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These Russian sponge nut slices with butter cream taste incredibly delicious – nutty, moist, creamy, fluffy. They date back to the Soviet era and were one of the most popular pastries back then. Here I’ll show you how to make the nut slices yourself. It’s pretty easy, and you only need a few common ingredients to make them. You can find a detailed sponge nut slices recipe with exact quantities and step-by-step instructions right below.
The sweet hit from the former Soviet Union
The delicious sponge nut slices were very popular during the Soviet era. You could buy them in many Soviet pastry shops, bakeries and canteens. The sweet nut mini cakes were loved by children and adults at that time. Thanks to this recipe you can enjoy the delicious taste of nut mini cakes from the former Soviet Union at home.
What are the Russian nut mini cakes made of?
The pastry consists of nut sponge cake and nut butter cream. The sponge cake is made in the classic way, but additionally refined with nuts. After baking, it tastes nutty, moist, fluffy and soft. The butter cream is made with home-made milk syrup and – just like the sponge cake – supplemented with nuts. It tastes creamy, tender and also nutty. Since the nuts are roasted, the slices end up being not only delicious, but additionally very aromatic.
Which nuts can I use?
You can use any nuts you have at home or like for the sponge cake as well as for the cream and for sprinkling the nut mini cakes. I used hazelnuts. Walnuts or peanuts are also very good for this. It is important that the nuts are roasted so that the nut mini cakes will be really aromatic later. You can either buy already roasted nuts or roast them yourself in the oven or in a pan.
For those who love nutty creamy dessert
These sponge nut slices are an ideal dessert for those who love creamy nut-flavored cakes. Because that’s exactly how they taste. Thanks to butter cream, the nut slices are very creamy. Due to the nuts, which are contained in both the dough and the cream, and with which the mini cakes are sprinkled on top of that, they have a pronounced nutty flavor. The moist fluffy sponge cake additionally makes the nut slices a heavenly delicious treat.
Russian sponge nut slices are
- nutty,
- moist,
- fluffy,
- creamy,
- tender,
- soft,
- aromatic,
- incredibly delicious,
- easy and quick to make with common ingredients,
- perfect for dessert during the week or for a party,
- classic of the Soviet cuisine.
Recipe for Russian sponge nut slices
The recipe for these sweet nut slices is very simple and quick. You only need to bake the sponge cake and cook the cream. Here you can get a rough idea of how the making of the nut slices goes, and what you need for the recipe. You can find the exact quantities and step-by-step instructions on how to make the Russian sponge nut slices here below in the box recipe.
For the nut sponge dough, in addition to eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla and a pinch of salt, you will also need chopped nuts. First, beat eggs with sugar, vanilla and salt until fluffy, then fold in flour with nuts and bake the sponge in a square baking pan. Then let it cool and cut it lengthwise into two cake layers. Soak the two nut cake layers with the sugar syrup, which is made with water and sugar and flavored with rum or cognac.
For the cream you need room-warm butter, sugar, milk, egg, vanilla and again any roasted and chopped nuts. First, boil the milk syrup with milk, sugar and egg and let it cool. Then you stir it and vanilla into the fluffy whipped butter. Then add the nuts to the cream.
Now spread the two nut cake layers with the cream, stack them on top of each other and sprinkle the top of the cake with chopped nuts. After it has cooled down, cut it into slices. Done!
How to make Russian nut slices: tips and tricks
- You can take any nuts for the sponge, the cream and for sprinkling on the mini cakes. They must be roasted.
- You can use vanilla sugar, vanilla powder, vanilla extract or vanilla bean scraped out as vanilla for the nut sponge cake and the cream.
- To bake the nut sponge cake, you’ll need an approx. 24 cm x 24 cm square springform pan.
- To check whether the nut sponge cake is baked, use a toothpick. Insert it into the center of the sponge briefly and see if it comes out clean. Alternatively, you can use a finger to gently press on the surface of the sponge about halfway down. If it springs back after you press it and no marks remain, it’s done.
