If you are from the USSR, you remember the incomparable taste of "bird's milk" in the form of sweets or cake. The airy white mass melts in the mouth, the chocolate adds additional sweetness with a slight bitterness. It was magical. You are lucky if you find the very product made according to a complex recipe in compliance with all GOSTs. So where did this name come from, because it is known that birds do not have milk. To answer this question, you need to delve deeper into the history of the product.

For the first time, candies with such a filling appeared in Poland in 1936, and they were produced at the E. Wedel factory. They were made almost according to the same recipe as marshmallows, only without eggs. In 1960, similar sweets began to be produced at domestic factories. They made a splash, the delicacy turned out to be so unusual.

In 1978, the following significant tasty event took place - the confectioners of the Moscow restaurant Praga, headed by Vladimir Guralnik, created the Bird's Milk cake according to a similar recipe. Of course, it was different from the candies of the same name, but it was just as good. It took over 6 months to create the cake. Experimenting with ingredients, volumes and temperatures. For example, gelatin has been lured onto agar-agar, a jelly-like product made from red and brown algae. It is this exotic substance that makes the cake so fluffy and airy. By the way, “Bird's milk” cake is the only one for which, during the existence of the USSR, a patent was issued.

The name “Bird's milk” was invented in Poland, where the philosophers of Ancient Greece, in particular Aristophanes and his comedy “Birds”, were revered, where happiness is promised in the form of milk “and not heifers, but birds”.

There are also ancient legends where birds of paradise fed their chicks with milk, and if a person is lucky enough to taste this milk, he will become invulnerable to any weapon and ailments. Perhaps it was this legend that formed the basis of the Russian proverb, which says: "The rich have everything, cut the bird's milk."

And in European fairy tales, evil beauties sent their potential suitors for this very bird's milk. Naturally, the poor fellows had no chance of finding this treasure, and they died in deserts or impenetrable forests.

The citizens of the Soviet Union had their own explanation, they believed that the cake or candy was called “bird's milk” for its delicate taste, price and scarcity, because milk from birds is very rare.

There are ancient legends where birds of paradise fed their chicks with milk, and if a person is lucky enough to taste this milk, he will become invulnerable to any weapon and ailments.

The expression "bird's milk" in many nations means something desirable, unattainable. A Russian proverb says: "The rich have everything, cut the bird's milk." A similar turnover went back to Ancient Greece. So, in the comedy of Aristophanes "Birds" the chorus promises happiness in the form of milk "but not heifers, but birds."
The culinary history of "Bird's Milk" began with sweets.
Back in 1936, Jan Wedel - the owner of the Polish confectionery factory E. Wedel - developed a recipe for amazing sweets, unlike any other confectionery product produced before. These sweets were prepared according to the recipe for marshmallows, only without the addition of eggs: sugar, gelatin, dextrose and flavorings were whipped to a "sponge" state. After that, sweets were formed from the sweet mass and glazed with chocolate. Contemporaries gave the dessert an unambiguous assessment: "He is divine!" and Jan Wedel, listening to these sincere delights, called his culinary creation "ptasie mleczko" ("bird's milk"). The pastry chef reasoned simply: “What else can a person who has everything want? Indeed, only bird's milk. "

The domestic history of "Bird's Milk" began with a trip in 1967 by the Minister of the Food Industry of the USSR to Czechoslovakia, where at one of the receptions he was presented with candies with original filling. Returning to the Soviet Union, the minister gathered representatives of all the country's confectionery industries at the Rot-Front Moscow factory and ordered to develop his own technology for making Czechoslovak sweets as soon as possible.
The first who managed to get as close as possible to the original recipe was confectioner Anna Chulkova, who at that time was the chief technologist of the Vladivostok confectionery factory. The technology for making new sweets, called "Bird's Milk", was transferred to other confectionery factories in the Soviet Union.


It was the Soviet sweets "Bird's Milk" from the "Red October" factory that became the basis for the recipe for the cake with the same name.
A whole team of famous confectioners of the capital worked on the creation of the most delicate dessert - Vladimir Guralnik, who worked in the Moscow restaurant "Prague", Nikolai Panfilov and Margarita Golova.
A group of confectioners under the leadership of the head of the confectionery department of the restaurant "Prague" Vladimir Mikhailovich Guralnik


We experimented for six months using agar-agar instead of gelatin, a jelly-like product obtained from red and brown algae. The pastry chefs strove to make the soufflé solidify, but remain airy. After a persistent search for the ideal recipe, they finally managed to find that combination of ingredients that is still considered classic - the cake filling richly poured with chocolate, decorated on top, also with a small chocolate bird.

