When I asked my husband what dessert he wanted me to make him for his birthday I already knew what it was going to be, kartoshkas. You should have seen how excited he was when I agreed. Apparently this was one of his favorite treats when he was growing up in Russia. Kartoshka (Картошка), which translates to potato in Russian, are these intensely sweet pastries. This recipe comes straight from his lovely step mom in Russia.
Russian Kartoshka (Картошка)
- 12oz cookies (preferably sugar cookies)
- 1 cup softened butter
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Grind the cookies until they become crumbs. If your chopper is small like mine it might take a few batches. Set them aside in a bowl.
I went ahead and chopped up the walnuts at this point. It’s fine if there are still some cookie crumbs left over. Yay for less dishwashing!
Place the softened butter and condensed milk in your mixer.
Mix it until it has combined and become nice and smooth.
Add the cocoa powder and mix again.
Add the cookie crumbs.
Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and refrigerate for two plus hours.
Your mixture will be ready to use when you can roll it in your hands without it melting. Form it into small potato like shapes.
Roll the kartoshka in the chopped walnuts.
It’s a pretty little potato isn’t it?
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Tatyana says
February 27, 2014 at 2:40 pmI love these!!! We would get them all the time when we’d go see the circus. I’ll have to make these now to remind me of my childhood.
Analisa says
February 27, 2014 at 3:59 pmI love that food has the power to connect us to happy memories. I hope to try more Russian recipes in the future. My husband is so crazy about kartoshkas though so he has a hard time asking for anything else. I’ve surprised him with a labor intensive Russian Napoleon cake, yet he still prefers these easy kartoshkas.
Jade says
March 21, 2014 at 6:35 amThese sound so fun. I wish that I had found this recipe during the olympics. This would have been perfect. The men in my house are allergic to walnuts, would it be an affront to change the nuts? I’m really excited to give these a try.
Analisa says
March 21, 2014 at 11:39 amYou could use any nut that works for your family. I’ve used almonds in a pinch with delicious results.