- Be sure to cook the milk syrup in a thick-bottomed saucepan so it doesn’t burn.
- Both butter and the milk syrup and alcohol need to be room-warm and all about the same temperature when whipped together to make the cream, so they can combine well.
- You can just leave out alcohol for the cream and sugar syrup, or use something else for flavoring instead. I had flavored the sugar syrup with a lemon zest this time. To do this, I added the lemon zest to the hot sugar syrup right after cooking and, after the syrup had cooled, poured it through a strainer.
- Be sure to chill the cake for at least 3 hours after making it, so it can set and the cream can firm up, and only then cut it into slices.
- Store the sponge nut slices in the refrigerator. You can store them for about 3 days.
Did you make the Russian sponge nut slices yourself using this recipe? I’m looking forward to your results, your star rating and your comment below on how you liked the nut mini cakes.
Got an appetite for more delicious mini cakes and slices? Try them:
- Sponge slices with butter cream: so tasted small Soviet happiness
- Napoleon tarts: recipe for quick mini variant of the Russian cake
- Tarts “Penyochki” – popular Soviet mini tree stump cakes
- Mini chocolate sponge cakes – easy recipe for chocolate eye-catchers
- Krakow slices recipe – on the taste journey to the Soviet Union
Russian sponge nut slices
Equipment
- 24 cm x 24 cm square springform pan
Ingredients
for the dough
- 5 eggs
- 150 g sugar
- 125 g flour
- 30 g any nuts (roasted and finely chopped)
- vanilla
- 1 pinch of salt
- butter to grease the baking pan
for the cream
- 200 g butter (room temperature)
- 100 ml milk
- 135 g sugar
- 1 egg
- 35 g any nuts (roasted and finely chopped)
- vanilla
- 1 tbsp rum or cognac (room temperature)
for the sugar syrup
- 90 ml water
- 70 g sugar
- 1 tbsp rum or cognac
for sprinkling
- 70 g any nuts (roasted and finely chopped)
Instructions
Making the dough
- Line the bottom of the square springform pan with baking paper and grease the sides with butter.
- Beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt until you have a fluffy white mixture.
- Mix flour with nuts and fold into the egg-sugar mixture to make a fluffy, thick batter.
- Pour the nut sponge mixture into the baking pan and bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C top and bottom heat for about 20 minutes. Allow the nut sponge cake to cool and then store in an airtight container overnight.
Making the sugar syrup
- Put sugar and water in a small saucepan, bring to a boil while stirring constantly, and take it off the heat. Let the sugar syrup cool down.
- Add rum or cognac and stir it.
Making the cream
- Mix egg and milk in a thick-bottomed saucepan.
- Add sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Then continue to cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes until it has thickened a bit. Then let the milk syrup cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
- Beat softened butter for about 4 - 5 minutes until fluffy and creamy.
- Add the vanilla and the milk syrup in portions and whip each time to a homogeneous cream.
- Add rum or cognac and whip again briefly to a homogeneous cream.
- Stir the nuts into the cream.
Making the nut slices
- Cut the sponge lengthwise into two cake layers, soak them each from one side with the sugar syrup and let them dry for about 10 minutes.
- Spread the two cake layers evenly with the cream and stack them on top of each other.
- Sprinkle the top of the cake with nuts and chill for at least 3 hours to allow the cream to set and the cake to set through.
- Cut off about 0.5 cm thick border from all sides of the cake (it doesn't look that pretty, but it tastes delicious, so you shouldn't throw it away) and cut the cake into 8 slices (each 10 cm x 5 cm in size in my case).
Notes
- To check if the nut sponge cake is done baking, use a toothpick. Alternatively, use a finger to gently press on the surface of the sponge about halfway down. If it springs back after pressing, and no marks remain, it is done.
- Both butter and the milk syrup and alcohol need to be room-warm and all about the same temperature when whipped together to make the cream, so they can combine well.
- You can simply omit alcohol for the cream and sugar syrup, or use something else for flavoring instead.
- Note the detailed tips and tricks for making the Russian sponge nut slices at the top of the post.