Initially, the novelty could only be purchased at the Prague restaurant. “At first, they made 30 pieces a day, then 60, then 600,” recalls Vladimir Guralnik.
This was sorely lacking for Muscovites and guests of the capital. The delicacy was quickly tasted and it made a splash. Such queues lined up behind the cake that they had to be turned around so that people would not block traffic between Kalinin Avenue (now Novy Arbat) and Arbat. Buyers stood for hours by appointment; the smaller queue consisted of the holders of coupons, which the restaurant sold to the “elite” for 3 rubles. (The bird's milk cake itself cost 6 rubles 16 kopecks then.)
The queue to the confectionery department of the restaurant "Prague"


The first experimental commercial batches of "bird's milk" were produced since 1968 at the "Rot-Front" factory. But due to the complex technology, the batches were small, the recipe documentation was not approved by the USSR Ministry of Food Industry.
In September 1980, an application for an invention was filed, and in 1982 the developers of the recipe were issued a copyright certificate for the Bird's Milk cake, No. 925285, where the method of making the dessert was registered, which became an unprecedented precedent for that time. "Bird's Milk" became the first domestic cake, patented by the culinary experts who invented it.
Since that time, the cake "Bird's milk" began to be produced in other cities of the country. The “Bird's milk” cakes produced in different places had different designs, but they corresponded to the original recipe, fixed by the USSR GOST.








The Bird's Milk cake has been considered the hallmark of Moscow from Soviet times to ours. A delicate soufflé, a thick layer of dark chocolate and very thin cakes have made this miracle of culinary excellence a sought-after and desired delicacy. Childhood memories retained the warmth of the hearth and the delight over the sumptuous dessert.










In 2006, Vladimir Guralnik was nominated for the 2006 Public Recognition award and received an award in the Legendary Man category.
In addition to creating the legendary "birdie", over 50 years of work, he has developed and introduced into production 35 branded confectionery products.
Many of them are now produced in all Moscow confectionery shops.

For the first time, candies with such a filling appeared in Poland in 1936, and they were produced at the E. Wedel factory.

They were made almost according to the same recipe as marshmallows, only without eggs. In 1960, similar sweets began to be produced at domestic factories. They made a splash, the delicacy turned out to be so unusual.

In 1978, the following significant tasty event took place - the confectioners of the Moscow restaurant Praga, headed by Vladimir Guralnik, created the Bird's Milk cake according to a similar recipe. Of course, it was different from the candies of the same name, but it was just as good. It took over 6 months to create the cake. Experimenting with ingredients, volumes and temperatures. For example, gelatin has been lured onto agar-agar, a jelly-like product made from red and brown algae. It is this exotic substance that makes the cake so fluffy and airy. By the way, “Bird's milk” cake is the only one for which, during the existence of the USSR, a patent was issued.

The name “Bird's milk” was invented in Poland, where the philosophers of Ancient Greece, in particular Aristophanes and his comedy “Birds”, were revered, where happiness is promised in the form of milk “and not heifers, but birds”.

There are also ancient legends where birds of paradise fed their chicks with milk, and if a person is lucky enough to taste this milk, he will become invulnerable to any weapon and ailments. Perhaps it was this legend that formed the basis of the Russian proverb, which says: "The rich have everything, cut the bird's milk."

And in European fairy tales, evil beauties sent their potential suitors for this very bird's milk. Naturally, the poor fellows had no chance of finding this treasure, and they died in deserts or impenetrable forests.

The citizens of the Soviet Union had their own explanation, they believed that the cake or candy was called “bird's milk” for its delicate taste, price and scarcity, because milk from birds is very rare.

Most people love sweets, and sometimes they cannot deny themselves the use of this or that candy, cake or piece of cake. And such a delicacy as bird's milk is for some of us a real delicacy, a favorite dish among all sweets. But have you ever wondered why bird's milk is so called? Let's take a look at this issue.

Start of production of cakes and sweets "Bird's milk"

Few people know, but “Bird's Milk” cakes and sweets have been produced for over 80 years, and for the first time the recipe for this delicacy was developed in Poland. Polish confectioners have named their new culinary masterpiece “Ptasie Mleczko”, which literally translates into Russian as “Bird's milk”. After a while, the recipe also moved to the territory of the USSR, where the delicacy very quickly became a favorite for thousands of people and was produced in very impressive batches.

Over time, such sweets became known to almost everyone, but that's why sweets and cakes are called "Bird's milk", we will figure it out below.

Origin of the name "Bird's milk"

It should be emphasized that the name "Bird's milk" is not only a name for the most famous sweets and cakes. This is an idiom, or a phraseological unit, that is, a concept that has nothing to do with its name, but carries a semantic load available to certain peoples or people in general.

Bird's milk has long been called something unknown, precious, incredible. Bird's milk, as such, does not exist, which is why they began to call something incredible and unthinkable, precious with such a phraseological unit.

This is the name that Polish confectioners were guided by when they created a completely new recipe for a uniquely delicious dessert. Apparently, they already understood then that soon this recipe would spread not only to the entire Union, but throughout the world. And so it happened, and today the name of sweets and cakes "Bird's milk" is better known than the once popular phraseological unit of the same name.

Interesting facts about the "Bird's milk" trademark

In addition to the origin of the name of the sweets, bird's milk, another very interesting fact is associated with this delicacy. It concerns the modern production of both sweets and cakes. Today "Bird's Milk" is a trademark, which means that only those companies that are part of the United Confectioners holding can be engaged in its production and sale under the original name. Other companies can also produce sweets using open technology, but they have no legal right to give such a name to their products.

