Piana Vyshnia Cake (Drunken Cherry Cake)
An absolute favorite of many, Piana Vyshnia is one of the most popular choices for a wedding or birthday cake. It is no wonder.
This ‘drunken’ dessert is moist, tangy, slightly acidic, and just sweet enough – everything you are looking for in a dessert. While it is a sponge-based cake, the layers are not too thick, and the sponge pieces are mixed into the filling. This twist makes the cake feel less heavy, more chocolaty, and pleasantly fruity.
The name of the cake is also quite appealing.
Who wouldn’t dream of getting a bit tipsy while enjoying a heavenly chocolate dessert?
Jokes aside, the alcohol almost evaporates in the process, and horilka (Ukrainian vodka) only makes for a nice, piquant aftertaste emphasizing the moistness of the sponge.
Piana Vyshnia Cake (Drunken Cherry Cake)
Ingredients
Cherry syrup:
- 2 lbs fresh cherries (canned cherries work as well)
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 fl oz horilka (vodka)
Chocolate sponge:
- 5 large eggsÂ
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
Cream:
- 1 cup thick sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 20 oz dulce de leche (caramelized condensed milk) (1 ½ cans)
- 12 oz unsalted butter at room temperature
To decorate:
- 4 cups fresh cherriesÂ
- 1 â…š oz chocolate shavings
Instructions
How to Make Cherry Syrup:
- Cut each cherry in half and remove the pits.
- Place the cherries in a small pot.
- Add the sugar and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.Â
- Reduce the heat to low and let the cherries simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from the heat and cool completely.Â
- Add horilka and let the cherries soak for a few hours. Squeeze the cherries gently before using them to release excess alcohol and liquid.Â
How to Make Chocolate Sponge:
- Preheat the oven to 350 ºF/ 175° C. Sift the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa, and baking powder into a small bowl.Â
- Whisk the eggs and sugar on high speed (approx. 5 minutes).
- Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients in two parts, stirring thoroughly and carefully not to deflate the air bubbles.
- Put in a 20 cm (8-inch) round cake pan and bake the sponge (approx. 25 minutes).Â
- Remove from the oven and cool completely.
- Slice the sponge in half horizontally into two layers. Carefully hollow out the bottom layer, leaving the base and sides intact. Set the removed sponge pieces aside.
- Set the sponge pieces aside for now.
How to Make the Cream:
- To prepare the cream, beat the butter with a mixer for about 5 minutes, making sure to stop and scrape it off the sides of the bowl every once in a while.
- Add the dulce de leche gradually, in 3 batches, whisking in between, until homogenous. Finally, fold in the sour cream and vanilla until well-mixed and creamy.
- Reserve â…“ of the cream and place it in a separate bowl.
- Strain the cherry syrup we prepared before and set aside for now.
- Add the sponge pieces to the remaining 2/3 of the cream and mix them until combined. Make sure the sponge pieces are not mashed.Â
- Add the strained cherries and mix with the cream and sponge. Do not over mix, keeping the sponge pieces and cherries large.
How to Assemble the Cake:
- Soak the top and bottom cake crusts with the reserved strained cherry syrup.
- Place the bottom of the sponge cake on a cake platter. Pack all of the cream/sponge/cherry filling and cover with the top crust of the cake sponge.Â
- Ice the top and sides of the cake with the reserved cream.
- Decorate the cake with fresh cherries and sprinkle with chocolate shavings.
- Refrigerate overnight or for at least 6 hours.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
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The 1kg sour cream does absolutely not fit into the cake and runs everywhere. I mixed now the entire cake into the mix and bake a whole two other sponge cakes to fill them and not have to chuck the whole mixture. Def some ratios wrong there.
Hi Anel,
Thank you for your feedback and we’re really sorry the cake didn’t turn out as expected, especially after all the time and effort you put into making it.
One thing we’d like to clarify is that the recipe calls for 230 g (approximately 1 cup) of sour cream, not 1 kg, and this quantity hasn’t changed in previous versions of the recipe.
That said, we take your feedback seriously and are reviewing the ingredient proportions and instructions to make sure everything is clear and accurate.
Best, Chef’s Pencil Team