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Prague Cake { Пражский Торт по ГОСТу}

Prague Cake (Praga Cake) is made of chocolate sponge cake layered with Chocolate Custard Buttercream. The chocolate cake is simple, yet a classic flavor that many know from childhood.

Slice of prague cake topped with rolled white chocolate on a white decorative plate.

Origins of Prague Cake

Back in the day (when I was a kid), this Praga was a very popular cake. Older people say that people would stand in mile-long lines to get this cake at the stores. The Prague Cake was originally made by the same chef that came up with the “Ptichie Moloko” (or Bird’s Milk-a layer of cake, topped with fluffy soufflé) cake recipe.

While this IS the original Prague Cake recipe, it was a bit dry to my taste the first time I tried it. To compensate, I made 50% more frosting, which balanced out the lack of the soaking syrup in the cake layers. The pictured cake was a double portion of the recipe, so if you’re going to make it in an 8-inch round pan, double the recipe below.

Top view of prague cake topped with rolled white chocolate and mini chocolate morsels on a white decorative plate.

I realize after the holidays everyone is on some kind of a diet or detox, recovering from binging ( really, can you come up with a better word to describe it?) on all the crazy deliciousness we consumed during the holidays, but bookmark this recipe for Prague Cake now, you will be glad you did later when you really need your chocolate fix, or you’re just looking for a great chocolate cake.

Prague cake with “happy birthday” written on top with frosting on a baking platter.

The original cake was completely covered in apricot jam and then covered in chocolate. I did not have any apricot jam so I just decorated it with what I had on hand.

 

More Cake recipe to try:

Prague Cake – Пражский Торт по ГОСТу

5 from 2 votes

Prague Cake - Chocolate cake filled with Chocolate Custard Buttercream. A Russian classic, this Prague cake has been a favorite for decades!  

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Russian, Ukrainian
Keyword: prague cake
Calories: 307 kcal
Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 12 people

Ingredients

For the Cake

For the Frosting

Instructions

To make the Prague Cake

  1. In a large bowl, whip together 6 egg yolks and half of the sugar until pale yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes

  2. In a separate large bowl, whip 6 egg whites until soft peaks. Continuing to whip (with a mixer) add the remaining sugar, one tablespoon at a time until stiff peaks, about 15 minutes.

  3. Carefully fold the egg yolks into the egg whites mixture.
  4. Add the mixture of 115 g of sifted flour and 25 g cocoa powder and carefully but thoroughly fold into the egg mixture, being careful not to deflate the batter.

  5. Add 40 g melted butter and again carefully fold until thoroughly mixed.

  6. Pour the mixture into an 8-inch round baking pan, lined with parchment paper and sprayed with nonstick spray.

  7. Bake at 350°F, for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes and invert onto a cooling rack. Leave on the cooling rack uncovered for 8 hours.

For the Prague Cake Frosting

  1. In a saucepan, mix 1 egg yolk with 20 g of water, then add 120 g condensed milk and mix again. Cook on low heat until the creme thickens (if you dip a wooden spoon and run your finger against the back, you should see a clean streak without the creme running onto it), but not boils. Let mixture cool to room temperature.

  2. In a separate bowl, whip 200 g butter with the mixer and whip attachment until white in color and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). One tablespoon at a time add the anglaise creme (egg yolk and condensed milk mixture) until fully incorporated. Add 10 g cocoa powder and whip again until no streaks show.

Assemble the Prague Cake

  1. Cut the baked cake into 3 horizontal layers.

  2. Layer each cake layer with frosting.
  3. Heat 55g. of apricot jam in the microwave, run it throgh a sieve (removing any solids). Cover the whole cake in jam.

  4. Make the Chocolate Ganache: Boil 100 mls of heavy cream in a microwave. Pour over 100 g. finely chopped chocolate. Let sit for 2-3 minutes. Mix with a spoon until smooth. Cover the cake with chocolate ganache. Decorate to your liking.