Guralnik does not hide the secret of making the "Bird's milk" cake:

We pour the whipped protein with agar-agar, then add butter and condensed milk, mix and cool to 80 degrees. Then pour this mass into a mold and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Then it is worthwhile to lay the layers correctly, because "Bird's milk" is a cake-constructor. The dough layer is alternated with an agar-agar layer, and so on again. The dessert is poured over with chocolate.

By the way, chocolate also has its own secret, - says the author. - It must have a certain melting point of 38 degrees, otherwise it will "turn gray" in the refrigerator. And also chocolate, in order for it to be tasty, must be properly kneaded. We have a special machine that continuously interferes with the chocolate.

However, now each confectionery has its own, somewhat different from the original recipe for "Bird's milk". HELLO.RU decided to find out how "Bird's milk" is prepared in the restaurant of Odessa cuisine "Babel". You can definitely repeat this recipe at home!

"Bird's milk" from the restaurant "Babel"Ingredients:

wheat flour 200 gr.

egg yolk 7 gr.

butter 275 gr

soda 1 tsp

sugar 350 gr.

condensed milk

lemon acid

chocolate 150 gr

cream 38%

egg white 7 pcs.

Preparation:

1. Beat butter at room temperature with sugar, add yolks, soda and flour, beat everything with a mixer.

2. Bake the mass at 170 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

3. For the cream, soak the gelatin in half a glass of cold water. Add citric acid and sugar to water with swollen gelatin. Then beat the whites until firm foam.

4. Separately beat the butter with condensed milk and gradually add to the mixture with whipped whites and gelatin solution. Don't stop whisking.

5. For the glaze, melt the chocolate and add a little butter. Melt everything over low heat and bring to a homogeneous mass.

6. Lay the dessert in layers and pour over the chocolate.

Bon Appetit!

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History of the dish: Bird's milk cake

We continue to acquaint you with the history of famous dishes, and our next "hero" is the Bird's Milk cake. Where did everyone get such an unusual name for the delicacy so beloved in Soviet times? Why was there a day in line for dessert, and not every housewife still manages to repeat the original recipe? You will learn all this and much more from our material.

A tender dough cake with an airy biscuit layer was released in 1978 and became a real legend of the Prague restaurant. The prototype of "Bird's Milk" was the Czechoslovakian sweets "Ptasie Mlechko", which were once tasted by the Minister of Food Industry of the USSR during a business trip. "To do something similar, but according to the original recipe," the minister commanded, after which numerous experiments began to find the ideal composition of a new domestic delicacy. Following the sweets, first prepared in the 60s, it was decided to "conjure" also over the cake. The merit of its creation belongs to the pastry chef Vladimir Guralnik. The name of this man has forever gone down in the history of culinary, and, it would seem, with such a rich past, now he could work in any, the most expensive confectionery in Moscow. However, Guralnik remains loyal to "Prague" to this day - in the confectionery department he works for the benefit of preserving long-term traditions and creating new culinary masterpieces.

Together with the team, we have been working on the recipe for "Bird's Milk" for over 6 months. I wanted the bottom to be from an unusual dough: not biscuit, not shortbread, not flaky. So a new type of dough was created - a butter-whipped semi-finished product, it is somewhat similar to a cupcake. The filling had to be boiled for a long time: agar-agar has a melting temperature of about 120 degrees, in contrast to gelatin, which curls up already at 100 degrees. The secret of our recipe is precisely in agar-agar - a more expensive and rich substitute for gelatin. They experimented for a long time: they added some ingredients, removed others, brought them to different temperatures - then the syrup turns out, then the viscous mass. Until they found the right consistency, 6 months have just passed,

Once Guralnik told the newspaper "Evening Moscow". In the Soviet years, the "Bird's Milk" cake was a real "king of the tables". For the original cake, sold only in the restaurant "Prague", people stood in line for several hours - a line of those wishing to treat themselves could fill half of the Old Arbat. What real success is, Guralnikov learned when at the metro he was furtively offered coupons for his own creation.

The secret of such success lay not only in the taste of the dessert, but also in its name - in its, so to speak, sacred sense. According to ancient mythology, bird milk is an unprecedented miracle. That which does not really exist, that which the birds of paradise fed their children. "A person who has everything can only dream of bird milk" - this expression again gained popularity in Europe of the XVIII century. And who did not want to possess something fantastic and impossible during the years of deficit in the USSR!

According to one of the legends, once the girls, in order to get rid of annoying gentlemen, sent them to wander through the cities and villages in search of "bird milk". Those, of course, never came back.

Now, leaving for "Bird's Milk" and not returning is an incredible story. The delicacy is presented in almost all confectionery shops in the country. True, the original cake according to the recipe of Vladimir Guralnik is exclusively sold only in 10 stores in Moscow. As he himself says, the cakes are delivered there in special branded vans and the taste of this treat cannot be confused with anything.