Russian desserts feature cheeses, fruits, and sweets. Popular treats include ptichye moloko, a crème torte, pashka, a sweet cheese platter, vareniki, sweet dumplings, and blin, a Russian pancake. Ptichye moloko is a cake with a meringue base, soufflé, and chocolate glaze. Pashka is a sweetened cheese mold topped with nuts and candied fruit. Vareniki are small dumplings filled with tvorog and preserved fruit. Blin is a thin, yeast-risen pancake usually served with sour cream and can be filled with various ingredients.
In Russian desserts, the key components are cheeses, fruits and sweets. Russia’s most famous dessert is its pancake, or “blin,” which is similar to the American pancake, only smaller and usually topped with sour cream. Several Russian desserts are considered staples in the Russian diet and are enjoyed in other parts of the world. Some popular Russian desserts are ptichye moloko, a Russian crème torte, pashka, a soft cheese and dried fruit platter, vareniki, small sweet dumplings, and blin, the Russian pancake.
Ptichye moloko is one of the best known Russian sweets. Translated, it means “bird’s milk,” and like many Russian desserts, it’s truly a rare indulgence as its unique name suggests. Sometimes this treat takes the form of a candy with a meringue base and hard chocolate topping, but more often than not it’s the cake form of ptichye moloko that graces tables at parties and dinners. Sitting on a thin biscuit base, a creamy egg white and agar-agar soufflé is covered in a chocolate glaze. This dessert has its roots in Russian folklore in which a princess sends a suitor in search of bringing back a luxury she craves but doesn’t exist: bird’s milk.
Pashka is a Russian dessert that is traditionally enjoyed at Easter. It is a mold of sweetened cheese that is similar to a cheesecake only it doesn’t have a crust and is usually topped with nuts and candied fruit. The base of the pashka is small curds, cream-style cottage cheese, eggs and whipped cream, with vanilla flavoring and sugar added for sweetness. The dessert is wrapped in cheesecloth and placed in the refrigerator for 24 hours before serving.
Vareniki are small dumplings that can be filled with sweet or savory ingredients. As a dessert dish, they are typically filled with a semi-soft cheese called tvorog and preserved fruit, with sour cherries one of the most popular options in Slavic cuisine. Vareniki dough is made from flour, eggs and salt. Nuts and spices are added to give a twist to these tasty nuggets.
The sweet version of the Russian pancake, blin – or blini if plural – is smaller and thinner than an American pancake and uses yeast to rise it. Although usually served with sour cream, these delicious buckwheat pancakes can be filled with fruit, puddings and chocolates. A popular version of this dessert is to stack the layers of blinis on top of each other, spread each layer with jam, cut the stacks into pieces, and serve as a cake.
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