It’s difficult to find someone who doesn’t like a slice of good pound cake with their coffee. For those people I am bringing a new recipe for a Russian pound or simplu ‘Keks’ in Russian.
For another typical Russian cake take a look at our Apple Sharlotka Cake.
I know what you guys are thinking when you see the word ‘Stolichniy”. You immediately assume this cake has got vodka in it!
Sadly no but it is indeed a Russian recipe. Stolichniy in Russian simply means “from a capital” or, in other words, “the best’.
This simple loaf cake aka ‘keks’ is very traditional, and is usually served with tea, coffee or as a sweet snack. It’s rich, buttery and utterly delicious when fresh.
Russian Tea Cake
Russian pound cake, in contrast to its American counterpart, which calls for equal amounts of butter, sugar and flour, is made from equal amounts of butter, sugar and raisins.
I tend to avoid overly sweet things, so I decreased the amount of sugar in my recipe.
I’ve had a dislike for raisins in baked goods since I was a child and unfortunately never grew out of it. Something about moist shrivelled grapes makes me want to run for my life.
For my version of this pound cake I omitted raising altogether. Instead I added a brown sugar and cinnamon swirl. Simple and delicious!
This pound cake has quite a different texture from what you might be used to. It’s quite dense but incredibly buttery and crumbly and I am afraid it tastes most delicious on the day it’s baked, so eat up!
Recipe Tips
- Split the batter among two smaller loaf pans for even baking.
- This cake freezes beautifully and will keep in your freezer for up to 3-4 months when tightly covered in plastic wrap and kept in an airtight container.
- Use softened butter but not melted. Softened butter creams easily, which produces light texture in cakes.
- Always use large eggs for best results
More Simple Tea Cake Recipes to Try:
Russian Pound Cake "Keks Stolichniy"
Ingredients
- 525g/3 ¾ cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 375g/1 ½ cups unsalted butter softened
- 300g/1 ½ cups sugar
- 5 eggs large
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Grease 2 9-inch loaf pans.
- Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt and set aside.
- Cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy with an electric mixer. Add eggs one by one and vanilla and beat on high speed for at least 3 minutes.
- Gradually add the flour mixture and beat for 2 minutes longer.
- Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Divide the batter into two. Fill the loaf pans with half of the mixture, then sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon, add the remaining batter.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Cool on a wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.