Honeycomb cake with 10 layers! (step-by-step photos)

I think that this cake is the prettiest that I ever made. I love it look and taste!

In my opinion there is no enough pastry cream for this cake (most of it was soaked by the cake) so next time I will make it from double portion...and off course I never complain about more pastry cream in any dessert :)

Cake is time-consuming but easy.



Recipe adapted from: Olga's Flavour Factory with few my changes. This type of cake decoration I have seen also in "Pie and Pastry Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum.

Ingredients for cake:

• half a cup of milk
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 heaped tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 5 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 egg
• 2 1/2 cups plain flour (you might need little bit more)

Method:

1. To small saucepan add the butter, cocoa powder, sugar, milk, honey. Cook until butter and sugar melted.



2. Mix the vinegar and baking soda. It will change to foam straight away. Add mixture into ingredients in a saucepan. Mix. 

3. Add the egg. Mix very fast - we don't want scramble egg in cocoa mixture :).

4. Remove saucepan from heat and leave it to cool for about 5 minutes.

5. Slowly add flour and mix well.



6. When the mixture become thicker pour into surface. 

7. Add the rest of flour and knead until dough is smooth. 

8. Divide the dough in 2 and then each part divide to 5. 

9. Roll each part of the dough out very thinly and cut into 25 cm circles. Do it on prepared pieces of baking paper. I also manage to make 11th layer from dough pieces that left after rolling.  

10. Use a fork to poke some holes across each layer. 

11. Pre-heat oven to 180-190 Celsius degrees. Bake each layer for about 4-6 minutes.

12. Let layers to cool completely. Layers will be really hard but do not worry, they will soften thanks to pastry cream.



Ingredients for pastry cream:

• 4 heaped tablespoons plain flour
• 3 heaped tablespoons corn starch
• 2 cups milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 vanilla pod or 1 tablespoons vanilla essence
• 2 heaped tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup double cream, cold

Method:

1. In a medium saucepan heat up the milk with seedless vanilla pod(don't boil it!). When foam appear remove saucepan from heat.

2.  Mix the egg yolks with sugar. 



3. Whisk together: egg yolks mixture, vanilla seeds, sieved corn starch and flour.  

4. Add some warm milk to egg mixture and whisk. 

5. Remove vanilla pod from milk. Place saucepan with milk over a medium heat and pour slowly egg mixture. Whisk constantly. Cook until thickened.

6. Add butter and mix until melted. 

7. Remove custard to bowl and cover it with cling film, laying right on top of the pastry cream (it will prevent from forming a skin). Place in a fridge until completely cool. 

8. Whip up the double cream and fold it gently into cold pastry cream.

9.  Top each cake layer with a pastry cream (around 2,5 tablespoons pastry cream per layer).



10. Place heavy book of top of the cake. If it's warm were you prepare your cake place it in a fridge for about 30 minutes. In mean time you can prepare dulce de leche jelly. 

Ingredients for "honeycomb" dulce de leche jelly:

• half a can of cooked condensed milk, dulce de leche (I used around 270 grams)
• 57 grams unsalted butter, in room temp.
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 3 tablespoons very hot water
• 3 gelatine leaves

Method:

1. Soak the gelatine in a cold water for about 5 minutes or until soften.

2. Whip out butter with dulce de leche.



3. Squeeze out the excess of water from the gelatine. Melt the gelatine with 3 tablespoons of hot water.

4. Add one tablespoon of sour cream into gelatine and mix well. Add rest of cream into gelatine and mix it again.

5. Combine dulce de leche mixture with gelatine mixture and mix it well.

6. Spread jelly mixture over the cake and sides. It will thickened within minutes so you need to work very quickly.



7. Place prepared 2 pieces of bubble wrap on top of the cake and sides.

7. Press gently so bubble wrap adheres completely. 

8. Place cake into a fridge for few hours.

9. Gently remove bubble wrap.

10. Decorate with bees made from marzipan and pieces of nuts.



Smacznego! :)