“Bird's milk” can rightfully be called one of our favorite cakes. The combination of tender cake with delicious soufflé and chocolate makes the dessert simply unique. Usually a gentle souffle for a cake is prepared on gelatin. But this is not the only option. In our article we want to talk about how to cook "Bird's milk" at home with agar-agar.
What is agar agar?
Most often, housewives use gelatin to prepare different dishes. Not everyone knows what agar agar is. In cooking, it is used for making marshmallows, marmalade, jelly, Bird's milk cakes, soufflé, fish and meat dishes. In addition, the substance can be used to obtain ice cream, marinades, sauces and clarify drinks. In cooking, the substance is simply irreplaceable.
And yet, what is agar-agar? In cooking, its two forms are used: transparent plates or powder. Get agar-agar from red algae, growing in the White Sea, as well as in the Pacific Ocean. For this reason, Japan and the USA are the leaders in the production and export of the product. The advantage of agar-agar is its natural origin. It is considered the strongest gelatin substitute. In our country, two varieties are sold: the first (dark yellow) and the highest (light).
Agar-agar has a natural origin, it is rich in calcium, iodine, iron. It has a lot of vitamins. It is for this reason that it is so popular. By the way, it is used not only in cooking. Agar-agar is a wonderful prebiotic that is good for the intestines.
Cake in accordance with GOST
Almost every Soviet confectionery factory produced Bird's milk cake with agar-agar. For this reason, the dessert recipe was fixed by GOST. If you want to make a cake, the taste of which is familiar from childhood, we offer you a classic recipe.
Ingredients for making cakes:
- 110 g of butter and sugar.
- Flour - 130 g.
- Two eggs.
To make souffle:
- Agar-agar - 2 tsp.
- Butter - 200 g.
- Citric acid - 1/3 tsp
- Two squirrels.
- Sugar - 450 g.
- Agar-agar - 2 tsp.
- Vanillin.
- Condensed milk - 90 g.
Preparation of "Bird's milk" with agar-agar should begin with the test. In a bowl, you need to mix the butter with icing sugar and thoroughly beat the mass. Continuing stirring, add vanillin and eggs. After that, add the flour to the butter and egg mass and knead the dough. Cakes should be baked on a baking sheet covered with parchment. Roll out the dough in the form of cake and cut out a circle from it. You can use a round shape for baking, then the edges will be even. Each cake should be cooked no more than ten minutes.
Souffle
Souffle is an integral part of the bird's milk cake. With agar-agar it is not difficult to prepare it. While the cakes are baking, you can start preparing the souffle. For its preparation, it is necessary to use products at room temperature. In a bowl, beat the condensed milk, butter and vanilla.
Two hours before starting the preparation, agar-agar should be soaked in water. After the infused mass we put on fire and bring to a boil, without ceasing to stir it. The substance must completely dissolve. After a few minutes, add sugar to the mass and boil the mass until a white foam is obtained. We leave the resulting syrup to cool, and we ourselves begin to whip the proteins with citric acid. In order to beat the mass well, you must turn on the mixer at maximum power. Proteins should become thick. Only after that can syrup with agar-agar be added to them without ceasing to whisk.
We place the cake in the cake mold, put the souffle on top of it and cover it with the second cake. Next, put the dessert in the refrigerator for four hours.
If you want to cook “Bird's milk” with agar-agar according to GOST, then it is worth adding dessert with chocolate. For the preparation of glaze, we heat chocolate and butter in a water bath. As soon as the mass cools a little, fill it with the surface of the cake and send it back to the refrigerator.
Dessert can be easily removed from the mold by separating the edges with a knife. That’s the Bird’s Milk cake with agar-agar. It can immediately be served on the table, cut into portions.
Another recipe
"Bird's milk" with agar-agar is very simple to prepare, so the housewives love it. There are various options for its preparation. Each of them has its own advantages. In any case, the dessert is delicious and delicate. It is the last quality that is so appreciated in the hostess's cake.
To add flavoring shades during the cooking process use different additives. We bring to your attention the recipe for "Bird's milk" on cream and agar.
Ingredients for sponge cake:
- Sugar - 90 g.
- 2 eggs.
- 1 tsp vanilla extract.
- Flour - 130 g.
- Butter at room temperature - ½ pack.
- Baking powder - 1/3 tsp
For impregnation:
- Condensed milk - 1 tbsp. l
- Liquor (you can use Baileys) - 2 tbsp. l
- Cream - 90 ml.
