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Markiza Cake (Marquise Cake)

Markiza cake is made with shortbread cake layers that are topped with crunchy meringue and walnuts, all brought together with sweetened condensed milk buttercream. This cake is what dreams are made of!

A slice of markiza cake on a plate with a fork next to two glasses.

Hands down the most favorite and most requested cake in our family, Markiza Cake gets requested every single time when there’s any celebration calling for cake. It is a bit tedious to roll out the dough and to put it all together, but if you can push through and make it you will get praises from all around the table.

Marquise cake on a cake platter topped with pearl sprinkles.
As I have mentioned in the Holiday Cake recipe, Holiday Cake and this Markiza Cake are somewhat similar but not completely. Both have shortbread cookie layers as the base, but this one does not have plum butter and that one does.

Markiza Cake also uses buttercream as the choice of cream, but this one is based on sweetened condensed milk, while Holiday Cake was based on custard. This means that you can easily use the interchange the buttercreams between the two cakes.

Markiza will still be good with the custard-based buttercream from the Holiday Cake, and the Holiday Cake can be easily adapted to use the Russian Buttercream from this Markiza cake. Hope you’re not confused yet 😉

Shortbread cake on a polka dot plate with a fork.

How to change Buttercream Flavors

The buttercream can also be made with additional flavorings.

  • The recipe below is for the classic version. But, depending on your taste you can use cooked condensed milk, aka dulce de leche instead of regular condensed milk for a bit of a caramel flavor.
  • Or add 1/4 cup cocoa powder to give it the chocolaty flavor.
  • Or even make it coffee flavored by mixing a tablespoon of instant coffee powder with 2-3 tablespoons of hot boiling water, then bringing it to room temperature and adding it to the buttercream.

A slice of shortbread cake with layers of meringue and walnuts on a plate with a fork.

Make the Markiza Cake Yours

There are several people that make this cake in our family, and each one of us has a favorite way of making it. So depending on who brings this cake to the party, it will have a choice of the above buttercreams to reflect our own favorites.

The step-by-step pictures of the cake below are of 12 inches by 18 inches cake, so it is party-sized already.

The recipe card though is for half that cake (12″x9″), which is still a good size cake that will make around 24 slices.

 

Markiza Cake (Marquise Cake)

Yields: 24 servings (12″x9″cake)

Ingredients for the Shortbread Base:

  • Margarine or unsalted butter, room temperature
  • egg yolks
  • sour cream
  • baking soda & vinegar
  • vanilla extract
  • flour

Meringue for Markiza Cake (Marquise Cake)

  • egg whites
  • granulated sugar
  • walnuts, chopped

Cream for Markiza Cake

  •  sweetened condensed milk/dulce de leche
  • unsalted butter, room temperature
  • cocoa powder, sifted(optional)
  • instant Coffee & boiling hot water (optional)

For Decorating the sides of the cake:

  • chopped walnuts

For Lattice top decoration

How to make Markiza Cake (Marquise Cake):

  • Combine together the baking soda and vinegar, stir and set aside.
  • Cream together the butter or margarine until smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides several times. Add egg yolks 2 at a time, creaming in between each addition. Add the sour cream, vanilla, and the baking soda mixture and cream until combined. Add flour in two additions and mix until the dough forms.
Mixing the ingredients to make the shortbread layer of this marquise cake.

Pictures are from a doubled batch.

  • Split the dough into 6 pcs and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hrs.
Diving the shortbread dough into six balls and freezing.

Pictures are from a doubled batch.

Make the Meringue:

  • 10 minutes before you’re ready to roll out the dough, start making the meringue.
    Start whipping the egg whites going from low to high speeds. After about 30 seconds start adding sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until all sugar has been used.
  • Now whip for about 5-8 minutes until the egg whites are increased in volume drastically and look very pearly white. Make sure the bowl and whisk are impeccably clean and no traces of grease or egg yolk have gotten into the egg white, or it will not whip up.

