About the dish
The branched shape of traditional šakotis comes from baking batter on a rotating spit. The oven adaptation below makes a layered cake rather than those branches.
Preparation
Choose a whole spit-baked cake if the shape is the purpose of your purchase. For the home version, check the centre before removing it from the oven; pan size and batter depth affect the result.
Where to taste or learn more
Look for a baking demonstration to see the rotating-spit technique. When booking a demonstration, ask whether baking is shown during your visit and whether visitors participate; a shop selling šakotis is not automatically a working demonstration.
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Ingredients (oven version, serves 12-15)
Add only what you need, or add the whole recipe at once.
- 12 large egg yolks
- 6 large egg whites
- 300 g unsalted butter, very soft
- 300 g caster sugar
- 300 g plain flour, sifted
- 100 ml double cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Zest of 1 lemon (optional)
- Icing sugar to dust
- Special equipment: a tall tube/Bundt tin or angel-food cake tin
Method
- Preheat oven to 190C (170C fan). Generously butter a tall tube or angel-food cake tin and dust with flour.
- Cream the very soft butter with the sugar until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes with an electric mixer.
- Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each. The mixture should be very pale and thick.
- Beat in the cream, vanilla, and lemon zest. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt over the mixture and fold in gently.
- In a separate clean bowl, beat the egg whites to firm peaks. Fold gently into the yolk mixture in three additions, keeping as much air as possible.
- Ladle a thin layer of batter (about 100 ml) into the tin, spreading evenly. Bake for 5-7 minutes until just set on top.
- Remove briefly from oven, ladle the next thin layer over the first, and return to the oven for another 5-7 minutes. Repeat layer-by-layer until all batter is used (about 8-10 layers, 60-70 minutes total layering time).
- For the last layer, bake longer (10-12 minutes) until deep golden on top. Cool in the tin for 30 minutes, then turn out carefully. Cool completely. Dust with icing sugar before serving. Best after resting overnight.
Estimated energy is calculated from the listed quantities. Actual values vary with brands, optional ingredients and serving size. For dishes fried in fat, the amount absorbed also changes the estimate.