasion - honey and chocolate classics like Spartak and medovik, cheesecake-style and berry cakes, with custards and sour-cream frostings that hold their shape without fancy technique.

Each recipe includes gram measurements, soaking times and practical tips: which cream goes where, how to coat the sides with crumbs, and why cake always tastes better the next day.