Roll and Bake:

  • Preheat the oven to 350F, with the baking rack in the middle.
  • Turn a 12×18 baking sheet over and place it on a damp rag to prevent it from moving. Work with one dough ball at a time. Roll it out thinly on the back of a baking sheet. Try to go over the edges. Now scrape the uneven edges off with a knife. Add the scraps to the middle of the rolled-out cake and roll them flat again.
  • Add1.5 cups of meringue on top and spread it into an even layer. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts on top of the meringue and bake for about 15 -20 minutes or until the meringue is dry and the bottom (the cake layer) is golden in color.
  • Remove to a cooling rack, or to a flat piece of foil placed on the table. If you have two baking sheets, you can start rolling one layer out, while the other one is still baking.
  • Repeat the above steps with the reaming pieces of the dough.

Rolling out the shortbread dough and topping with a meringue layer and chopped walnuts.

Make Russian Buttercream:

While the layers are baking, you can make the sweetened condensed milk buttercream.

  • With a mixer whip room temperature butter for about 5-7 minutes or until it is very fluffy and pale in color. Scrape the bowl several times throughout the process.
  • Now, while continuing to whip, pour the condensed milk down the side of the bowl. Minimally whip to combine, to avoid the buttercream from separating.
Preparing the homemade Russian buttercream frosting for this classic Markiza cake.

Note: pictures are from a doubled batch.

Assemble the Markiza Cake: 

  • Once you have all of your layers baked and completely cooled, start layering the cake with cream. Put a dab of frosting on a platter and place the first layer of cake on top, then press to adhere.
    Put about 1.5-2 cups of frosting and spread it around into a thin layer.

If you would like to decorate the top with buttercream and make the intricate design like you see in the pictures, you need to put the last cake layer meringue side down.

{tip: you can layer the whole cake (except for the first layer) meringue side down, this will help with spreading the cream, because spreading it on top of bumpy meringue could be challenging}

How to assemble the layers of shortbread and Russian buttercream into a delicious Marquise cake.

Remember: this picture is from a doubled portion of the cake.

Otherwise, you can leave the meringue up and make it serve the purpose of your ‘decoration’, as we did in the Holiday Cake.

Continue layering until all cake layers are frosted. You should have some remaining cream to frost the outside of the cake in a thin layer of buttercream.

If you do not have a large party to serve this big cake to, split it into two equal parts. One can be frozen (well wrapped), while the other one is eaten.
Either way, cover the outside of the cake with a thin layer of frosting, hiding the cake layers underneath it. Use additional 2 cups chopped nuts, per each half  to press against the sides of the cake. You will need about 3 cups of nuts if you are keeping the cake whole.

If you would like the intricate lattice design on top, you will need to make additional buttercream with 230 gr butter (2 sticks) and 1 can sweetened condensed milk,  by following the same directions on how to make it as above. 

Fill a piping bag with about 2 cups of frosting, pipe a border all around the top of the cake. Then make a lattice pattern like you see on the pictures. Using the same piping tip, pipe a little star inside each square and top with chocolate crispearls.

Topping the layers of shortbread and meringue with buttercream and chopped walnuts.

The above pictures are from a doubled portion of cake. Therefore it was split into two cakes. If you make a single recipe from the recipe card below, you’ll do the same thing by splitting it down the middle, but then the two halves will be stacked on top of each other, giving you 6 layers total.

  • Refrigerate or leave at room temperature until ready to eat. The cake is best 12-24 hours after being made. But if you’re pressed for time, it can be eaten within 2-3 hours of making it. The additional time is needed to adhere the layers together and make it easier to cut the cake.

Try these other great CAKE recipes:

 

Markiza Cake (Marquise Cake)

Markiza Cake Recipe (Marquise Cake) - Shortbread cake layers topped with crunchy meringue and walnuts, then sandwiched with Russian Buttercream | by Let the Baking Begin!
4.83 from 39 votes

This Markiza Cake is a classic Ukrainian cake made with
layers of shortbread, meringue and walnuts in between a smooth and creamy buttercream
frosting.

