Ukrainian Liver Cake (Печінковий торт) Recipe

While it is true that liver cake can sound off putting to some people, this is one of my absolute favorite Ukrainian recipes. It is not a dessert like one thinks when they hear the word cake, but rather something eaten as a side dish during holiday feasts or other family get togethers. Ukrainian liver cake is one of the most traditional dishes in Ukrainian cuisine and is widely loved by many people young and old.

Liver cake is one of my favorite Ukrainian recipes, and my main request from Alona’s babusya every time I stay over for holidays. This Ukrainian Liver Cake recipe is quite easy, but so delicious and rich. Finally, after years of asking for it, I determined it was time to learn her traditional recipe.

In Ukrainian it is called Печінковий торт which simply translates to liver cake. However don’t think it is simply a liver flavored bready cake like chocolate, or red velvet. No, it is more like a savory crepe cake. Thin layers of the liver batter are cooked in a pan and layered.

If you have been following the blog for a while you may know that I love traveling to other countries and learning authentic recipes. Like how two weeks ago I was in Sri Lanka learning how to make an authentic Sri Lankan Roti. Or a month ago in Indonesia learning how to make Bumbu Bali/Base Gede from a farmer an hour north of Ubud. It only makes sense that I should also post authentic recipes from the county I live in.

Of course, what better teacher is there than a village grandmother. Someone who has been making Ukrainian liver cake for many, many years is the perfect person to learn from. Not to mention now that it is up on the site her recipe is forever documented.

Like many Ukrainian recipes, the one for this Ukrainian liver cake involves mayonnaise. I suggest making your own homemade mayonnaise, but you can easily just use store-bought if that is easier.

How To Make Traditional Ukrainian Liver Cake

This Ukrainian liver cake recipe is actually pretty easy, so don’t be intimidated by the ‘crepe-making’ aspect of it. This basic liver batter is much easier to deal with than normal batter, so it peels right off the pan with no fuss.

Ukrainian Liver Cake Recipe Ingredients

• 5 Eggs 2 hardboiled and reserved
• 500 grams Liver Pork or Chicken; chopped finely
• 1 Onion yellow; finely chopped
• 125 ml Milk
• 50 grams Butter browned
• 4 tbsp Flour
• 1 pinch Salt
• 1 pinch Baking Soda
• 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 1/2 cup Mayonnaise or to taste

In a large bowl mix together 3 eggs, the liver, onion, milk, browned butter, flour, salt, baking soda and oil. Heat up a pan to medium high and ladle in just enough batter to coat the bottom. The liver cake batter only takes about 15 seconds to cook on one side, so once you see it set give it a flip and cook for 10 seconds or so on the other. Then remove and stack on a plate.

When all the layers are done you can prep the cake. This traditional Ukrainian liver cake recipe makes about 15 liver crepes so you can do one high stacked cake, or three shorter ones. If doing this for a family get-together it is customary to make multiple small ones so you can set them at different points on the table.

Composing this liver cake is as easy as stacking sheets. Just lay down a crepe, give it a thin smear of mayonnaise, and top with another crepe. Repeat until everything is done. For the top layer give a thin spread of mayonnaise and then crumble over the some hard boiled egg. You can also add garnishes like parsley, dill, chives, or even caviar!

Storing Ukrainian Liver Cake

We actually made this delicious liver cake the day before a big family holiday dinner, and it keeps perfectly well in the fridge, or just on a counter top if it is the middle of winter. Make sure to put a cloche over the cake so you don’t get any unwanted critters or even dust on it!

I’ve kept this cake at slightly lower than room temperature just covered with a cake dome, and the cake has stayed fresh nearly a week. I don’t know if it stays fresh longer than that as I always tend to eat it pretty quickly. If you’re looking for something to wash down the cake with, I’d recommend making a traditional Ukrainian Kompot (also from grandma’s recipes)

Ukrainian Liver Cake Liver Type?

Yes, I know some people don’t like liver. If it’s the base liver flavor then maybe this dish is not for you. If your only experience has been mashed liver and onions, I still think you should give this a shot as you won’t be chewing on large pieces of liver. In fact, I find this recipe is best with pig liver instead of chicken, but you can absolutely use both. I will say that Ukrainian liver cake has been traditionally cooked with chicken liver, but this is not a hard and fast rule.

Ukrainian Liver Cake (Печінковий торт) Recipe

Most Popular Ukrainian Recipes

This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase through the links it allows the site to make money at no additional cost to you. For more information please see Cooking To Entertain’s Policy page.