Recipe
🍰 DESSERT
Kyiv Cake
Crisp hazelnut meringue layers filled with a chestnut-scented buttercream, the famous cake of Ukraine's capital.
Ukrainian · advanced · serves 12
prep 40 min · cook 120 min
~507 cal · 9g protein · 39g carbs · 38g fat · 4g fiber · 34g sugars · 13g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Kyiv cake was created in 1956 at a confectionery factory in the Ukrainian capital, and it quickly became the city's edible calling card, carried home by travellers as a prized gift. It has become a symbol of Kyiv itself.
Its structure is unusual and wonderful: two crisp, airy discs of baked meringue studded with roasted hazelnuts, sandwiched and coated with a rich buttercream traditionally flavoured with a hint of the exotic. The contrast of the crunchy, chewy meringue and the smooth cream is what makes it unforgettable.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 12
6 egg whites
1 1/2 cups roasted hazelnuts, chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
1
Leave the egg whites out at room temperature overnight, then whip them to stiff peaks, adding the sugar gradually, and fold in most of the chopped hazelnuts.
✎ Chef’s note
Ageing the whites is the original trick, and it is how the cake was invented: a Kyiv confectionery left a batch of whites out overnight in 1956 and improvised. Aged whites whip looser and drier, which is what gives the layers their airy, brittle crumb.
2
Spread into two disc shapes and bake at 220F (105C) for about 2 hours, without opening the door, then turn the oven off and leave them inside overnight.
✎ Chef’s note
220F, not 300F. Any hotter and the meringue colours and cracks instead of drying. Leaving it in the closed oven to cool slowly overnight is what keeps it crisp: a sudden change of temperature or a humid kitchen makes it weep and go sticky.
3
Beat the softened butter with the vanilla until pale, then beat in the cold condensed milk a little at a time. Set half aside and beat the cocoa into the rest.
✎ Chef’s note
The condensed milk must be cold from the fridge, or the buttercream slackens and will not hold on the sides of the cake. The classic Kyiv cake is layered with both creams, the pale one and the chocolate one.
4
Sandwich the meringue discs with the pale buttercream, coat the outside in the chocolate one, press the remaining hazelnuts around the sides, and chill several hours before serving.
Kyiv confectionery tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Poltava. Halushky are simply cut: soft dough dropped or torn into boiling water, then served under soured cream with cracklings, or dropped into the region's own version of borscht. Poltava treats them as an emblem to a degree that is unusual anywhere: there is a monument to the dumpling in the city and a festival built around it.
🗺️
Ukraine. Roughly a third of the world's chernozem, the deep black soil that grows grain with little help, lies in Ukraine, and the flat, large fields on top of it are why the country supplied about half the world's exported sunflower oil before 2022. What that soil produces at home is the dark sourdough bread and the sunflower oil poured over everything.
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Europe. European cooking is built on the land and the seasons, wheat, butter, and cured pork in the north; olive oil, tomatoes, and seafood around the Mediterranean; preserved vegetables and hearty stews through long winters. Centuries of peasant tradition, guild craft, and royal courts refined techniques from French mother sauces to Italian fresh pasta and Central European baking. Regional identity runs remarkably deep, with a single dish often changing from one valley to the next.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Ukraine
Varenyky (Potato Dumplings)Half-moon dumplings of tender dough filled with mashed potato and fried onion, boiled and tossed in butter, served with fried onions and sour cream.
BorschtThe famous beet soup, sweet-sour and garnet-red, ladled over beans and finished with dill and sour cream.
Chicken KyivA breaded chicken cutlet rolled around herb-garlic butter that bursts out golden when you cut in.
Browse all Ukraine recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven.
Storing it: Store in an airtight container. Most keep 2 to 3 days at room temperature, and longer refrigerated.
Make it a Ukraine meal
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Kyiv Cake?
Crisp hazelnut meringue layers filled with a chestnut-scented buttercream, the famous cake of Ukraine's capital.
Where does Kyiv Cake come from?
Kyiv Cake is a Ukrainian dish from Poltava, Ukraine.
Can Kyiv Cake be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Kyiv Cake recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Kyiv Cake safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Kyiv Cake take to make?
About 160 minutes total (40 minutes prep, 120 minutes cooking), serving 12.
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