Russian Tea Cake (Curly Boy)

Russians love tea, so tea cakes are big! In Russian, Kucheryavyy Khlopts (Curly Boy) is just the nickname that this Russian cake gets from the messy piled cake cubes. The assembly is similar to a Volcano cake and trifle dessert as sponge cake layers are covered in a delicate cream. This torte is super-moist from the sour cream and condensed milk sponge layers and is super easy to make!

Curly Boy cake goes by so many different names that I decided to list all the related titles this cake gets from the Slavic Community.

Related Names: 

• Curly Ivan
• Curly Boy
• Pincher
• Royal ruins (grafskiye razvalini)
• Pancho
• Turtle cake (trifle)
• Chocolate Volcano
• Iceberg cake
• Anthill (Moravenik)

The sour cream ingredient in both the sponge cake and cream are undetectable in this recipe!

Smetana means sour cream, in Russian. To make it at home from scratch you’ll need buttermilk (kefir) and heavy whipping cream (slevka).

1. Mix 1 liter of cream and a heaping 3/4 cup of thick buttermilk (or natural yogurt). Leave at room temperature for at least 8 hours (up to 24 hours) until thick.
2. Stir after fermentation and keep refrigerated before serving.

Ingredients for Smetannik:

• eggs- 4 eggs beaten until thick and pale.
• sugar- granulated sugar.
• sour cream- 2 cups or a 16oz package.
• baking soda- stir it with the sour cream to quench any bitterness. Russians use vinegar or lemon juice but since sour cream already has the culture in it just mix them together!
• flour- all-purpose flour or bread flour.
• unsweetened cocoa powder- is only used for half the cake batter to make chocolate cake layers.
• condensed milk- is sweet and used in the cream too.

Ingredients for the Sour Cream Frosting: 

• sour cream- (smetana) is found in most Russian desserts!
• condensed milk- staple Russian ingredient for dessert!
• Cool whip- use whipped heavy whipping cream or thawed Cool Whip.

1. Preheat oven 350°F. Line and lightly grease two 9″ spring-form pans with aluminum foil. Set aside.

2. Place eggs and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat over high speed for 20 minutes. Add in the baking soda mixture and condensed milk.

3. Slowly beat in the flour. Evenly divide the batter and leave one plain and whisk in cocoa powder to the other half. (about 3 cups of batter for each.)

4. Bake 25-35 minutes or until done. Cool completely.

5. Trim the sides, top, and bottom of each cake layer.

6. Meanwhile Make The Cream and Ganache: beat the cream ingredients together until smooth; set aside (if using heavy cream beat first until thick then add the other ingredients.) To Make ganache; simmer the first three ingredients together. Whisk in the butter and set aside to cool.

Assembly: 

7. Arrange cake cubes into a single layer onto a large square serving plate. Top and cover sides with the cream and repeat 3-4 times ending with the cream on top and sides. Freeze 30 minutes to set. Pour cooled ganache over top of cake and sprinkle with 1 cup of chopped walnuts*.

Best if refrigerated overnight before serving.

Two 9-inch springform pans are best for these cake layers. Since the sponge cakes rise much during baking it’s best to use something with room and depth to allow for growth. Any rectangular or deep round cake pans are ideal. Look for depth and enough room for about 6 cups of batter plus growth.

This sour cream cake can be served a couple of hours after preparing! Once the cake is cool enough to handle you can pile the cake pieces and let it sit for as quick as an hour before serving.

This Russian dessert is ideal for serving large crowds because it makes plenty! Depending on what serving size (kid or adult) the cake can stretch for more servings. It’s ideally for 22 servings, but is easily a delicious dessert to be eaten within a few days for a smaller crowd.

No. The sponge cake layers are already super-moist to work with and the cream soaks into the dessert making it completely soak-free! Since the cream is on the runny side it helps moisten the sponge cake without any additional ingredients.