Ukrainian Liver Cake (Печінковий торт) Recipe

Name: Ukrainian Liver Cake (Печінковий торт)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
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)

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Ukrainian Liver Cake Печінковий торт Recipe

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

Making the layers of the Ukrainian Liver Cake — Just pouring the batter in a thin layer on the hot pan (that’s probably older than I am).

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 start to learn authentic recipes from the county I live in.

Of course, what better teacher is there than a village grandmother. Someone who has been making this 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.

As the cake is meant to be eaten cold, no need to do this quickly or try to keep the layers warm.

Like most 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.

Storing Ukrainian Liver Cake

Ukrainian Liver Cake as part of a big holiday spread.

We actually made this 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.

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 slice (cross-section) — Look at those layers

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, this recipe is best with pig liver instead of chicken, but you can absolutely use both.