The Anthill cake is one of the most famoushomemade cakes. Many call it a cake from childhood, which is not surprising, because this cake was extremely popular in the glorious times of the legendary Soviet Union, and for many, many girls (now grown up), it was the first culinary, or rather, confectionery experience. The Ant Hill cake is easy to prepare, outwardly simple, pleasant to taste, satisfying and universal in its purpose. Since this cake can be made just like that, because you wanted something tasty, you can prepare it for any celebration (it will also go “with a bang”) or for friendly girls' get-togethers (and at the same time discuss who of those present and how exactly prepares it). This is exactly what we will talk about - how to prepare the Ant Hill cake. The simple process of preparing such a wonderful cake can be conditionally divided into stages, and each of these stages hides some secrets and nuances. So, let's prepare a nostalgic cake, a cake "for any occasion", a cake for all times - the Anthill cake.

Cooking dough

At first, naturally, as for anyone elsecake, we will prepare the dough. Usually, the Muraveynik cake is made from shortcrust pastry, which is prepared independently. However, some not particularly zealous housewives do not bother themselves with kneading the dough and baking the semi-finished product for the Muraveynik cake, but take ready-made crumbly cookies. By the way, this is one of the nuances of this stage: that is, you do not need to prepare the dough at all, but use the products of confectionery factories. However, for a real Muraveynik cake (which is “like in childhood”) you need to prepare the dough. And for this we will need the following ingredients:

• 3.5 cups of flour;
• Half a glass of sugar;
• 200 g (glass) of sour cream;
• 200 g (pack) of margarine or butter, or spread;
• A pinch of salt;
• Half a teaspoon of baking powder.

Preparation:Sift white wheat flour through a fine sieve. By the way, if you do not practice this technique in your culinary activities, you risk getting tasteless or poor-quality baked goods. Not only is sifted flour enriched with oxygen (and this is the fact that affects the excellent quality of baked goods), but all sorts of debris (grains, villi, lumps) remain in the sieve, and do not migrate from the bag with flour into the dough. So, sift the flour, and then add softened margarine, sour cream, sugar, salt and baking powder to it. By the way, never refuse such an ingredient as salt for sweet baked goods. In such products, salt does not convey its own taste to the dough, but “works” as a flavor enhancer. That is, for example, a biscuit can be baked without salt, or you can add a pinch when beating eggs. In the second case, the sponge cake will have a richer and more "bright" taste. So, add all the other ingredients to the flour and knead the dough. You can, of course, use a mixer and attachments with screw blades for this, you can mix the dough with a tablespoon, but it is best to do this with your hands (clean, of course!). Experienced cooks say that the dough is able to absorb the energy of the world around it, including the energy of human hands. How exactly this fact affects the quality and taste of baked goods - we do not understand, but the fact that this fact takes place - is verified! So, knead the dough until you get a homogeneous, dense, smooth and pleasant to the touch mass that will not stick to your hands and the walls of the bowl. If in the process of kneading you understand that there is not enough flour, then add a little more: the amount of flour can vary depending on the fat content and thickness of the sour cream. After kneading the dough, put it in the refrigerator and begin to prepare the cream for our cake.

Cooking cream

The cream for the cake "Anthill" is also a productexclusively Soviet reality. Such a delicacy as boiled condensed milk was very popular in those times of total deficit, besides, it was very easy to prepare boiled condensed milk. So, it was the butter cream with boiled condensed milk that became the second main component of the "Anthill" cake. And for it we will need the following ingredients:

• 1 can of boiled condensed milk;
• 1 packet of butter.