Author: Marina | Let the Baking Begin!
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Russian
Keyword: markiza cake
Calories: 476 kcal
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings: 24 servings

Ingredients

Ingredients for the Base

  • 9 oz margarine or unsalted butter, room temperature 9 oz = 2 1/4 sticks butter
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 3 Tbsp sour cream
  • 1 tsp baking soda + 1 Tbsp vinegar (mix together until the foam subsides)
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (2 1/2 cups = 12.5 oz)

Meringue for Markiza Cake (Marquise Cake)

Cream for Markiza Cake

  • 1 1/2 cans sweetened condensed milk / dulce de leche 1 can = 14 oz
  • 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature 1.5 cups = 3 sticks butter

Optional -

  • 2 Tbsp cocoa powder sifted
  • and/OR
  • 1 Tbsp instant Coffee + 1 Tbsp boiling hot water

For Decorating the sides of the cake:

  • 2 cups chopped walnuts

For Lattice top decoration

  • 1 cups unsalted butter, room temperature (1 cup = 2 sticks)
  • 1 can condensed milk (1 can = 14 oz)

Instructions

How to make Markiza Cake (Marquise Cake)

  1. Combine together the baking soda and vinegar, stir and set aside.
  2. Cream together the 9 oz butter or margarine until smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides several times. Add 5 egg yolks 2 at a time, creaming in between each addition. Add 3 tbsp of sour cream, vanilla, and the 1 tsp baking soda and the 1 tbsp vinegar mixture and cream until combined. Add 2 1/2 cups flour in two additions and mix until the dough forms.

  3. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces, cover refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hrs.

Make the Meringue

  1. 25 minutes before you're ready to roll out the dough, start making the meringue.

  2. Make sure the bowl and whisk are impeccably clean and grease-free. While separating the egg whites from egg yolks, make sure no egg yolk and no traces of grease or egg yolk have gotten into the egg white, or it will not whip up.

    Add 5 egg whites to a mixer bowl and with a whisk attachment whip for about 30 seconds on high speed, then add 1 1/2 cups sugar in 4 additions while continuing to whip. Continue whipping the meringue for about 20 minutes or until the egg whites are increased in volume drastically and look very glossy white.

Roll and Bake

  1. Preheat oven to 350F, with the baking rack in the middle.

  2. Turn a 12"x18" baking sheet over and place it on a damp rag to prevent it from moving. Work with one dough ball at a time. Roll it out thinly on the back of a baking sheet. Try to go over the edges. Now scrape the uneven edges off with a knife, then add scraps to the middle of the rolled out cake and roll them flat.

  3. Place about 1.5 cups of the whipped meringue on top and spread it into an even layer. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts on top and place into the oven to bake.

    Bake for about 15 -20 minutes at 350°F or until the meringue is dry and the bottom (the cake layer) is golden in color. Remove to a cooling rack, or to a flat piece of foil placed on the table. If you have two baking sheets, you can start rolling one layer out, while the other one is still baking.

  4. Repeat the above steps with the remaining pieces of the dough.

Make Russian Buttercream

  1. While the layers are baking, you can make the sweetened condensed milk cream.

  2. With a mixer, whip room temperature butter for about 5 minutes or until it is very fluffy and pale in color. Scrape the bowl several times throughout the process. Now, while continuing to whip, pour the condensed milk down the side of the bowl. Minimally whip to avoid the buttercream from separating.

Assemble the Markiza Cake

  1. Once you have all of your layers baked and completely cooled, start layering the cake with cream. Add a dab of frosting to a platter and place the first layer of cake on top pressing to adhere.

  2. Layer the rest of the cake with bottlayers om side up, this will make it easy to spread the cream. Top each layer with 1 ½ - 2 cups of frosting

    Top each cake layer with about 1.5-2 cups of frosting and spread it around into a thin layer.

    If you would like to decorate the top with buttercream and make the intricate design like you see in the pictures, you need to put the last cake layer meringue side down. Otherwise, you can leave the meringue up and make it serve the purpose of your 'decoration', like we did in the Holiday Cake.

  3. Continue layering until all cake layers are frosted. You should have some remaining cream to frost the outside of the cake in a thin layer of buttercream.
  4. Split the cake into two equal parts down the middle and stack them on top of each other gluing them with some buttercream. Now your cake has 6 layers, instead of 3.

  5. Cover the outside of the cake with a thin layer of frosting, hiding the cake layers underneath it. Use additional 2 cups chopped nuts to press against the sides of the cake.
  6. If you would like the intricate latice design on top, you will need to make additional buttercream with 8 oz of butter (2 sticks) and 1 can sweetened condensed milk, by following the same directions on how to make the Russian Buttercream as above.

  7. Fill a piping bag with about 2 cups of frosting, pipe a border all around the top of the cake. Then make a lattice pattern like you see on the pictures. Using the same piping tip, pipe a little star inside each square and top with a sugar bead.

