Tinginys

Ingredients

Biscuits

• 400 gplain dry biscuits, sausainiai, or rich tea or digestives

Chocolate mixture

• 200 gbutter
• 400 gsweetened condensed milk
• 60 gcocoa powder
• 100 gsugar, or to taste
• a pinch of salt

Optional

• 100 gwalnuts, chopped
• 50 graisins
• 1 tspvanilla
• 1 tbsprum or brandy

Equipment

• cling film or baking paper
• a loaf tin, optional

To serve

• in thin slices, cold, with coffee or tea

Directions

1. Break the biscuits by hand into irregular pieces of about 1 cm. Break them by hand rather than crushing them in a bag or a processor. Keep the pieces varied in size, with a little dust among them, which helps it bind.
2. Use a plain dry biscuit rather than a soft or creamy one. A dry biscuit stays slightly crisp inside the set mixture, where a soft one dissolves into paste. Melt the butter gently in a pan over a low heat. Now take it off the heat before adding anything else.
3. Add the cocoa, sugar and condensed milk off the heat and whisk until completely smooth. Condensed milk scorches very easily and cocoa turns bitter and grainy if it is cooked hard.
4. Return it to the lowest heat only if it needs help combining, and stir constantly. It should be glossy, thick and completely smooth, with no lumps of cocoa. Sift the cocoa if it is at all lumpy, since lumps will not disperse later. Taste it and adjust the sugar, remembering condensed milk is already sweet.
5. Add the vanilla and the rum if you are using them. Now let it cool for a few minutes. Let it cool slightly before it meets the biscuits, or it softens them into mush on contact. It should still be pourable but no longer hot. Add the walnuts and raisins now if using. Fold it thoroughly but gently, so every piece is coated but the biscuits stay in pieces.
6. Work reasonably quickly, since the mixture stiffens as it cools. Tip the mixture onto a large sheet of cling film or baking paper. Roll it tightly and compress it as you go, squeezing out air pockets, since a loosely rolled log falls apart when sliced.
7. Make the log about 6 cm across. Now chill it for at least 4 hours, and overnight is better. Cut it in thin slices, since it is very rich and a thick slab is too much.
8. Warm the knife under hot water and wipe it between cuts for clean edges. Serve it cold, with coffee or tea. Keep it refrigerated, since it softens at room temperature and the butter separates in a warm room. It keeps a week in the fridge and it freezes well.

Technique

• Similar no-bake biscuit cakes exist across eastern Europe under other names.
• It is sold ready-made in Lithuanian shops.
• It must be kept refrigerated, since it softens quickly.

Substitutions

• Digestives, rich tea or any plain dry biscuit.
• Dark chocolate melted in place of cocoa powder, which is richer.

Variations

• With walnuts and raisins.
• With dried cranberries.
• Rolled in cocoa or crushed nuts.

History

A no-bake lazy cake of crushed biscuits bound with condensed milk, invented in Soviet kitchens with the ingredients available.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tinginys?

Tinginys is a dessert from Lithuania: ‘Lazy’ no-bake chocolate-biscuit log with condensed milk. A no-bake lazy cake of crushed biscuits bound with condensed milk, invented in Soviet kitchens with the ingredients available.

How long does Tinginys take to make?

Tinginys takes 20 min plus 4 hr chilling of preparation and 5 min of cooking. The recipe makes 16 slices. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Tinginys?

Yes, within limits. Digestives, rich tea or any plain dry biscuit. Dark chocolate melted in place of cocoa powder, which is richer.

What is the most important thing to get right in Tinginys?

Break the biscuits by hand into irregular pieces of about 1 cm. Break them by hand rather than crushing them in a bag or a processor. Keep the pieces varied in size, with a little dust among them, which helps it bind.