Nutrition Facts
Prague Cake – Пражский Торт по ГОСТу
Amount Per Serving
Calories 307 Calories from Fat 180
% Daily Value*
Fat 20g31%
Saturated Fat 12g75%
Cholesterol 160mg53%
Sodium 45mg2%
Potassium 130mg4%
Carbohydrates 27g9%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 18g20%
Protein 5g10%
Vitamin A 680IU14%
Vitamin C 0.2mg0%
Calcium 52mg5%
Iron 1.2mg7%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Bon Appetit & Happy Pinning

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Hashtag your photos #LetTheBakingBeginBlog so I can see your creations and for a chance to be featured!

Back view of prague cake topped with rolled white chocolate and mini chocolate morsels on a white decorative plate.

The recipe was translated from Chadeyka where she has very descriptive and step by step photos.

Here’s a youtube video I found of the author of this cake showing how this cake is made. Enjoy!

Happy Pinning!

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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  • irine

    sadly. this cake is all wrong and did not work out . 🙁

    · Reply
    • Hi Irine,
      I’m sorry to hear the cake did not work for you. Could you clarify what you mean when you say that it was “all wrong and dit not work out”?

      · Reply
  • Sue

    Hi Marina, thank you for publishing Praga recipe. I have a couple of questions. 1. Directions say to spread apricot jam on whole cake after each layer has been spread with frosting. That would be difficult to do. Shouldn’t it be the other way around, first jam then frosting? 2. Directions say to cut the cooled cake into 3 layers, the picture shows 4 layers. If i do 4 layers, should i increase the amount of jam and of frosting?
    Thank you for your reply.

    · Reply
    • Hi Sue,
      So what it means is that after you layer the cake with all of the frosting and do not cover the cake with any frosting, you would cover the outside of the covered cake with jam. This shouldn’t be hard to do at all. This way, when you pour the chocolate all over the cake, it will not deep through the cake, but instead stay nice and shiny on top of the cake.

      Does this make sense?

      · Reply
      • Sue

        Hmm.. Instructions for assembling the cake say “Layer each cake layer with frosting.” Each means all of the 3 layers. Did you mean to say “Layer 2 cake layers with frosting, leave the third cake layer unfrosted”? Thank you for replying to my questions. Would you like to edit your instructions in the recipe accordingly?

        · Reply
    • I increased the proportions of the cake which allowed me to get one more layer. If you want to have as tall of a cake as I have in the picture, just do the same – increase the amount of ingredients by 1/3 and bake in two separate pans. Then just split each layer into two horizontal layers. This will give you 4 layers and a taller cake.

      · Reply
  • Tanya

    So honest review here. I have made sponge cakes before, and sadly, this one did not work out for me. I ended up with a dense cake after trying the recipe 2x. 😐 I admit that I am not the “baker of bakers”; however, I can follow a recipe. I have salvaged the cake best I could. Pictures and/or approximate times for mixing would have been very helpful in knowing how my batter should look throughout the process.

    · Reply
  • Surayyo

    Hi, thank you for the recipe.
    I have two questions: does the tadiional version differs from yours only with the impregnation with the syrup? And does “frosting” means “крем”?
    Thank you very much

    · Reply
    • Surayyo,
      Yes, this is the recipe that was printed in the books by the government (way, way back in the day) as the standard recipe for this cake, with the exclusion of the syrup (GOST – stands for the “government standard”).
      And yes, frosting does mean ‘krem”.

      · Reply
  • Irina

    Hi:) I have found a couple of recipes and yours looks awesome. however, I don’t see that you moisten the layers prior to applying frosting. Is there anything I could moisten them with? I am scared that it will be dry. Thank you!:)

    BTW, all your cakes look bomb. can’t wait to try them all.

    · Reply
    • Thanks Irina!
      This cake has buttercream which when used with these cake layers tastes fine, but if you still want to moisten your cake layers you can use syrup (water to sugar ratio 1:1) with addition of some vanilla and/or some kind of alcohol.

