Kyiv cake facts for kids
Kyiv cake slice
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| Alternative names | Kiev cake |
|---|---|
| Course | Dessert |
| Place of origin | Ukraine |
| Region or state | Kyiv |
| Created by | Karl Marx Confectionery Factory |
| Main ingredients | Meringue, hazelnuts, chocolate |
| 481 kilocalories per 100 g kcal | |
A Kyiv cake (Ukrainian: торт "Київський", romanized: tort "Kyivskyi") is a famous dessert cake from Kyiv, Ukraine. It has been made since December 6, 1956, by the Karl Marx Confectionery Factory. This factory is now part of the Roshen company. The cake quickly became very popular across the entire Soviet Union.
This special cake is now one of the symbols of Kyiv. Its name and packaging often show the horse chestnut leaf. This leaf is like an unofficial symbol of the city. The cake itself has two light and airy layers of meringue mixed with hazelnuts. It is covered with a chocolate glaze and has a creamy, buttercream-like filling inside.
The Story Behind Kyiv Cake
The creation of the Kyiv cake has an interesting story! One day, some bakers at the factory accidentally left a large amount of egg whites out of the cooler. The next morning, the head chef, Kostyantyn Petrenko, and his 17-year-old assistant, Nadia Chornohor, had to fix this mistake. To hide what happened, they used the frozen egg-white cakes. They spread them with creamy buttercream, sprinkled them with powder, and decorated them with pretty flower designs.
Over time, the recipe for the Kyiv cake changed a bit. In the 1970s, bakers got even better at making the egg-white and nut mixture. They started adding hazelnuts to the cake. They also tried using peanuts and cashews. However, these other nuts were quite expensive. So, the factory decided to go back to using hazelnuts.
The factory says that Kostiantyn Mykytovych Petrenko was the main person who created the recipe and how to make the Kyiv cake. He was the head of the biscuit shop. The recipe was fully developed in 1956. Before that, they spent several years trying out old and fancy recipes to get it just right.
How Kyiv Cake is Made
Making a Kyiv cake involves several careful steps. First, nuts are roasted, chopped into small pieces, and then mixed with flour. Next, egg whites are whipped until they are fluffy, and sugar and vanilla powder are slowly added. These two mixtures (the nut-flour mix and the whipped egg whites) are then gently combined.
The dough is spread thinly onto paper, about 0.6–0.7 cm thick. It is then baked in an oven at 150–160 °C. After baking, the cakes are dried for 12 hours at a temperature of 25–30 °C. To remove the paper, it is carefully moistened with water.
Finally, the baked cake layers are spread with chocolate buttercream and put together. The sides of the cake are also covered with cream. Small crumbs from leftover cake pieces are pressed onto the sides. The top of the cake is decorated with colorful buttercream, often showing a blooming chestnut flower. Sometimes, it is also decorated with fruits or candied fruits.
Images for kids
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Opened cake, close-up.
See also
In Spanish: Pastel de Kiev para niños
