It is an excellent Czech black & white coffee cake with a quark layer between a cocoa sponge cake and a chocolate coating. Stay sharp and grab your piece quickly, Míša řezy disappears from the plate in no time!
➜ What Is Misa rezy?
Míša řezy is a very popular Czech dessert baked on a baking sheet. The lower part is made of a dark cocoa sponge cake. There’s a thick layer of quark, tvaroh, a Czech version of American farmer’s cheese, in the middle. The top of the cake is coated with chocolate. All three layers contrast each other nicely.
Míša řezy is baked in a rectangular sheet pan and is cut into small rectangles when served.
MY TIP: Try out this Three Layer Sheet Cake!
➜ Ingredients
Dark cocoa sponge cake:
- Eggs; yolks and whites separately
- All-purpose flour
- Vegetable oil
- Dark cocoa powder; unsweetened
- Baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- Warm water
White layer:
- Farmers’ cheese; originally Czech tvaroh (quark), the USA farmer's cheese is one of the best substitutions for tvaroh
- Butter; unsalted
- Powdered sugar
- Spiced rum; optional, but I highly recommend it for a perfect flavor
Chocolate topping:
- Dark chocolate; sweetened
- Butter; unsalted
- Heavy cream; for possible dilution of the topping
✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.
➜ Instructions
Cocoa Sponge Cake – The Bottom Layer:
- Mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and dark cocoa.
- Divide the eggs into whites and yolks.
- Beat the egg whites, a pinch of salt, and three tablespoons of granulated sugar until stiff.
- Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining three tablespoons of sugar, and gradually add the dry ingredients, oil, and hot water. This will fine-tune the dough to the right thickness, which should be easy to spread.
- Finally, fold in the beaten snow by hand.
- Spread the cocoa batter on a baking tray lined with baking paper and put it in the oven for about 15 minutes.
- Take the sponge cake out of the oven and let it cool.
White Quark – Middle Layer:
- Mix the softened butter, and farmers’ cheese warmed to room temperature with the icing sugar. Finally, add two tablespoons of spiced rum.
- Spread the cheese cream over the cooled cocoa sponge. Do not bake anymore.
Chocolate Topping – The Top Layer
- In a water bath, melt the chocolate, broken into cubes. Add the butter and cream, and whisk until smooth.
- Let cool slightly.
- Spread the chocolate glaze over the cream cheese.
You can create a nice zig-zag pattern on the top using a fork.
➜ Size of Baking Pan
This recipe calls for a 16x12 inches (40x30 cm) baking pan (base measurement).
➜ How to Cut Misa rezy?
Cutting Míša řezy might be tricky. The chocolate topping layer is fragile and can easily break down.
An excellent way to go through the chocolate layer is by taking a thin knife, putting it into warm water before cutting the cake, drying it with a paper towel, and cutting the cake again.
The chocolate layer will melt when you touch it with a warm knife.
➜ Storing
Because the dessert contains a layer comprised of fresh cheese, it’s good to store the cakes in a cold place.
More Czech desserts:
- Apricot streusel sheet cake
- Czech kolache, an authentic recipe
- Plum-filled crescent cookies; Czech povidlove satecky
- Chocolate coffee cake; with sour cream topping
Tried this recipe?
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Míša Řezy – Czech White & Black Sheet Cake
Equipment
- Baking pan 16x12 inches
Ingredients
Cocoa sponge cake:
- 6 whole eggs
- 6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 6 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 6 Tablespoons vegetable oil sunflower or Canola
- 4 Tablespoons dark cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 5 Tablespoons warm water
White quark cream:
- 1 ¾ pounds farmers’ cheese (790 g) at room temperature
- 2 sticks unsalted butter (226 g) at room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar (150 g)
- 2 Tbsp rum
Chocolate topping:
- 7 ounces dark chocolate sweetened (200 g) about 40 % cocoa
- ½ stick unsalted butter (55 g)
- 3 Tablespoons heavy cream (50 ml) in case the topping is too thick
Instructions
Before baking:
- Line a baking tray with a baking paper.
- Heat the oven to 350 °F (170 °C).
Cocoa sponge cake:
- Mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, dark cocoa.
- Divide the eggs into whites and yolks.
- Beat the egg whites, a pinch of salt, and 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar into stiff snow.
- Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar, gradually add the dry ingredients, oil, and hot water - this will fine-tune the dough to the right thickness, which should be easy to spread.
- Finally, fold in the stiff snow by hand.
- Spread the cocoa batter on a baking tray lined with baking paper and put it in the oven for about 15 minutes.
- Take the sponge cake out of the oven and let it cool.
White quark layer:
- Mix the softened butter and to room temperature warmed farmers’ cheese with the icing sugar. Finally, add 2 tablespoons of rum.
- Spread the cheese cream over the cooled cocoa sponge.
Chocolate topping:
- In a water bath, melt the chocolate, broken into cubes. Add the butter and cream, whisk until smooth.
- Let cool slightly.
- Spread the chocolate topping over the cream cheese. You can create a nice zig-zag pattern on the top using a fork.
Notes
- Makes about 20 slices.
- Cut with a thin knife that you dip in hot water and wipe dry. The chocolate topping will melt under the touch of the hot knife, and the Míša řezy will cut well.
- Keep the Misa rezy refrigerated, as they contain fresh cheese.
- This recipe calls for a 16x12 (40x30 cm) inch baking pan (base measurement).
DISCLAIMER: Because I come from Central Europe, my recipes are based on metric units such as grams or milliliters. Check out how I convert metric units to the U.S. system:
Conversion chartNutritional Estimate pro portion
TIP: A piece of sweet cake often makes a typical Czech breakfast!
Ryan B
Hello! I was wondering how to substitute the quark for farmer's cheese? The instructions are sort of vague, and I'm not quite sure if I need to mix the cheese with cream cheese, and what amounts, etc. Any clarification would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Petra Kupská
Ahoj Ryan, thank you for your comment. "Míša řezy" recipe is one of my first attempts to describe Czech desserts here on the blog, and I am sorry for any confusion I could cause. Now I know that to get "tvaroh" quark in the USA is not easy. I've read that the closest substitution should be farmer's cheese; that's why I mentioned this ingredient here. In my opinion, you can substitute Czech "tvaroh" with the farmer's cheese in 1:1 ratio. In the following days, I will look at this recipe and make the instructions more straightforward.