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Tinginys, or Lithuanian lazy cake cookies, are one of Lithuania’s simplest and most beloved desserts.
With no baking required, it’s easy to see where delicious tinginys got its nickname of ‘lazy cake’ from.
Lithuanian lazy cake is super easy to make. It takes less than 20 minutes of prep time.
And the most difficult part? Waiting while this rich and sumptuous dessert cools in the refrigerator for 2-6 hours!
What is Tinginys?
Tinginys is a simple cake, made by mixing crushed-up biscuits or cookies with cocoa, condensed milk, melted butter, sugar, and other optional add-ins.
Once mixed, the mixture is rolled into a plastic casing or cling film, and then simply left to set in the refrigerator. Hence the name ‘lazy cake’.
After chocolate arrived in Lithuania in 1888, for decades, the recipe used a range of nuts and berries from the luscious Lithuanian forests.
However, in 1967, a home cook accidentally created the modern-day recipe. After adding too much sugar, she tried to salvage the syrup-like mixture by adding crushed-up biscuits found in her cupboard.
Tinginys is a beloved dessert in the Lithuanian cuisine, and it has been enjoyed both casually and at celebrations for over a hundred years.
My simple recipe is easy to follow, and delicious to try. In no time at all, you can bring plenty of chocolate and cookie Lithuanian goodness into your own home!
Tinginys – Lazy Cake Cookies Step-By-Step
Get your ingredients together:
- 14.1 oz (400 grams) of simple cookies or digestive biscuits
- a can of condensed milk
- 1 1/4 sticks of butter (about 150 g)
- 5 tablespoons of cacao powder
- any optional add-ins (here, I used chocolate chunks)
Take all the cookies and crush them by hand into small pieces.
Now, melt the butter and add the cacao powder.
Add the condensate milk to the butter cacao mixture. Stir it for a couple of minutes, till it creates one smooth mass.
Pour the butter-cacao-condensed-milk mixture into the bowl with cookies and combine everything.
Add any optional add-ins. In this case, I added 80 grams of nut & raisin chocolate chunks.
Now, it’s time to shape it.
You can use a cake pan and make it into a traditional cake shape.
Here, I chose to use cling film and shape one like a roll, similar to a chocolate salami. The other, I shaped in a rectangular form similar to banana bread.
After resting it in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but ideally overnight, it’s time to serve it. Slice it into pieces and serve it a hot beverage such as tea or coffee.
Tinginys – Lazy Cake Cookies Recipe
Tinginys - Lazy Cake / Cookies
Ingredients
- 14.1 oz (400 grams) of simple cookies or digestive biscuits
- a can of condensed milk
- 1 1/4 sticks of butter (about 150 g)
- 5 tablespoons of cacao powder
- any optional add-ins (chocolate chunks, raisins, nuts)
Instructions
- Take all the cookies and crush them by hand into small pieces.
- Melt the butter. Add the cacao powder and the condensate milk to the melted butter and mix it well.
- Add the butter mixture to the bowl of crushed cookies and combine well.
- Optional: Add any mix-ins. Here we used nut raisin chocolate chunks.
- Now, pour the mixture in the cake pan and cover it with cling film. Alternatively, pour it on cling film and shape it in the desired shape. Here, we shaped one like a chocolate salami and the other as a loaf.
- Cool the shaped mixture in the fridge for at least 2 hours but ideally, overnight.
- Once cooled, slice it up and serve it with tea or coffee.
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Author: Doina Johnson is a content writer and creator, who has traveled to over 30 countries. She is passionate about trying new foods and loves to make foods she has tried on her travels in her home kitchen.
Contributor: Ieva Cicirkaite is a translator and creative writer from Lithuania. Fluent in several languages, Ieva has written about Lithuanian cuisine, culture, and travel, for various publications.