Madonna Honey Cake

Madonna honey cake features thin, rich layers made from a scalded honey dough, paired with an airy egg-white cream on an Italian meringue base. The layers bake in just 6-10 minutes at 200°C, the sides are coated with honey crumb, and the cake needs a couple of hours in the fridge to soak through. I highly recommend it.

Madonna Honey Cake

Honey cake with thin scalded-dough layers and an egg-white cream on Italian meringue, coated with honey crumb.

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Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Chilling 2 hours hrs

Total Time 3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Servings: 10 servings

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

Layers

• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 eggs the author uses 2 yolks + 1 whole egg
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• 200 g sugar
• 35 g butter
• 300 g flour plus up to 150 g more for kneading

Cream

• 3 egg whites
• 280 g sugar
• 90 g water
• citric acid pinch

Method

 

1. Set a bowl with all the layer ingredients except the flour over a hot water bath. Stirring constantly, melt the mixture together completely - it will become slightly fluffier.
2. Add 300 g of flour in parts and whisk the dough until smooth, with no lumps. Take the bowl off the heat, turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and let it cool until just warm. Working in more flour as needed, knead it into an elastic, pliable dough, like gingerbread dough.
   
3. Once the dough has cooled completely, divide it into 6 pieces. Roll each piece out thinly on floured parchment and cut out a circle using the base of a springform pan. Save the trimmings for the crumb.
   
4. Bake the layers in an oven preheated to 200°C for 6-10 minutes - they bake very quickly. Remove and let them cool right on the parchment; they come away easily.
   
5. Prepare the egg-white cream on Italian meringue. Generously spread cream between the layers, and coat the sides with the honey crumb made from the trimmings and one whole layer.
   
6. Decorate the top as you like, for example with melted chocolate.
   
7. Let the cake sit in the fridge for a couple of hours to soak through. Enjoy!
   

Tips

• Don't skip grinding one whole layer with the trimmings - it gives you beautiful honey crumb for coating the sides.
• The longer the cake sits in the fridge, the softer the layers become: it's convenient to assemble it the night before.