Nutrition Facts
Markiza Cake (Marquise Cake)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 476 Calories from Fat 369
% Daily Value*
Fat 41g63%
Saturated Fat 19g119%
Cholesterol 116mg39%
Sodium 246mg11%
Potassium 128mg4%
Carbohydrates 26g9%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 13g14%
Protein 6g12%
Vitamin A 925IU19%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 34mg3%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Marina | Let the Baking Begin

Welcome to Let the Baking Begin! I'm Marina and my love and passion for eating only the most delicious foods drive me to share that love here on Let the Baking Begin (since 2009). With over 20 years of experience in the kitchen, you know the recipes are tested and retested until perfect. I'm so happy to have you here. Enjoy! Read more...

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  • Faisal Jan

    Is there any video showing instructions how to make the markiza cake

    · Reply
  • Nina

    Buttercream proportions are incorrect. I make Russian buttercream routinely for all my cakes – lightness, versatility and just plainly so much better than heavy, sweet frosting from American cookbooks. I have never gone through a full can of condensed milk for a regular 12 serving cake. Maybe 2/3 to 3/4 can at most. “Baked” condensed milk is much heavier and denser but also sweeter. Using your buttercream proportions, it was flowing like honey, until we added the additional 230 g butter you designated as “decorative” (minus the condensed milk), then consistency was correct. I think perhaps in your “double batch” calculations you have not cut back on condensed milk requirement correctly. For decorative buttercream your proportion to milk is entirely different. Perhaps maintaining uniform weight units (like grams) and not mixing volume and weight measures (cups and ounces) and restricting your recipe to a single batch, would avoid further confusion and errata.
    Happy baking!!
    Best,
    Nina

    · Reply
  • Olga

    Love this cake ❤️

    · Reply
  • Ira

    Hi Marina,
    I’m going to make this cake tomorrow. I’m a bit confused about the meringue. In the post you mention to whip egg whites for 20 mins, however, in the recipe card, you instruct to whip the egg white for 5-8 minutes. Please advise which in correct. My eggs whites will be room temp.
    Thank you kindly.

    · Reply
    • Hi Ira,
      Thank you for pointing towards this discrepancy, I will clarify it in the next.

      The meringue should be whipped to stiff peaks, that could take anywhere from 5-20 minutes depending on many factors. The meringue should look very glossy and a whip dipped into meringue when picked up should look very thick and viscous.

      · Reply
  • Dajana

    Hi,

    Does this recipe work well if I cut it in half (make 12 servings?)

    Would it make sense to roll the dough over a 12×9 baking sheet instead of the 12×18 in this case?

    Thank you! 🙂

    · Reply
  • Julia

    I was looking for the receipt of this cake everywhere and somehow found you
    I made Markiza today and absolutely love it me and my family. Each layer I made it round on parchment paper and then baked it.
    The cake just melts in you mouth
    Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
    I’m looking forward to try more of your receipts.
    Gods bless you and your beautiful family.
    I wish you have more videos on YouTube.
    Julia

    · Reply
  • Carol

    I have a party for 8 people who I have not seen in last eight years so I want to make a special dessert and this recipe looks like what I want to make. Can I make the cake layers ahead and freeze or would it be better to make them a few days beforehand. I also just wanted to be sure of the baking. The cake layers are just baked on bottom of the sheet pan they are rolled out on?
    I am actually hoping to have leftovers so I just also want to make sure- do I double the recipe as it is written and form it on the back of sheet pan to fill?
    I cannot wait to see the faces when I make this beautiful cake!

    · Reply
  • Alecya

    Hi! If I want to make the custard from holiday cake, do I double or triple that recipe to fill the party size markiza cake? Thanks!

    · Reply
    • Hi Alecya,
      I’d actually just make the Holiday cake and omit the plum butter since Holiday cake in essence is the same as Markiza, just a different cream and plum butter added.
      So if you’d like a bigger cake, just double the recipe of the Holiday Cake and don’t add the plum butter.

      · Reply
  • Evelina

    Hello, would this recipe make 6 circle cake layers that would be 10”s? Thank you.

