The Sweet Side Of Lithuania

Hey, dessert lovers!!!

‘’-In what kind of mood are you in today?
-In a sweet one .‘’

Sweets…What kind of associations come to mind first? Candies? Cakes? Cupcakes? Rolls? Shakes? Homemade or bakery sweet pastries? It’s the perfect time to introduce you to the sweet side of Lithuania. On today’s menu we have 3 dessert recipes. I’m pretty sure, that those desserts names will make you smile. Yes, they have really funny names, like Lithuanian Lazy Man cake, Lithuanian Anthill cake and Lithuanian Tree cake. My favorite one is the Lazy Man cake. I’m ready to tell you more! In Lithuania language this Lazy man cake is just called “Tinginys”. You may ask, What so special about it? Can you imagine a slowly melting cake mass with crispy biscuits pieces in your mouth? I really like that you don’t need to bake this cake. The only thing you need to do is let it sit in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Super easy and so fast.

The Lazy Man cake (Tinginys)

Ingredients:
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
6 tbsp cocoa powder
100 grams butter
1/2 pack (50g) of Rich Tea biscuits

Procedure:

Crush up the biscuits into small pieces and place into a large mixing bowl.
On medium heat – melt the butter and add the condensed milk and cocoa powder. Mix everything thoroughly and let it simmer for 5 minutes making sure you stir well to avoid burning.
Pour the chocolate, butter and condensed milk mixture onto the biscuit pieces and mix.
Pour the mass onto a cling-film covered surface (I recommend doubling it up) and form into a sausage shape, making sure everything is pressed together well. Place in the refrigerator for at least several hours, but preferably overnight. (The sausage shape is the traditional way of setting it but you could also just line a baking tray with cling-film and use that to hold the shape)
Once it is solid and holds its shape – slice and enjoy!

I enjoyed this piece of Lazy man cake in my favorite bakery “Prezo bakery”( http://prezo.lt/). This bakery is full of various smells and you can feel a good atmosphere. You can find here, all your heart desires: cupcakes, rolls, cakes, bread, French Canele. My boyfriend and I chose the cozy table with flowers in vase, and two small plates with gorgeous desserts. My Bae in front of me. I have a habit to look at him while he’s eating. In that moment, arrives really various, interesting thoughts. Why I’m feeling so happy when we’re eating together? Why it’s so good to share your food with somebody? The real luxury in these days are eating together with friends, family or boyfriend, sharing the food, having a small talk, making a good atmosphere and mood, and enjoying in every piece of your food. I just want to say thanks for you my Bae. The bakers are baking amazing sweet things, and God made you.

Don’t be scared, we don’t actually eat any anthills. Nature is so inspiring and unbelievable. Lithuanian Anthill cakes(Skruzdėlynas) are made by stacking every dough sheet on top of each other, in the end it becomes a big pile. Usually, Anthill cakes are with honey and poppy seeds, syrup or with condensed milk.

Lithuanian Anthill Cake “Skruzdėlynas”:

Ingredients:
Dough
5 eggs
5 tbsp sour cream (5% is what I used)
4 cups flour
Syrup
1 cup honey
2 tbsp water
30 gr butter
1 tbsp sour cream (5%)

Directions:

Throw all the dough ingredients in to a mixer and mix until the dough comes together.
It should no longer be sticky (it can be slightly tacky and lumpy). The dough should be stretchy enough that it doesn’t tear/break when you pull at it.
If dough is still dry, add sour cream, 1 tbsp at a time, until the dough comes together.
Flour your surface and roll out dough very thinly and cut it in to rectangles. They can vary in size and shape.
In a large deep pot, heat up enough oil to be able to fry the dough. Medium-low heat.
When dough has been cut up and rolled out, drop the pieces, carefully and one by one, in to the pot. Only do a few at a time.
They are ready to be taken out when they are lightly golden in colour.
Put them in a bowl or plate lined with paper towel. Set aside
Once all the dough has been prepared, put all the syrup ingredients in to a pot and stir until well mixed and warm. Have a clean serving plate ready to prepare cake on.
Drizzle syrup over individual pieces of dough and begin to place them on to plate.
When one layer is done, sprinkle with poppy seeds before starting with the next layer.

In the past, Lithuanian tree cakes( Šakotis) were mostly baked for weddings. Nowadays, you can find it in the markets, sometimes still being prepared for weddings or some other events too. The cakes are soft, sweet, with a yellow color. It looks more tasty with chocolate coating, and some sugar flowers. It‘s kind of impossible to make it at home. A cake made of butter, egg whites and yolks, flour, sugar, and cream, cooked on a rotating spit in an oven or over an open fire. You can see all the making process in this video:

Im glad that I can share with you these recipes and information. It‘s good to feel that you can make others happy. Don‘t forget to enjoy in the food making process and eating it with the people you love. A big thanks for my followers. I can‘t wait for your comments and everything you want to say to me. Life is sweet, isn‘t it?

Your sweet friend,