      · Reply
  • Tzivia

    Wow cake looks really way good and seriously tantalizing tho I have a question you say about soaking it in a coffee liquor mixture but the recipe doesn’t mention coffee or alchol so would I add it in the frosting or decorating part would wanna make this for my sissy who works so hard when she babysits reminds me of this cake that she gets from this trendy kosher caf but thought I’d try my hand @ recreating something like that mmmmm yummm

    · Reply
  • Ally

    Hello, I am getting ready to make this and was wondering if I could add chocolate and coffee liqueur to the batter, or mix it in with the simple syrup when I soak the layers.

    · Reply
    • It’s best to add the chocolate or the coffee liquor to the simple syrup, not the batter. You never want to mess around with the batter as it might not rise properly or become gummy. So adding to the liqueur is the best.

      · Reply
  • Mila

    About to make that cake, and 115gramms of flour i think it 1/2 of the cup but not the full cup. Will let you know how it turns out ( looks delicious on the pictures)

    · Reply
  • natasha

    Hi, im getting ready to make this cake for Thanksgiving party. Few questions – You say cut the cake in 3 layers (pictured you have 4 layers total) so does it matter how much layers. Second – you cover the whole cake in apricot jam….so no frosting cream filling goes on the outside or on top of the cake?? Third – i like the cake pictured with no ganache, so it looks like you frosted the top layer of the cake and what did you use on top decoration and covering up the frosting cream. Fourth – sorry last question.. does the ganache topping go over the whole cake top & sides, or just the top. Do you pour it over while still runny or do you spead it.

    Thanks so much for your time..

    · Reply
    • Hi Natasha,
      if you read the post itself you will probably have most of your questions answered 🙂
      My cake was a 10 inch cake, so I doubled the portion, hense it has 4 layers not 3. If you make a 9 inch cake (like it says in the recipe), you should cut the cake in 3 layers and it will probably not be as tall as my 10 inch cake.
      I did not cover the cake with the apricot jam because I did not have any, instead I just used the cream from the cake to cover the cake with it. I made 1/2 portion more of frosting than what the recipe calls for, because I like my cakes with lots of frosting so that gave me enough to cover the whole cake with the frosting. You can decide how you like it 🙂 Follow to the original recipe and see how it looks – http://chadeyka.livejournal.com/145137.html (she has step by step pictures as well).
      For the cake that’s not covered in ganache, I used small chocolate chips and pressed them against the sides of the cake. The top of the cake I dusted with cocoa powder, then shaved some white chocolate bar to make somewhat of a border. Does that makes sense?
      If you want to use the ganache, it is up to you how much you want to use and how you want it. You can just spread it over the top, or bring it closer to the edges allowing it to drip off the sides.
      You want to make sure the ganache is pourable, but not warm. If you pour it warm, it might start melting the cream underneath and you will have a mess. – check this post for recipe and instructions (https://letthebakingbegin.com/2014/04/extra-glossy-ganache-how-to-decorate-a-cake-w-ganache-video/)

      · Reply
  • irina

    Just out of curiosity why do you have to leave it to cool for 8 hours? What difference does it make, thanks

    · Reply
    • To be completely honest, I am not sure. But I think it is to allow extra moisture to evaporate so that the cake is able to absorb more moisture from the cream without collapsing into a pancake thin kind of cake layer.

      · Reply
  • Valentina

    Hello there. I just baked the layers and want to start on the frosting and the whole grams thing is a little confusing to me.. It says 120 grams of condensed milk.. Is that a little less than 1/3 can (which is 397g)?

    · Reply
    • Yes 🙂 sorry for such late reply.

      · Reply
      • Valentina

        I love baking and bake at least 3 times a week but this is the first time I threw a cake out. My cake layers were very dry and weren’t fluffy whatsoever.. I thought I was being very careful with the batter but I must’ve messed something up. The frosting, apricot, and chocolate tasted yummy but the layers had texture like unleavened bread. I’ve used your site a few times already and everything comes out delicious so I’m sure I messed up somewhere on my end.. just wanted to leave a comment to let other people know to be very careful with the batter and to read the directions very carefully.

