Latvian Honey Cake for Jāņi

This year I finally got to join Eriks' family and Latvian friends in the celebration of Jāņi, or John's Day, a Latvian national holiday that takes place around the summer solstice. Since my family is mostly a mix of backgrounds and a number of generations removed from our first ancestors that crossed the Atlantic, I didn't grow up with any real cultural family traditions. So I was excited to participate in a holiday full of traditional Latvian practices and to get to meet some of the people Eriks has been celebrating John's Day with since he was a little boy. Though Eriks was unable to make it this year, I went with his brother, sister, and dad, and joined the group of about 50 people at the Kurmis' lakeside cabin for the weekend event.

I was amazed at how traditional it was, between the eating Jāņu cheese, homemade rye bread, and pirogi; singing of Latvian folk songs and listening to the history of John's Day from Britta's great-aunt; sitting around bonfires and jumping over them; and picking wildflowers to make crowns (vinjas) for the women and oak leaf crowns for men named "John" in honor of their name day.

Since there was going to be an outdoor potluck, I took the opportunity to contribute a cake. I googled "Latvian cake recipe" (seriously, what did people do before google?) and came across this Latvian honey cake recipe, which, while different from other cakes I've made in terms of its ingredients, was a hit and really yummy. It was a five-layer pancake-like cake made only of honey, flour, eggs and baking soda, with a filling of crushed walnuts and sweetened sour cream. Initially I was a little skeptical about the filling, but the combination of flavors was delicious!

I made two of these cakes and decorated their edges with fondant oak leaves and flowers to mimic the vinjas. This was my first time using petal dust on the leaves and flowers and I was pleasantly surprised by the depth it gave them.

Below are some photos of the baking process, and I'll be posting some pictures soon from our fun John's Day celebration on my photo blog if you're interested :)

Cake: Latvian Honey Cake
Frosting: Lemon Buttercream

Happy John's Day!