Honey Cake Tradition Travels from Lithuania to Africa

Silva, a Lithuanian woman, has turned baking a honey cake into a cherished tradition, dedicating four days to crafting each one. Her passion for baking began in childhood, leading her to pursue a culinary profession after initially studying engineering.

She learned the honey cake recipe from a Ukrainian acquaintance while working as a pastry chef. This dessert quickly became a centerpiece at every family and friends' celebration. "There hasn't been a single birthday of mine, my children's, relatives', or friends' where my honey cake wasn't present," Silva shares. "Some relatives might be a bit tired of it, but others say they wouldn't understand my visit without the cake."

The meticulous process involves preparing the dough on the first day, followed by baking the layers, which takes at least an hour, on the second. The third day is for assembling and shaping the cake, and by the fourth, it's ready for the celebration. Silva emphasizes patience, especially when rolling out the thin layers and transferring them to the baking sheet, calling it the most challenging part.

While the recipe remains largely unchanged, Silva occasionally adds jam between layers, a variation she found enhances the cake's unique flavor. Her guiding principle for baking is simple: "You have to do it with love. Then it will be the most delicious," she says. The cakes are made for loved ones, with some traveling to relatives, friends' birthdays, and even as far as Africa once a year to a friend's daughter who misses the taste from her childhood in Lithuania.

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Nebuvo nė vieno mano, vaikų, giminaičių ar draugų gimtadienio, kuriame nebūtų mano medučio. Vieniems giminėje jis jau gal kiek atsibodęs, bet kiti sako, kad jeigu atvažiuočiau be torto, manęs suprastų