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| PHÎÒÎ: PHL |
Just as many famous inventions in the world, the “Kyiv” cake was the result of a technological error: an egg yolk intended to make a biscuit was not refrigerated. The hardened foam of the egg yolk turned into a crispy tortilla, which later became the basis of the famous cake. The favorite dessert of Kyivans and a coveted souvenir, after which the Kyiv-Moscow train was nicknamed the “cake train”, is a classic gratuity for civil servants to oil the wheels in many red-tape matters. Today, the cake is quite different from the original product made in 1956 at the Karl Marx Confectionary Factory
Nuts from India
The original ingredient of the cake is cashew nuts, which were a kind of “ideological” raw material. When in 1955 India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited the Soviet Union, Indo-Soviet relations entered a phase of “long-term and fruitful cooperation” in practically all spheres of life. The Soviet confectionery industry, which purchased cashew nuts from India in large quantities, was no exception. Few Soviet confectionery factories could do without these nuts. But all good things come to an end, including privileged shipments from India. The fact is that the cashews became too expensive and were replaced with hazelnuts. But the confectionary could not afford these nuts either and began using even cheaper peanuts. That said, the Kyiv cake baked at the Karl Marx factory never sank to peanuts despite all financial hardships and firmly stuck exclusively to hazelnuts.
Cake as a mirror of the economy
The transformations the sweet Kyiv specialty is undergoing are so rich that they can even be studied in a history class in high school. The Kyiv cake replaced changes in fashion, priorities and laws. After the lavish Indian epic with cashews came the end of the era of egg creams, the usage of which was banned in industrial production several decades ago by the health department.
Prime egg cream in the Kyiv cake was replaced with a heavier butter cream, which in the austere perestroika years was diluted by cheaper vegetable fats. A decorative gel replaced the traditional candied fruits. In the 1970-80s, cocoa powder was substituted by grated vella (husks of cocoa beans) and some experiments with dried apricots were conducted. They were quickly abandoned after a deluge of complaints from consumers. The packaging design of the cake was also renewed. The symbolic emblem for the older generation – the pedestrian bridge leading from Podil to Trukhaniv Island – was replaced with dull image of chestnut leaves.
Who invented it?
Who invented the Kyiv cake? Was it a specific individual or the result of collective brainstorming? This remains a question open for discussion. Head of the plant’s main biscuit workshop Konstyantyn Petrenko and his aide Nadia Chornohir are considered the inventors of the original recipe.
In the mid 1960s, the Ministry of the Food Industry approved the production technology. Two air-nut cream layers were laced with butter and milk-sugar syrup. In a nutshell, pardon the pun, this is the secret of this sweet culinary delight. In order to meet the growing demand, a few more factories in addition to the Karl Marx plant were built in Kyiv and the Kyiv oblast. Today, the patent, trademark, industrial design and method of baking the cake are owned by the Roshen Corporation, which includes the Karl Marx confectionery factory in Kyiv.
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| PHÎÒÎ: PHL |
“Dry” standard
The dispute whether the Kyiv-made cake is the best continues to this very day. Consumer and professional ratings of different manufacturers have become common practice in recent years. According to the traditional classification of cakes, they are divided into “wet” and “dry” types. Traditional dryness is one of the main characteristics of the cake. The dry version of the cake is easy to slice and moderately crumbles, whereas the wet on is fluffy like cotton and sticks to the teeth. Another important element is the hazelnuts. Peanuts and vegetable fats instead of butter detract from the taste of the original cake, use of peanuts as a cheaper product.
By the laws of the brand
The Kyiv cake became one of the first culinary brands in the Soviet Union. Without any advertising, information about the cake spread to the cities to which Kyiv residents brought it as a treat to their hosts. It got to the point that if a resident of Kyiv did not bring the famous cake as a gift, this was considered a huge disgrace. The Karl Marx factory eventually had to pass on a prescription to Kyiv bakeries to meet the increasing demand for its delicacy.
The brand was developed along the textbook format of marketing laws. First, there was a unique product with a unique and complicated recipe. Not knowing the entire production process, it was difficult to achieve the same quality and taste as the product baked in the Kyiv factory.
The second important aspect was a recognizable design – namely, an elegant round box initially with the image of the famous footbridge in central Kyiv and then the famous Kyiv chestnut trees. The exclusive brand name “Kyiv Cake” reinforced the cake’s specificity and consumers immediately knew that it was “Made in Kyiv” and bought there directly from the factory, not in Lviv, Kharkiv, Moscow or St. Petersburg.
The symbol of the Ukrainian capital was regularly delivered to the Kremlin. General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko adored this cake. A five-tiered caked was once baked especially for Brezhnev.
To this day, the stability of the brand is supported mainly by its large purchases by visitors to Kyiv, as the sale of cakes on the outskirts of the city detracted from the product’s image of exclusivity and desirability. Kyiv residents buy other confectionery products, knowing that the “Kyiv” cake can always be found in a local grocery store. However, when they are deciding which cake to buy for some festive occasion, they ask one another: “Should we buy a Kyiv, or some other cake?”
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