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Svetlana's cake

Svetlana Cake (No-Bake Skillet Cake)

Simple and delicious! Made from everyday ingredients — perfect for a celebration! Svetlana cake is cooked entirely in a skillet, no oven required. It's a moist, richly flavored layer cake with thin rounds soaked in custard. It takes no special skill and is great for beginners!

Esenija

Recipe author

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Sweetened condensed milk

380

Egg

All-purpose flour

Baking soda

Vinegar

Eggs

Sugar

300

All-purpose flour

Milk

550

Vanilla sugar

Butter

200

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 10 % 6 g

Fats 20 % 12 g

Carbohydrates 69 % 41 g

290 kcal

GI: 2 / 2 / 95

Cooking method

Step 1:

How do you make Svetlana cake? Start by gathering the ingredients for the custard. Wash and dry the eggs. Any fat content of milk works, and you can use a sugar substitute in place of sugar if you like.
Step 2:

In a separate saucepan, combine the raw eggs with the regular and vanilla sugar and stir. Pour in the milk. Add the flour gradually, stirring constantly so no lumps form. Set the pan over the heat and cook, stirring the whole time, until the custard starts to bubble. It will thicken quickly, right before your eyes.
Step 3:

Take the finished custard off the heat and immediately stir in the butter. Mix thoroughly, then press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the custard and refrigerate it to set.
Step 4:

Now for the dough. Wash and dry the eggs. Sift the flour through a fine sieve to aerate it. Crack the egg into a separate bowl and beat it with a fork or whisk. Pour in the condensed milk — I recommend using whole condensed milk with about 8.5% fat.
Step 5:

Add the baking soda slaked with vinegar to the condensed-milk-and-egg mixture (just stir the soda and vinegar together, then pour the mixture into the dough).
Step 6:

Add the sifted flour gradually, a bit at a time. You may need a little more or less, so go by the texture of the dough. Knead it — it should be stiff, like dumpling dough. Divide it into 8 equal pieces.
Step 7:

Dust your work surface with flour. Roll each piece out thinly, to the size of your skillet — keep in mind the dough may tear. Mine are 8 inches (20 cm) across. Trim the excess with a knife; I just set a lid on top and cut around it. Warm the skillet slightly on the stove. Set the dough trimmings aside — you can dry them out in the skillet later to make the topping.
Step 8:

The rounds cook very fast — about 1 minute each. Don't grease the skillet at all. Use a good, heavy pan; it doesn't have to be nonstick.
Step 9:

Lay each round out separately so they don't stick together and cool evenly.
Step 10:

Cook the dough trimmings in the skillet too. Once they've dried out and cooled a little, pulse them into crumbs in a blender. This will be the topping for the cake.
Step 11:

Start assembling the cake. By now the custard should be just barely warm.
Step 12:

Set the first round on a flat plate or cake board and spread about 2 tablespoons of custard evenly over it. Top with the next round and spread it as well. Keep going until you've used all the rounds.
Step 13:

Spread custard over the top round, then coat the sides of the cake with custard, too.
Step 14:

Coat the whole cake with the crumbs. Leave it on the counter for about 2 hours, then refrigerate it overnight. It's ready to serve the next day. Enjoy!

Be ready to use a little more or less flour than the recipe calls for — go by the consistency of the dough, not the exact amount. For more on flour and how it behaves, see our dedicated article.
This no-bake, skillet-cooked cake is a lifesaver when your oven suddenly gives out. My mother made a version of it when I was a child — back then condensed milk was scarce, so she used sour cream in the rounds, and it was wonderful. This one brought that childhood cake right back. The condensed-milk dough is delicious, soaks up the custard beautifully, and comes together fast. I think you'll find it handy, too.