        · Reply
        • Hi Valentina!
          Thank you for your honest feedback. From my own experience I know that this sometimes happens when the egg whites & the egg yolks were not beaten enough. As with any biskvit recipe, the egg yolks need to be beaten long enough so that when you add the egg yolks & the egg whites and then the melted butter, the batter will deflate, but still not too much for it to be rock hard when baked. Check out the step by step pictures in the link below, and see if it will help you understand what could have gone wrong….

          http://chadeyka.livejournal.com/145137.html

          · Reply
  • Julia@Vikalinka

    I have such fond memories of my dad bringing this cake from Moscow from EVERY business trip he took! I am so making it. 🙂 Thank you for the recipe.

    · Reply
    • When I think of Prague, I remember my aunt making the batter and me wanting to lick the spoons)) also, I think of the ladies that used to sell cakes at the markets. They would have their spot and all put cakes out and I think Prague was usually the most popular one.
      Make sure to write a post about yours, when you make it 🙂

      · Reply
      • vikalinkafood

        That’s it I am so making it! I haven’t had it in at least 20+ years. I keep telling my husband about how glorious it so now I just have to show him! 🙂

        · Reply
  • alina

    Do you cover each layer in the apricot jam or just the very top layer?
    Thank you for the recipe to! I will be making your version because the traditional way is a bit to dry.

    · Reply
    • Hi Alina,
      you cover just the outside layer.
      And you’re right, the traditional IS a bit dry, that’s why I increased the amount of frosting 🙂
      Happy Thanksgiving!

      · Reply
  • Yelena

    На ресунке показано 4 коржа а вы пишите раз резать на 3

    · Reply
    • Я об этом писала в предисловии…торт на фотографии был из увеличенной порции, поетому разрезала на 4 коржа, но если следовать пропорциям в рецепте, то разрезать надо на 3.

      · Reply
  • Violetta

    Hello I am getting ready to make this cake today for my son’s birthday party. I have never made it before so I am nervous. Do I need to double this recipe for the cake to be this tall? I am using an 8in round pan and want a tall cake – i think it looks better!

    · Reply
    • No need to double it, but you can definitely increase it by 50%. I think it you use an 8 inch pan, your cake will be around 3 inches, so if you want it taller, increase the recipe by half.

      · Reply
    • Also, do read my comments about the cake that I wrote before the recipe and see if you need to adjust things accordingly.

      · Reply
  • Tania

    Thank you Marina for the wonderful cake! I didnt expect it to be this yummy, since we never really bake chocolate cakes, but this one was gone fast! Im in love with the frosting cream! your photography and recipes are absolutely amazing!!
    Im wondering if you have any good Deni’ I noch’ cake recipe?

    · Reply
    • Oh your comment is music to my ears)) I love hearing from people that actually use the recipes I post. Thank you for your feedback, it’s much appreciated!
      As far as the den’ and noch’ cake, I am not sure I’ve ever had it, but isn’t it just alternating layers of black and white cake? What type of frosting does it have? May be I can look in my recipe book and see if I have one in there..

      · Reply
      • Tania

        No problem,i find it helpful when people comment after making something,so I’m trying to do the same 🙂
        Yes it is,but it’s not just biskvitnie layers,it’s more like sour cream tort layers..with sweetened condensed milk cream I think…I’ve had one in Russian store,but no one seems to have that kind of non biskvit recipe..but that’d be great if you’d look! Thank you 🙂

        · Reply
  • Natasha of Natashaskitchen.com

    This cake looks gorgeous! I love that you used more frosting. I think my own praga cake needs an update with more frosting! 🙂 Great pictures. I added your blog to the blogs I enjoy page on my blog.

    · Reply
    • Yeah, I made one with the amount it calls for in the recipe the first time, but the next time I did it with more frosting and I liked it better.
      Thanks for adding me! I am still trying to figure this website thing out… How did you made a list of links (with the websites that you enjoy)?

      · Reply

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