Classic Kartoshka Cookie Cakes with Condensed Milk

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make classic Kartoshka cakes? Prepare the ingredients. The cookies are usually the simplest plain tea biscuits, but plenty of people use whatever they have on hand: oatmeal, plain crackers, or sponge cookies. I always make these with the traditional kind, so I can't say how they'd taste with another. Choose real condensed milk with no milk-fat substitutes - same goes for the butter. Take it out of the fridge ahead of time so it softens.

2. Step 2:

   

   Grind the cookies any way that's convenient. I have a big, handy food processor that holds a lot at once, so I grind them in it. Some people prefer a meat grinder - that's how cookies were ground when I was a kid. Or you can just use a rolling pin: put the cookies in a sturdy bag and crush them thoroughly. The crumbs will be on the coarse side, but that won't affect the taste at all.

3. Step 3:

   

   Put the softened butter and condensed milk in a bowl. Stir them with a fork into a creamy mixture. You could use a mixer, but it's not important here - the texture of the mixture won't change the final result, and you'd just have a mixer to wash. A whisk works instead of a fork too.

4. Step 4:

   

   Add the cookie crumbs to the butter mixture. Stir with the same fork until completely combined.

5. Step 5:

   

   The dough will be thick enough to shape.

6. Step 6:

   

   Pour the cocoa powder onto a plate. Shape an oblong cake from the dough. Roll it in the cocoa on all sides and set it on parchment. The shape can be anything - oval or round. You can make them look as much like potatoes as possible by shaping bumpy "tubers."

7. Step 7:

   

   Chill the finished chocolate "potatoes" in the fridge for at least an hour. The butter should cool and firm up, which makes the cakes firmer and easier - and tastier - to eat. Before serving, you can decorate them with cream, chocolate, or sprinkles. I piped white dots of cream to look like potato sprouts.