    · Reply
  • Lanka

    Can the layers for this cake be made ahead of time? Looks amazing. Thank you

    · Reply
  • kaja

    Hi
    If you substitute custard for the buttercream to cut the sweetness can you still freeze the cake? Also would you leave the cake to settle for 24hrs completely done and frosted and then wrap and freeze it? I would like to make this asap but am so nervous about freezing it and having the texture be off after defrosting
    Thanks!
    Kaja

    · Reply
  • Claire

    Hello, In the description, the recipe amount you mentioned is for a “huge cake – 12 inch by 18 inch – 50 servings for party”. But you say the pictures are included only for the 12×18 cake. But the recipe box has ingredients for “Servings: 12 and 24 servings”. I’m CONFUSED about the recipe size (the size of cake for the actual recipe: 250 g butter, 5 yolks, 2 1/2 cups flour). Could you clarify?

    · Reply
    • The step by step pictures show how to make a double portion of what the recipe card makes.

      So the step by step pictures are for 12×18, while the recipe card is for 12×9.

      · Reply
      • Claire

        Thanks for the quick reply. But I see the baking pan you mentioned is 12-inch by 18-inch baking sheet. That’s where the confusion comes in. So, do I need to double the recipe like 500 g butter, 10 yolks, 5 cups of flour…… and then bake it in TWO half-sheet pans for 50 servings?

        · Reply
        • To double the cake (to serve 50), just change the servings in the recipe card to double, which will in turn double all the ingredients.

          Then, make the dough and split it into 6.
          Next, roll and bake them.

          Then, layer with cream and that is it 🙂

          · Reply
    • Vita

      The instructions in this recipe are not clear. You mention that the step by step instructions are for the 12″x18″cake but the instructions at the top right before the ingredient list it says “Yields: 24 servings (12″x9″cake)”. And then in the recipe card it also states that it is a 12×9 cake. I do wish somewhere you mentioned this clearly, most importantly in the recipe card so that nobody else gets confused that the actual step by step cake is cut in half in the recipe card. We haven’t eaten the cake yet, but i do believe it will taste good.

      · Reply
      • Hi Vita,
        The instructions are clear, but I don’t think you’ve read them all the way through.
        The cake is indeed a 12×9 inch cake, but the layers are baked on a 12×18 baking pan, then cut in half and stacked, which will give you a 12×9 inch cake. Hope this makes sense.

        · Reply
  • Elena

    If I were to freeze half how do I thaw it for best results?
    Also.can I use combination of margarine and butter in the dough?

    · Reply
  • Dianna Shkinder

    WOW!! Simply amazing and one of me favorite cakes! Thank you for such a detailed recipe. I made this cake yesterday for my friends tea party and I have only 3 pcs left lol it’s turned out very yummy! Everyone loved it. Thank you ❤️

    · Reply
  • Vika

    Made this cake this weekend for a brithday, turned out amazing! The only thing was that I found the dough really hard to roll, it kept breaking apart and tearing (and I had it in the fridge for a few hours!) Other than that, this cake takes a lot of patience but the results are soooo worth it. I made you Kiev’s Cake too for my in-laws anniversary. Thanks for all of your tips and tricks I really appreciate it!

    · Reply
    • Hi Vika,
      Sometimes leaving the dough in the fridge too long can cause the butter to get too cold and therefore make the dough crumbly. Next time you can try leaving the dough at room temperature until it gets a bit softer, which should make it easier to roll. If anything, rolling it between two layers of parchment paper can help too.

      Thank you so much for sharing your feedback. I love hearing from people that use my recipes, definitely inspires me to share more 😀

      · Reply
  • Natasha

    Also, do you cook on Convention bake or just a regular bake?

    · Reply
  • Anna

    How many days can the cake stay in the refrigerator before serving it?

    · Reply
  • Nada

    How big are the cans of condensed milk?

    · Reply
  • Christi

    Hi Marina!! Greetings from the Philippines. I’ve been eyeing to make this recipe for quite sometime and finally have a reason to since it’s my Dad’s 70th this weekend. Am curious since I’ve never tasted this kind of cake, will the cake layers remain crisp?

    · Reply
    • Hi Christi,
      welcome to my site! Glad to have you here!
      Yes, this cake remains relatively crispy and crunchy. Just make sure to keep it refrigerated if you want the maximum crispiness.

      Happy Birthday to your dad!

