Monastyrska Izba (монастирська ізба, cherry log cake)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A rolling pin
• •Two lined baking trays
• •A long serving board or platter
• •A fine grater for chocolate
• •A sieve for draining cherries

Instructions

1. 1

   Drain the cherries

   Put the pitted sour cherries in a sieve over a bowl and let them drain until they stop dripping heavily. Toss them with the sugar and cornstarch just before filling, not hours earlier, or they'll throw too much juice. Keep the drained juice for tea, kompot, or a spoonful over breakfast.

   Fresh July sour cherries are the dream. In January, jarred or frozen cherries are not a poor cousin; preserving the summer fruit for winter tables is the old habit.
2. 2

   Make the dough

   Rub the cold butter into the flour until it looks like coarse crumbs with a few pea-sized pieces still showing. Stir in the sugar, baking powder, and salt, then add the smetana and egg yolk. Bring it together with your hands until it forms a soft, cool dough. Stop as soon as it holds; if you keep working it, the pastry gets sulky.

3. 3

   Rest it cold

   Flatten the dough into a thick rectangle, wrap it, and chill until firm enough to roll without smearing butter across the table. It should feel bendable but not sticky. If your kitchen is warm, give it more cold; the dough forgives waiting better than it forgives rushing.

4. 4

   Roll and cut

   Divide the dough into fifteen pieces. Roll each piece into a strip about 20cm long and 6cm wide, dusting lightly with flour only when it sticks. Set a line of cherries down the middle of each strip, close the dough over them, and pinch the seam firmly from end to end. You want a sealed tube, not a squeezed one.

5. 5

   Bake the logs

   Lay the tubes seam-side down on lined trays, leaving space between them. Bake at 180C until the pastry is pale gold at the edges and dry to the touch, about 25 to 30 minutes. A little cherry juice may escape and caramelize at the seam; that is the cake telling you it has fruit inside.

6. 6

   Whip the cream

   Beat the thick smetana with icing sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest if using, until it loosens, thickens again, and falls from the whisk in heavy soft folds. Do not chase stiff peaks like buttercream. This cream should spread generously and stay tangy, because it has to soften the pastry without burying the cherries.

7. 7

   Build the hut

   Spread a little cream on a serving board or long platter to hold the first layer. Lay down 5 logs, cover with cream, then stack 4, cream, 3, cream, 2, cream, and finally 1 on top. Coat the outside with the remaining cream, filling the gaps so the shape becomes a snowy roof instead of a pile of sticks.

8. 8

   Chill and slice

   Grate dark chocolate over the cream, then chill the cake overnight. By morning the pastry should cut cleanly but feel tender, the smetana should have settled into the seams, and the cherries should still taste sharp. Slice across the logs so every piece shows the little cabin wall inside.

Chef Tips

• •Use sour cherries, not sweet dessert cherries if you can help it. The whole cake depends on that tart bite against the rich smetana.
• •If your smetana is loose, drain it in a sieve lined with muslin or a clean tea towel for a few hours before whipping. Thick cream is the difference between a proud hut and a slow landslide.
• •The logs can crack a little. Cover them with cream and keep going. The structure matters, but perfection does not.
• •This cake is better after a night in the fridge and still good the next day. It is made for guests because it refuses to be small.

Advance Preparation

• •Pit and drain the cherries a day ahead if using fresh fruit.
• •The pastry logs can be baked one day ahead and kept covered at room temperature.
• •Assemble the cake at least 8 hours before serving so the smetana softens the pastry and the slices hold.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 235g)