Muraveynik or Ant House Cake or Sweet Salami

The holidays are almost over. Today is old Calendar New Year, which is a great reason to celebrate one more time the beginning of the year. Give the reason to the Russians!!! So, I decided to start posting the recipes of the dishes I cook on the New Years Eve. 
 The Muraveynik Cake -translation Ant House cake, is a very easy cake. As New 2010 is a year if a Tiger and I wanted to make something that would look like a tiger and didn't want to work so much on that project, I remembered the old recipe which with a little chocolate would give me a tigers head.  :) 

 Ingredients:


 For the cookies:


1/2 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
200 gr. non-salted butter
2 tsp baking powder
4 cups flour


 For the Cream:

1 can of condensed sweet milk , boiled in the water for 2 hours.
200gr. sweet butter

Melt the butter in the microwave, cool it down. Add the sour cream and mix it with the mixer. Add sugar , vanilla-mix for 2 minutes. Sift the flour with baking powder and add to the sour cream mixture. After the dough gets together , stop mixing with the mixer. I finish it with my hands, it's better. Put dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes, of course, covered with plastic.

Well, the cream recipe is required to boil the condensed milk can, which will give you a smooth dulce de leche. If you are lucky and you a have a Latin food department in your supermarket or Mexican grocery or Russian food store near you, you can find the NESTLE  -LA LECHERA dulce de leche. La Lechera is a thick caramel  sweetened condensed milk. You can use it for the cream. If you don't have that available, you can purchase the regular Sweetened Condensed Milk, and put it in the heavy pot covered with water and boil it for 2 hours. I know, that the heating of the can is one of the warnings on the can, but.... The only important thing to remember is to add water when it's not covering the can. When you will forget about  it and leave your can heating up in the empty pot, then you are in a big trouble.

Making the cookies.

I use meat grinder to get the thin and long rolls of the dough, which I place in straight lines on the baking sheet. If you don't have the meat grinder, you can use the regular grater and grate the frozen dough, using small portions on the baking sheet.

Bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes,  F 350.

Cool the cookies and crumble them with your hands. You will have small balls or crumbles.

Mix the softened sweet butter in the mixer and add cold Dulce de Leche (caramelized condensed milk). Add the milk with tablespoon and mix after each addition.

Mix the cookie crumbles with cream in the bowl. Now you can shape it, using your hands or placing all the mixture into the bowl. I usually shape a small hill in a shape of ant house. You can sprinkle the poppy seeds, they will look like the small black ants. I also like to add walnuts sometimes. Place it in the refrigerator for 30  minutes. Voila ... the cake is ready.