      · Reply
  • Nelya

    I would like to make this cake using hazelnuts. Have you tried this recipe with them?
    Thanks!

    · Reply
    • I have not made it using hazelnuts and I do think that pecans or walnuts would be better beaue the nuts are softer, but if hazelnuts is all you have, then it’s not going to be too bad.

      · Reply
      • Luba

        I have made this with hazelnuts and really enjoyed it!

        · Reply
  • natalia

    This cake is amazing. i have been making rakushki as my absolute favorite dessert. and the ingredients in them is exactly as the cake with out the cream. this cake just completes thatb

    · Reply
    • natalia

      this cake just completes that mouthwatering taste

      · Reply
  • Galina

    I was wondering if it’s ok if my dough was laying in the refrigerator for few days. Is it still gonna be ok? I just started making it and then I had to leave and I put it in fridge. So now almost week pass and im wondering if I should throw it away or I can still make it

    · Reply
    • Hi Galina, I have had a similar thing happen when I had the dough sit in the fridge for a week and then I made the cake and it was fine. So I think you should use it, it will be ok.

      · Reply
  • Inna

    Hi marina,
    Have you ever frozen this cake? I’m thinking to freeze it with this buttercream and the day before serving it add the final coat of Swiss meringue buttercream. It sure how well meringue cakes freeze.

    · Reply
    • Yes, I have frozen this cake before and you can freeze it decorated, or undecorated it won’t matter, since butter freezes really good. The cake is not affected at all by freezing, at least in my experience 🙂

      · Reply
  • Carol

    Just so excited to try this recipe. It actually does sound a bit complicated but nothing that a person cannot do,and the cake itself will be soooooo worth it. I am so happy to find this recipe and the instructions are really really easy to understand! Thanks so much!

    · Reply
    • Hi Carol,
      The cake is definitely not for when you are short on time, but definitely worth the result indeed! I’m excited for you to try it too!

      · Reply
  • Luda

    Hi,
    I’ve made this cake twice and it was really delicious and everyone loved it! Only thing I was going to ask is if you can give me a tip on the cream because I can’t seem to make it the right consistency to be able to decorate with it because it turns out sluggish and melts. I tried following what you said to have butter and condensed milk be at room temp and minimally whip it till it comes together and still have the same problem both times. Please help for next time! thanks:))

    · Reply
    • Hi Luda,
      I think there’s 3 factors that can help you succeed
      1. make sure ingredients are all the same temperature (which you already did, as you said).
      2. make sure you really whip the butter enough before adding the condensed milk. So I believe if you whip the butter for the full 5-7 minutes (if using a stand mixer) or even longer if you’re using a hand-held mixer before adding the condensed milk, it will increase the chances of your success greatly. Basically, you will start whipping it and after a minute or two you might think that you have whipped enough because it looks light and fluffy, but you will see that if you continue whipping for longer, it will turn even fluffier and even more pale white. Once it is whipped enough, there’s enough volume to support the condensed milk, otherwise there’s not enough volume so it will separate or just become very runny.
      3. Butter fat % and condensed milk moisture percentage.
      Since both of those are variable by a little, you kind of have to play it by ear sometimes. If you use the same brand butter and condensed milk all the time, after a time or two you will figure out how much condensed milk your butter can take. Sometimes I will add only 3/4th of the can of condensed milk for every 2 sticks butter because I notice that the cream is starting to be too runny for my liking. So that might be something you might want to consider?
      European butter tends to have a higher fat percentage, so it can take more condensed milk than regular American butter (just an fyi).

      Hope this helps!

      · Reply
      • Luda

        Thank you for the tips! Made this cake again over the weekend and the cream came out perfect! First, I prayed for God to help it turn out. I bought a diff brand condensed milk and followed all ur directions! Thanks again for all the tips and one of the best cake recipes ever!!

        · Reply
  • Mila

    What a beautiful looking cake!!! Planing to make it for Easter. Just couple question I have, can I bake layers (korji) of the cake one day and assembly it the next day? How long can korji stay with out being assembled or cream on them (thinking maybe if to have korji in a container with a tight lid)? Thanks for sharing with us this recipe

    · Reply
    • Hi Mila,

      Thank you! and you can bake it ahead and just assemble it the next day. Since the layers are very fragile, you will need to be very careful with them and it is best to not really move them much after you take them out of the oven and place them on the table. Otherwise they might break and be hard to assemble.