For souffle:
- Oil - 230 g.
- Agar-Agar - 5 g.
- Condensed milk - 90 g.
- Water - 130 g.
- Citric acid - ¼ tsp.
- Sugar - 370 g.
For glaze:
- Oil - ¼ packs.
- Chocolate - 150 g.
- Cream - 70 ml.
There is nothing easier than making a delicious Bird's milk cake on agar.
For biscuit we need sugar, two eggs and vanilla extract. We mix all the products, and then beat them until smooth. We introduce softened oil in parts.
Mix baking powder and flour. Pour the resulting dry mass into the egg-oil mass. Beat the dough at minimum speed. After that, it can be transferred to a baking dish with parchment. Cooking cake is fast enough. The baking process does not take more than ten minutes. The resulting biscuit cake after cooling should be cut into two parts. If you are not in a hurry, you can divide the dough into two equal parts and bake the pieces separately.
Impregnation preparation
The peculiarity of this recipe “Bird's milk” with agar-agar is the use of impregnation for biscuit cakes. To prepare it, mix the cream (with a high percentage of fat content) with a tablespoon of condensed milk. Add a few spoons of liquor to the mass. We thoroughly mix the impregnation until a homogeneous state is obtained.
Cut the biscuit cake into two parts. For further assembly of the cake, we need a form whose bottom and sides can be tightened with a film for convenience. We shift one cake into the form and apply our impregnation on it.
Now you need to start cooking souffle.
How to cook souffle?
To make soufflé we need proteins. They must be carefully separated from the yolks so that not a drop is mixed. Squirrels pour into the bowl of the mixer. We mix soft butter with condensed milk and leave the products for a while at room temperature. You can add a pinch of salt to the cream so that it has a brighter taste.
Many housewives usually use gelatin in cooking, so they don’t know how to breed agar-agar for “Bird's milk”. It’s easy to work with the substance. Pour water into a stewpan and add agar-agar. After the container is sent to the fire and heated until the substance is completely dissolved. Next, pour sugar and prepare syrup.
While it is preparing, you can beat three proteins with citric acid. Syrup must be cooked up to 110 degrees, so you need a culinary thermometer. If you do not have it, you can focus on the appearance of the syrup. If you take out a spoon from the sugar mass and an unflattering thread stretches behind it, this indicates the readiness of the mass. It usually takes 10 minutes to prepare the syrup. During this time, you can beat the squirrels. Without stopping interfering, pour a thin stream of syrup. It is better to pour the sweet mass over the walls of the bowl so that it does not fall on the corollas of the mixer.
As a result, we should get a very dense cream. Add oil with condensed milk to it and beat the mass again. The cream will get a more fluid consistency. Since it quickly hardens, half of it must immediately be poured onto the prepared cake in the mold. Spread the second biscuit on top. Its surface is also lubricated with impregnation. Top with a second layer of souffle. Next, we send the cake to freeze in the refrigerator.
To make chocolate glaze, we heat butter and chocolate in a water bath. After adding the cream and stir the mass until smooth. The icing is left to cool slightly. The cake is removed from the mold, heating the walls with a hairdryer. If you used cling film, then getting a dessert would not be difficult at all. Next, pour chocolate cake on top of the cake, leveling its surface with a spatula. Put the dessert back in the refrigerator to freeze the icing. We decorate the finished cake with fruit. Now you know how to make Bird Milk at home.
Cake without sugar
How do you think, is it possible to cook “Bird's milk” on sugar-free agar-agar? If it is very important for you to get a diet product, you can use a sugar substitute.
All other ingredients for Bird Milk will remain unchanged.
For glaze:
- Cocoa - 3 tsp.
- Milk - 90 g.
- One yolk.
- Milk powder - 1 tbsp. l
- A pinch of vanillin.
- Sugar substitute - 3 tbsp. l
For souffle:
- Four squirrels.
- Milk - 300 g.
- Agar-agar - 2 tsp.
- Citric acid - 1/3 tsp
- Sugar substitute - 4 tbsp. l
For biscuit:
- Milk powder - 2 tbsp. l
- Two eggs.
- Vanillin.
- Sugar substitute - 3 tbsp. l
- Baking powder - ½ tsp.
- Corn starch - 2 tbsp. l
Separate the proteins and yolks, after which the latter are ground with a sweetener. Beat the whites until you get dense peaks. Mix the proteins with the yolks and mix them gently.
