Russian honey cake
75 g raisins and currants
4 tbl sp vodka
250 g honey
80 g sugar
1 small pack of vanilla sugar
125 g butter
100 g lard
2 eggs
salt
2/3 tsp cinnamon
2/3 tsp ground cloves and cardamom
6 drops of bitter almond flavouring extract
375 g flour
20 g cocoa powder
1 small pack of baking powder
1,25 dl milk
100 g chopped walnuts
50 g lemon and orange peel
For moisturising
100 ml water
80 g sugar
3 tbl sp vodka
Icing
100 g powdered sugar
2-3 tbl sp vodka
For decorating
walnut halves
Rinse the raisins and currants, dry and moisten with vodka. Melt the honey, sugar, vanilla sugar, butter and lard while stirring constantly on a low heat until an even paste. When cool, add eggs and spices. Stir. Add flour, cocoa, baking powder and milk. Mix into an even dough. Add the raisins and currants moistened with vodka, chopped walnuts and grind to the dough.
Pour the dough on a baking pan covered with baking sheet (32 x 28cm) and smoothen until even. Bake on the middle level of the pre-heated oven at 180-200 °C for approximately 25-30 minutes.
Mix the water, sugar and vodka and heat until boiling. Moisten the cake with this mixture when still hot from the oven. Cut the cake into approximately 4 x 4 cm pieces. Mix the powdered sugar with vodka and smear the pieces with the mix. Decorate with walnut halves.