The Tinginys is a popular dessert in Lithuania similar to chocolate salami.
Made with biscuits (or crackers), chocolate, butter, sugar, unlike the salami, a typical Italian and Portuguese recipe, it includes the use of condensed or evaporated milk.
In 1888, the production of chocolate and other products reached Kaunas, a city in south-central Lithuania.
Cooks then began to invent new recipes with chocolate, such as biscuits or chocolate with hazelnuts, because the large quantity and variety of forests in Lithuania allow for the collection of different varieties of hazelnuts.
Even new liqueurs containing chocolate were created.
From that period, Tinginys was born, its name meaning “lazy”.
It’s called that because the recipe is very easy and quick to prepare.
The recipe was born by accident in 1967: a woman was trying to cook chocolate but added too much sugar, thus obtaining a syrup; to improve it, the woman tried to soften the taste with chopped biscuits, mixed the syrup with the biscuits, and when it cooled, the result was Tinginys.
For convenience, modifications have been made, such as letting the dough cool inside a bag and rolling it, then cutting the dough into pieces once cold.
The most famous and economical variant is the use of cocoa instead of chocolate.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 4 Hours
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 8 people
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Eastern European
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 7 oz butter
- 14 oz condensed milk
- 5 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (or 3.5 oz dark chocolate)
- 14 oz plain biscuits
Steps
Add the condensed milk and cocoa (or chocolate) to the butter, bring to a boil while stirring.
Coarsely break the biscuits and pour the milk and butter mixture over them.
Using parchment paper or plastic wrap, shape into a log similar to a salami.
Cool in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
What is the difference between Tinginys and chocolate salami?
The chocolate salami is an Italian and Portuguese dessert made with cocoa, biscuits, butter, and sometimes alcohol like Port or rum.
Some varieties also contain chopped nuts, like almonds or hazelnuts, and can be shaped like truffles.
Unlike Tinginys, condensed milk is not used.
