Praga Chocolate Cake

Praga is a classic cake loved by many Russians. Not a single holiday or birthday went by without a nice chocolaty Praga in our house. My mom's recipe is amazingly delicious, yet surprisingly simple. The cake turns moist and delicate without being overly sweet. The secret of this cake is sweetened condensed milk that you add both to the batter and to the cream.

When I was little, my mom made Praga for someone's birthday. She would always make it the night before so that the creme would saturate the cake making it deliciously moist. That memorable day my mom went to work leaving the cake and us, the kids, home alone... Big mistake, mama. The guests were supposed to come over in the evening. I'd never really exhbited too much self-control anyway, so in the middle of the day I approached the beautifully decorated cake and using my finger scooped the creme off the cake and licked it off. Yum... It was forbidden pleasure.. Sure enough when my mom was back from work, she flew off the handle and I got the belt. I still remember that day very well. Pleasure and pain...

Cake

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp vinegar (yep, you read that right)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 3-4 tbsp powdered cocoa (depending on how dark you want your cake) 

Cream and Topping

• 1 1/2 stick butter, softened
• 3/4 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk 
• 1 chocolate bar with hazelnuts (Ritter Sport works great!)

Preheat oven to 350F. To prepare the batter, beat together sugar and eggs. Whisk in sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, and vanilla until the mixture is smooth and even. In a small saucer combine baking soda and vinegar. Let the chemical reaction run its course for a couple of seconds. This method is believed to help reduce the taste of baking soda in the cake. Pour the foaming soda into the batter.

In a separate bowl whisk together baking powder, salt, flour, and cocoa. Gradually add the dry mixture into the wet mixture while constantly whisking until smooth batter forms.

Lightly grease a form of your choice (a 9'' or 8'' round dishes would work beautifully. I used a square 9x9 dish for the cake in the picture). Pour the batter into the form. Bake for 30 minutes or until the toothpick placed inside of the cake comes out clean. Cool cake completely.

To prepare the cream, beat butter and sweetened condensed milk with an electric mixer. Don't overdo it because butter doesn't like a lot of beating and will separate. Here's a hint. Sometimes depending on the sweetened condensed milk brand or the butter, you will decide to use more of either butter or condensed milk. You can add as much butter or condensed milk until your cream reaches the desired thickness. I've used 1 1/2 stick butter and 3/4 can sweetened condensed milk to achieve a nice and thick cream. But you can go crazy!

Now the fun part.. Using a knife, slice the cake lengthwise (horizontally) to create a two-layered cake. Using a spatula, spoon half of the cream onto the first layer spreading it evenly. Cover it with the top layer. Spoon the rest of the cream on top of the cake. Grate the chocolate bar and decorate the cake with grated chocolate. The cake tastes the best after sitting for a few hours helping the cake get saturated with the cream. Enjoy!