      If it is an option for you to make the cake 2-3 days ahead, that’s probably better than leaving the cake layers on the table for a couple of days. The cake really doesn’t lose much by being assembled couple days ahead, so that might be an option too.

      · Reply
  • I’ve been eyeing this cake recipe for a few months! I will make it today but am planning on halving the recipe.. I’ll let you know how it turns out

    · Reply
  • Kitsyabella

    This an amazing recipe, great instructions and really tasty cake. I made it for my husbands birthday and it was a beautiful cake. Thank you. I absolutely found the step by step instructions to be helpful!
    Thanks, will be making it again soon.

    · Reply
  • nadia

    Made this cake this weekend and it turned out excellent, except for one detail-it’s way too sweet! I think next time i make it, and i definitely will make it again soon, i will use 1/2 cup of sugar in the meringue instead of 1 and 1/2 cups. Other than that, i really like the flavors of the cake as well as the airy flaky texture. I didn’t have any problems rolling out the dough, just used parchment paper and nothing sticked! Thank you for great recipe!

    · Reply
    • Hi Nadia,
      So glad to hear that everything went well and you enjoyed this cake.
      As far as the sweetness, that’s one of the things about this cake that people either like or hate. Nevertheless, I would not mess around with the recipe of the meringue because if you do, chances are it will not work .The amount of sugar in a way ensures that the meringue stays stable through the whipping process, and the baking. Since you’re whipping the meringue in the begining and then it just sits until all cake layers are baked, if you put less sugar it will deflate faster and not bake properly after the first layer. If you want to split the meringue in a couple of batches and whip it for every 2 layers separately, to ensure that it doesn’t sit for too long that might work, otherwise I would not do it. Even if you do decrease the amount of sugar, I would not go less than 3/4 cup per recipe.

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    • Another thing you can do if you want to decrease the sweetness, is use the cream from the Holiday Cake (which has custard buttercream, also really good) and use it for the Markiza cake. The two cakes are super similar, so the buttercreams will work interchangeably. You can decrease the amount of sugar in that custard and that way you won’t be messing with meringue, but will reduce the amount of sweetness in the cake. Holiday Cake – http://wp.me/p2UcJ7-1Us

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      • nadia

        Thanks for your response. I looked up different meringue recipes and they all use less sugar to egg whites ratio than this cake calls for. Anyway, next time i will try making it using less sugar and will let you know how it turns out. As for buttercream, i didn’t find it too sweet, so if i need to decrease the sweetness, i will have to play around with the meringue. I don’t mind experimenting in the kitchen, especially if it leads to an excellent recipe! Thanks again

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  • snowflakeslorr

    Hi Marina,

    Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe. You take so much trouble to ensure that we succeed. I made your Napolean cake and it was awesome. everybody absolutely loved it. Thank you again. you are awesome!!

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    • Hi, thank you so much! It’s nice to know that my work is appreciated :*. If you braved the Napoleon, you can bake anything!

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      • snowflakeslorr

        next on my to make list are ‘chocolate truffle cake, chocolate kiev cake and your markiza cake;

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  • Nataliya

    Hi Marina –
    Was wondering what kinda tip for decoration did you used?
    Thanks a lot

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  • Magda

    Have a daughter allergic to nuts…will excluding the nuts change this cake in any way other than taste and appearance? Do you have any suggestions for a substitute?

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    • The nuts balance the sweetness of the cake a bit, so if you’re ok with a sweeter cake, exclude the nuts and it will be ok 🙂

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  • Marina

    I just made this cake for our NYE PARTY. I used silicone mats on my baking sheet and they worked perfectly. I bake all the time, but this has to be the hardest, messiest, most time consuming cake, but also the most delicious one I ever baked. I cut out the edges to make it more even, so we got to try a little bit. My oh my. Can’t wait to dig in tomorrow!! I’ll definitely make it again and again. Thanks for this recipe!!

    · Reply
    • Valya @ Valya's Taste of Home

      I was wondering about that, because I am about to use parchment paper. Thanks!

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  • Valya @ Valya's Taste of Home

    I’m making this cake tomorrow for our family’s get together on Sunday. I love anything with meringue, my weakness 🙁

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