Solozhenyk (соложеник, baked crepe custard cake)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •20cm crepe pan or well-seasoned frying pan
• •20 to 22cm round baking dish or solid cake tin
• •Ladle
• •Whisk
• •Wide pan for the fruit

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the fruit

   Melt a small knob from the 20g butter in a wide pan and add the apples, fruit sugar, lemon zest, and a pinch of salt. Cook gently until the apples lose their raw snap and the smell changes from sharp orchard to warm compote. Fold in the drained sour cherries and potato starch, then cook until the juices turn glossy and cling to the fruit instead of running around the pan. Cool before layering.

   Wet filling makes the layers slide. If your jarred or frozen cherries give off a lot of juice, reduce that juice in the pan first, then add it back like syrup.
2. 2

   Mix the batter

   Whisk the 6 crepe eggs with the milk until loose, then whisk in the flour, sugar, salt, and melted butter. The batter should pour like single cream and coat the back of a ladle in a thin veil. Let it stand until the flour swells and the bubbles settle; if it thickens too much, loosen it with a splash more milk.

3. 3

   Fry the mlyntsi

   Warm a 20cm crepe pan and wipe it with butter. The first ladleful should make a low quick hiss, not an angry crackle; that's the pan sounding right. Pour in just enough batter to cover the base, swirl it thin, and cook until the surface loses its wet shine and the edges lift. Flip once, keep it pale with a few golden freckles, and stack the mlyntsi, Ukrainian crepes, on a plate. You want 10 to 12 soft crepes.

   A torn crepe is not a tragedy. Put it in the middle of the cake where the custard will hold it together. A crisp brown crepe is the bigger problem because it won't drink the custard properly.
4. 4

   Whisk the custard

   Heat the oven to 170C, or 150C fan, or 325F. Butter a 20 to 22cm round baking dish generously. Whisk the 6 custard eggs with the sugar, vanilla, and salt, then whisk in the smetana and milk until smooth. It should look creamy and pour easily, with no lumps of smetana hiding at the bottom.

   Twelve eggs is not excess here. The eggs are the structure and the celebration; cut them too far and the cake becomes pancakes with fruit instead of solozhenyk.
5. 5

   Stack the cake

   Lay one crepe in the buttered dish. Spread over a thin layer of fruit, spoon on a little custard, then repeat: crepe, fruit, custard, until the stack is built. Finish with a crepe on top. Pour the remaining custard slowly around the edge and over the surface, then press the stack very gently so the custard slips between the layers. Dot the top with the last small pieces of butter.

6. 6

   Bake until set

   Bake until the top is golden in patches, the edges have puffed slightly, and the center trembles like thick yogurt when you nudge the dish. It should not slosh. If the top colors before the middle has settled, cover it loosely with parchment or foil and keep baking gently. Trust the wobble more than the clock.

7. 7

   Rest and serve

   Let the solozhenyk rest until it stops looking fragile and cuts into clean, custardy wedges. Dust lightly with icing sugar if you like, and serve with a spoon of smetana or a little sour cherry syrup. Too hot, it collapses. Warm or room temperature, it behaves beautifully.

Chef Tips

• •Use tart apples, not sweet dessert apples. The custard is rich and needs fruit with teeth. Bramley, Antonivka, Granny Smith, or any sharp storing apple will do the job.
• •If Easter comes before cherry season, use jarred or frozen sour cherries from summer. In April we open jars. That is not a lesser version; that is how the year feeds the feast.
• •Keep the crepes thin and flexible. The custard needs to soak between the layers, and a hard-browned crepe sits there like cardboard at a wedding.
• •A solid baking dish is easier than a springform because custard finds leaks. If you use a springform, wrap the outside well with foil and set it on a tray.
• •This cake forgives a torn crepe and an uneven stack. It does not forgive rushing the rest after baking; give the eggs time to settle before slicing.

Advance Preparation

• •The crepe batter can be made the night before and kept covered in the fridge. Whisk it again and loosen with milk before frying.
• •The fruit filling and the crepes can both be made a day ahead. Stack the crepes between sheets of baking paper so they do not cling.
• •Assemble the cake shortly before baking, or up to 1 hour ahead. Baked solozhenyk keeps chilled for 2 days and is good at room temperature.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 210g)