The combination of two layers of dough gives Ufa cake a mouth-watering appearance, and the delectable flavors will make you crave more with each bite.
Olga BrovkinaThe Russian city of Ufa – the capital of the republic of Bashkiria (Bashkortostan), located about 1,340 km southeast of Moscow – gave its name to the delicious Ufa cake. A unique feature of this cake is the fact that it consists of two different, imposed on each other, layers of dough. However, that shouldn’t lead you to conclude that the process of cooking is tedious and complicated. Quite the opposite, it will take just 10 minutes to mix the ingredients and an hour to bake it. And you don’t have to wait by the oven all that time.
Butter dough for this pastry is prepared in accordance with a simple classic recipe, but in the end it’s divided into two equal parts and mixed with additional ingredients, such as cocoa powder for the bottom part, and wine and nuts for the upper part. As a result, the cake’s bottom layer gets a distinctive chocolate flavour, while the top layer remains white with the barely noticeable wine aroma and subtle smell of vanilla wafting across the kitchen. Moreover, the addition of a large portion of nuts is a perfect accompaniment to the overall scent of fresh pastry.
1. Since the dough doesn’t take a lot of time to prepare, turn on the oven straight away to 160 degrees Celsius. Have all the ingredients measured out and ready to use. Put softened butter, as well as sugar and vanilla sugar, in a deep bowl. Mix the butter and sugar well using a mixer or combine for 2-3 minutes so that the sugar completely dissolves in the butter.
2. Add eggs into the dough, and it’s advisable that you add one egg at a time; if you add both at once, it will take more time and effort to mix them into the dough thoroughly. After that, add the condensed milk and mix once again.
3. Add flour and baking powder portionwise, constantly mixing until the flour is evenly distributed.
4. Grind the nuts, but not into crumbs; rather, into small pieces. You can take any nuts to your taste. I prefer peanuts as they look nice and have a very pleasant taste.
5. Divide the dough into two equal parts. In the first part add cocoa powder, and in the other – wine and nuts, leaving about a tablespoon for decorating the cake afterwards. Mix in the fillings for both parts with a spatula or a spoon.
6. Take the classic rectangular baking dish and wipe it off with vegetable oil using a brush; then sprinkle a bit of flour on the surface, after which put the first chocolate layer into the baking dish.
7. Then lay the white nutty part of dough on top; then level the surface of the future cake and sprinkle with the rest of the nuts.
8. Bake the Ufa cake in the oven heated to 160 degrees Celsius for about an hour and 10 minutes. You can use a simple toothpick to make sure the cake is ready. Insert it into the centre of the cake and it should come out clean, with no streaks of dough.
Enjoy it!
If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material.
Subscribe
to our newsletter!
Get the week's best stories straight to your inbox
