Kyiv cake

Kyiv cake slice
Course	Dessert
Place of origin	Ukraine
Region or state	Kyiv
Created by	Karl Marx Confectionery Factory
Main ingredients	Meringue, hazelnuts, chocolate
Cookbook: Kyiv cake   Media: Kyiv cake

The Kyiv cake is a sweet dessert cake produced in Kyiv, Ukraine. It has been made since December 6, 1956^[1] by the Karl Marx Confectionery Factory, now a subsidiary of the Roshen Confectionery Corporation.

The cake has been accepted as a symbol of Kyiv due to its brand name and packaging featuring the depiction of a horse chestnut leaf, which was there on the Coat of Arms of Kyiv during the Soviet era.

The cake consists of two light layers of meringue with hazelnuts covered in a chocolate glaze, and filled with a buttercream-like filling.

There are three stories that describe how the Kyiv cake came to being in 1956.^[2]

One says that confectioners forgot to refrigerate meringue overnight for biscuits. The next morning, chef Kostiantyn Petrenko and his 17-year-old assistant, Nadiia Chornohor, recovered the mistake and created what became Kyiv cake.^[2][3]

The second story also features Nadiia Chornohor. In this account, the story tell shows how she went failing her medical school exams to decorating cakes to becoming a confectioner—and inventing the famed cake.^[2]

The third story focuses on Kostiantyn Petrenko and is the version the factory supports: During the time when the recipe was developed, the Soviet Union actively supported India, which paid with goods. When the USSR received a large cargo of cashews from India in 1956, confectioners were tasked with creating a dessert using them. Petrenko, the story says, developed the cake at the Karl Marx Confectionery Factory after years of experimentation with earlier recipes.^[2][4]

The recipe has changed with time. In the 1970s, bakers perfected the process of making the egg-white and nut mixture. They then started to add hazelnuts, and began experimenting with adding peanuts and cashews; however, these nuts were expensive and increased costs, so the factory returned to using hazelnuts.^[5]

Although Petrenko is known for creating the recipe, Galina Fastovets-Kalinovskaya and Anna Kurilo received a 1973 patent which recognized their role in making the cake popular.^[5]

In 2017, Kiev Cake was officially recognized as a well-known trademark in Ukraine. It was linked to the Roshen Kyiv Confectionery Factory. The decision was based on decades of widespread use, strong consumer recognition, and extensive production and sales which dates back to 1956.^[6]

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• Article in the KyivPost