Preparation:If you are going to make a real Ant Hill cake, then you need to take real products for the cream too. Namely: natural butter without any vegetable additives and real whole condensed milk. Therefore, when buying these products, read the labels carefully: the butter should contain only dairy cream, and the can of condensed milk should be labeled "whole". So, first you need to prepare the condensed milk. Take a saucepan taller than the can of condensed milk. Put condensed milk in it (in a closed metal can) and fill it with water so that the can is completely covered with water. Now put the saucepan on low heat and cook the condensed milk for one and a half to two hours (no less!). During the cooking process, watch the water, which will naturally boil away, and periodically add water to the saucepan. After the required time, remove the saucepan from the heat and cool the condensed milk under cold running water. If you cook condensed milk in advance, then simply leave the can to cool at room temperature. Important! Never try to open a hot can of condensed milk! The condensed milk in it is under pressure, and you risk getting badly (and painfully!) burned by the hot condensed milk, which the can will literally spit out as soon as you pierce it with a can opener. Now we will prepare the cream itself. To do this, take the butter, which should be slightly melted and softened, and beat it a little with a mixer at medium speed (literally a few seconds). And then, continuing to beat, add completely cooled boiled condensed milk to the butter in several stages. When the mass becomes homogeneous and acquires a pleasant light brown or beige color, the cream can be considered ready. Put the cream in the refrigerator and proceed to the next stage, namely: we begin to prepare the shortbread semi-finished product for the cake and assemble the "Anthill" itself.

Bake and collect cake

Let's start preparing the semi-finished product by preparing the dough.for baking. To do this, take it out of the refrigerator and prepare a meat grinder, from which we remove the knives and put a grid with wide holes. Cover the baking sheet with baking paper and (or) grease it with vegetable oil or margarine. Also turn on the oven in advance. Now take the dough and pass it through the meat grinder in small portions, and evenly scatter the resulting noodles on the baking sheet. When we pass all the dough through the meat grinder, put the baking sheet in the oven and bake the so-called cake. Bake it for about twenty minutes, until the dough is golden brown. After that, take the baking sheet out of the oven and, while still warm, turn the "cake" into crumbs with your hands or a masher. Let the resulting crumbs cool completely. Next, take the cream out of the refrigerator and begin to lay it out in the shortbread crumbs: first half, and then two or three more portions. Why can't you lay out all the cream at once? What if you think there is too much of it? By spreading the cream in parts, you can control the consistency of the future Anthill cake. Put less cream - the cake will be drier, more cream - and the cake will be juicier, but also more caloric. Now all that remains is to put the resulting mass on a flat wide dish, give it the shape of a real anthill and decorate as you wish. First, leave the finished cake in a warm place for half an hour so that the shortcrust pastry is soaked in cream, and then put it in the refrigerator for another hour. That's the whole process of making the Anthill cake. And now - the promised nuances and secrets.

Secrets and nuances

Dough for the cake "Anthill" can be prepared on kefir. Then just instead of a glass of sour cream put in dough four tablespoons of kefir and three eggs.

The dough for the "cake" can not only be grinded on a meat grinder, but also, for example, can be passed through a conventional grater (only to cool before it) or even to tear it up into small pieces.

In the cream for the cake "Anthill" you can add more honey, and as a flavor, use cognac, vanilla or lemon zest.

You can assemble this cake not only in the form of a cone, but also to sculpt out of it any other figure: a ring, a heart, a flower. However, then already and the name for it will need to come up with another.

Decorate this cake also in different ways. In the classical version, it is generally not decorated at all, but for those who prefer to cook not only tasty, but also beautiful cakes, we recommend using poppy seeds, crushed nuts or chocolate crumbs to sprinkle cake, whipped cream or chocolate glaze for coating.

Special zateynitsam can try to "revitalize"cake "Anthill". To do this, you need to make (or buy) sugar mastic and mold out ants, as well as mushrooms, flowers and grass. In such a performance, the cake will become an effective decoration of the children's holiday.

For special occasions, try instead of a dishTake a mirror in the frame and put it directly on it "The Anthill". By the way, on this mirror-dish you can also put rosebuds (or other live flowers) or put a few small candles. The effect will be magical!

Now you know how to make a cake"Anthill". Frankly speaking, this is not the most difficult task. Any housewife can prepare this dessert, even an inexperienced one or one who is just beginning to master the intricacies of home confectionery art. So this cake can be a good and successful start: simple, fast, tasty, impressive! Cook with pleasure. And enjoy your meal! We recommend reading:

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