We mix the dry ingredients in a container and gradually fall asleep in the egg mass. The resulting dough is poured into a mold and sent to bake in the oven. The biscuit is cooked no more than ten minutes.
While the cake is baking, you can start preparing the glaze. We combine all the ingredients for it in a saucepan and send to the fire. Bring the mass to a boil without ceasing to stir. The glaze should thicken a little, but its boiling must not be allowed.
We take out the biscuit from the oven and allow it to cool slightly. After that, cut it into two parts. We impregnate each of them with glaze.
Now you can start preparing the souffle. To do this, agar-agar is dissolved in milk and put the pan on the fire. First, bring the mass to a boil, then boil for literally one minute and turn off the fire. Souffle cream should cool slightly.
In a separate pan, whisk the whites with a pinch of salt until peaks form. Without interrupting the whipping process, we introduce a sugar substitute and citric acid. After pouring the agar-agar and continue to beat the mass for a couple of minutes.
Next, you will again need a form, on its bottom we spread the impregnated cake, on which we spread the souffle. The surface of the cream is leveled with a spatula. On top lay another impregnated cake. On its surface we also spread the souffle. Pour the icing on top of the cake, then put it in the refrigerator.
Candy "Bird's milk"
No less tasty are the “Bird's milk” candies on agar.
Ingredients:
- Water - 110 g.
- Agar-Agar - 5 g.
- Sugar - 170 g.
- Vanillin - 1 tsp
- Condensed milk - 100 g.
- Butter - 80 g.
- 1 tsp lemon juice.
- Three egg whites.
Before starting the preparation, agar-agar is poured with cold water and left to swell. Transfer the soft butter into a deep container and begin to whisk it with a whisk. Gradually pour in the condensed milk. Pour the vanilla extract into the finished cream and mix it to a homogeneous consistency.
Separate the yolks and squirrels, pour the latter into the mixer bowl. Swollen agar-agar is sent to the fire and heated until completely dissolved, do not forget to stir. After small portions, we fill in the sugars, stir it until dissolved. Syrup must be prepared before the appearance of small bubbles.
Beat the squirrels must begin at low speed. Then they need to add lemon juice, after which we increase the speed of whipping. Without stopping the process, you must enter the syrup. The mass will quickly become dense. Add cream to it.
For the preparation of sweets you will need molds. It is necessary to decompose the cream mass in them. Further, sweets can be left to freeze on the table or set in the refrigerator. After two to three hours, the souffle will harden. It can be laid out on a wire rack and pour chocolate on top. After the icing has hardened, the candies are ready.
"Bird's milk" with halva
Ingredients for cakes:
- Butter - 40 g.
- Flour - 60 g.
- Sugar - 40 g.
- Egg.
Souffle:
- Agar-Agar - 5 g.
- Water - 130 g.
- Two squirrels.
- Pack of butter.
- Sugar - 430 g.
- Halva and condensed milk - 100 g each.
- Citric acid - 0.25 tsp.
Glaze:
- 100 g of chocolate.
- 100 g of heavy cream.
Beat butter with sugar using a mixer and add the egg, flour. The dough should be sparse. Using a silicone spatula, apply it to parchment, and then bake in the oven. Cut the finished cake, aligning the edges.
Agar-agar pour warm water and leave it to swell for 15 minutes.
Beat condensed milk and butter. We spread the cake to the bottom of the form. We set agar-agar on fire and cook until dissolved, then add sugar and boil the syrup for another two minutes. A mass can be considered finished if white bubbles appear on its surface.
Beat the whites by adding citric acid at maximum speed. Gradually pour the syrup into them and continue to whisk. The mass should increase in volume and become glossy. After this, it is necessary to pour halva, crushed into crumbs, into the protein cream. Pour the sweet mass onto the cake and put the cake in a cold place. After three hours, the souffle will thicken. After that, the dessert should be covered with chocolate icing. To prepare it, heat the cream and chocolate over a fire. The resulting mass is watered on the surface of the cake. After hardening, dessert can be served.
Instead of an afterword
Experienced chefs recommend cooking “Bird's milk” exclusively on agar-agar. With gelatin, you can also get a good dessert, but its taste is different. The souffle is not the same as on agar-agar. If you want to please your family with a wonderful cake, feel free to start cooking it. We hope you enjoy one of these recipes.