Baked Nuts with Condensed Milk
There are two completely different recipes for a sweet called Oreshek cake. The first thing everyone immediately thinks of when hearing these words is sweets that really do look like walnuts and are usually filled with boiled condensed milk.
Many call them cookies because of their dry texture, but if you fill them with something other than condensed milk, like custard, for example, these nuts can no longer be considered cookies; they're a full-fledged pastry. But the classic dessert our mothers used to make is these small, bite-sized, airy treats filled with a nutty cream, which is where they get their name. They're easy to make and gobble up in no time!
Classic recipe for nut-shaped cake
Ingredients (dough)
- Flour – 300 gr.
- Eggs - 6 pcs.
- Warm boiled water - 200-250 ml (one glass).
- Butter - 150 gr.
- Salt - on the tip of a knife.
Ingredients (cream)
- Butter -300 gr.
- Condensed milk - about 1 can
- Powdered sugar - 50 gr.
- Nuts – 100-150 gr.
- Vanillin or cocoa to taste.
Recipe
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add water, then salt, and, stirring, bring almost to a boil (the butter should completely melt).
- Once the butter has melted and the mixture has begun to boil, immediately begin adding the flour, stirring thoroughly to avoid lumps. Once you're sure all the flour is incorporated, continue mixing for a couple more minutes, then turn off the heat and let the saucepan cool.
- Once the saucepan and its contents have cooled, begin whisking the eggs into the dough, one by one. Mix thoroughly until the mixture thickens (to make this step easier, you can use a mixer with a dough hook).
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Fill a pastry bag (or just a plastic bag if you don't have one) with the dough, snip off the tip, and pipe neat balls of dough onto the parchment paper, about 4 cm in size. Space the balls about 4-5 cm apart, as they will expand considerably during baking. If you don't have a pastry bag, you can form the balls with a spoon, but before each ball, dip the spoon in warm water to ensure the dough releases easily.
- Place the balls in the oven, preheated to 180 degrees Celsius. Baking time is approximately 25 minutes, but don't peek into the oven during this time, otherwise the balls will settle and ruin the baked goods.
- While the nuts are baking, let's prepare the cream. First, toast and chop the nuts and set them aside.
- Then we begin to beat the butter until it becomes white, gradually adding the powder.
- Once all the powdered sugar has been added, begin gradually pouring in the condensed milk. After half a can of condensed milk has been added, add vanilla or cocoa powder (optional) to the cream, and then 2/3 of the ground nuts.
- Taste the cream. If it's not sweet enough or rich enough, add more condensed milk until you're satisfied with the taste.
- Place the cream in the refrigerator, while the nuts are removed from the oven and allowed to cool at room temperature.
- Once the nuts have cooled, remove the cream and fill them with cream using a pastry bag. If you don't have one, you can lightly cut each nut and carefully fill it with cream using a teaspoon.
- Once all the nuts have been filled with cream, coat them with the remaining cream and sprinkle with the remaining nut crumbs. If there's no cream left, you can coat them with syrup or jam (but only in a very thin layer), or, if you still have ingredients, beat a little more butter with powdered sugar and the remaining condensed milk. Then sprinkle the cakes with nuts.
- We put the cakes in the refrigerator at least for a short time so that the top layer of cream “sets” and the nut crumbs do not crumble.
Preparing this dessert may require more time in the kitchen than you'd like. But the result will undoubtedly delight you and those with whom you share this incredibly delicious treat!
