Around the World in 12 Dishes: Finland Inspired Dessert From My Childhood

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I am finally introducing you the well-overdue post for the Around the World in 12 Dishes : season 2. It was originally created by Glittering Muffins and there are total of 13 blogs participating in this project. The idea is to “visit” 1 country a month (12 countries in a year) by exploring the cooking culture and craft. We all cook 1 (or more) dish with our children and some of us make crafts. So, today we are visiting Finland!

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Russia and Finland have long relationship. And Northern parts of Russia have similar to Finnish cuisine.

As a child I really loved making one no-bake dessert called “Kartoshka” (Potato). When I was researching recipes which I could make with my daughter for Finland I was absolutely stunned to learn that this recipe is originated from Finland!

The original recipe is believed created by the wife of Finnish poet –  Johan Ludvig Runeberg. The story tells that once some guests came to the poet’s house. And there was nothing to serve for tea but some broken cookies. So the poet’s wife crushed and mixed them with fresh cream, jam, added a bit of liquor and made an elastic dough from which she made torts that resembled potatoes. She decorated them with berries from jam and served to the guests.  Another story tells that the poet enjoyed the dessert every morning for breakfast. The dessert got the name Runebergintorttu (Runeberg’s torte) and is served on the poet’s birthday – January 5th.

In Russia the tortes are made either with cookies or bread crackers.

I offer you to try this recipe I made as a child and enjoyed making with my daughter. It is alcohol free and is easy and fun to make!

What you need:

Some plain cookies/biscuits

Favorite choice of nuts

(I used almonds)

Pure cocoa

Butter (unsalted)

Condense milk

(I used the cooked type, so it is brown. But you can use the regular white one)

How to make it:

– Use a meat mincer, a blender or a dough roller to crush the cookies and nuts. Mix them well.

– Add cocoa

– Add butter

– Add condense milk

– Mix everything till you get smooth thick paste that doesn’t fall apart.

– Shape your tortes the way you like them (my daughter made them into balls, I shaped them into longish rolls)

– Crush some more cookies and add a bit of cocoa. Roll the tortes in them and decorate with almonds

– Keep in the fridge for 1-2 hours. Best served cool!

These tortes freeze well and you can keep them frozen for 1-2 months.

As you noticed, I am not giving exact measurements. Do it in the amounts you like and it is really hard to get it wrong. I would say for about 100 gr of butter you need about 200 gr of cookies, a handful of nuts, 2-3 tbsp of cocoa and a few spoons of condense milk.

We had some leftover cookies and cocoa crumbs, so I just added a bit of condense milk and made a torte for my daughter to eat after she finished licking off her fingers!

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Check the other blogs of “Around the World in 12 Dishes” for their Finnish creations:

Adventures In Mommydom, Creative Family Fun, Domestic Goddesque, Enchanted Homeschooling Mom, Glittering Muffins, Here Come The Girls, Juggling with Kids, Kid World Citizen, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, Creative World of Varya, Mermaids’ Makings, Montessori Tidbits,Mummymummymum and The Educators’ Spin On It.

If you do this, we’d LOVE to see a photo of it. Like us Facebook and upload your picture there!

Please link up your Finnish dish and/or craft in our linky below, we would love to see it!