A Lazy Cake from Lithuania ~ Tinginys

 
Event: BM #44 , Around the World (A - Z series) 
Choice of Country: The Republic of Lithuania
Capital City: Vilnius
Official Language: Lithuanian

Lithuania is a country in northern Europe and is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea. It's cuisine features the products suited to the moist and cool northern climate of Lithuania. Potatoes, barley, rye, berries, beets, greens and mushrooms are grown locally and widely used. Dairy products are one of it's specialities. It's cuisine is similar to the Eastern European regions since it shares a similar climate and agricultural practices. The centerpiece of it's cuisine is dark rye bread and the national dish is 'Cepelinai' - a potato dumpling filled with minced meat. Apples, plums and pears are widely used fruits while most frequently used meat is pork followed by beef , lamb, chicken, rabbit, duck and goose.

I came across 'Tinginys' when I was looking for some Lithuanian desserts and it right away caught my attention, for a right reason. This cake is quick and easy to put together and no baking involved. It cannot get easy anymore and so they have aptly named it 'Tinginys' which translates to lazy. Primarily the recipe requires four ingredients - hard biscuits like butter biscuits / digestive biscuits, sweetened condensed milk, butter and cocoa powder.

It is said that a Lithuanian woman accidentally created this recipe in 1967. She added more sugar while cooking chocolate, resulting in a syrupy liquid. The woman deciding to salvage the recipe added some biscuit bits to it. The mixture when cooled resulted in a new dish, tinginys.  Later modifications occurred, such as letting the mixture cool down, rolling it on a plastic bag, and then cutting it into pieces. People decided to called it "lazy" because it was very easy and quick to prepare.
Another take on this lazy cake that has originated in Italy and have become equally popular among other European nations is chocolate salami. Though it doesn't contain any salami, it is named so because of the appearance. It contains chocolate, eggs and alcohol though the latter went missing from the recipe while crossing over countries and cultures. 

Ingredients:
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
7 tbsp  / 100 grams melted butter
5 - 6 tbsp. cocoa powder
200 grams biscuits (We are looking for plain, hard and not too much crumbly kind
A handful of dried fruits & nuts (Optional. I used dried, sweetened cranberries and walnuts.)

Note:
It was too sweet for our taste and I would suggest adding unsweetened condensed milk and adjust the sugar quantity to taste. Icing sugar / powdered sugar would be convenient.

Method:
* Break the cookies into about half inch sized bits.

* Combine butter, condensed milk and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl until smooth without lumps.

* Pour the mixture on biscuit pieces and just stir to coat. Stir in any dry fruits / nuts if using.

* Place the mixture on a wax paper / parchment paper / foil and fold the paper over. Shape the cookie mixture into the shape of a rectangle and wrap it tightly inside the parchment paper or aluminum foil.

* Chill in the refrigerator or the freezer. Slice when ready to serve.

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