If you come from the USSR, you remember the incomparable taste of “bird milk” in the form of sweets or a cake. The airy white mass melts in the mouth; chocolate brings extra 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 into the history of the product.

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

In 1978, the next significant tasty event happened - the confectioners of the Moscow restaurant “Prague”, headed by Vladimir Guralnik, created a “Bird's milk” cake according to a similar recipe. Of course, he was different from the candy of the same name, but he was just as good. It took more than 6 months to create the cake. Experimented with ingredients, volumes and temperatures. For example, gelatin was lured onto agar-agar, a jelly-like product derived from red and brown algae. It is this exotic substance that makes the cake so lush and airy. By the way, “Bird's milk” cake is the only one for which, during the existence of the USSR, a patent was granted.

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

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

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

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

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

The expression "bird milk" among many peoples means something desirable, inaccessible. The Russian proverb says: "The rich have everything, to shout bird's milk." A similar turn went back in ancient Greece. So, in the comedy of Aristophanes “Birds”, the choir promises happiness in the form of milk “not heifers, but birds”.
The culinary story 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, not like any confectionery product produced before. These sweets were prepared according to the marshmallow recipe, only without the addition of eggs: sugar, gelatin, dextrose and flavorings were beaten 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 Vedel, 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 USSR Minister of Food Industry to Czechoslovakia, where at one of the receptions he was presented with sweets with an original filling. Returning to the Soviet Union, the minister gathered at the Rot-Front Moscow factory representatives of all the country's confectionery industries, and ordered that his own technology for making Czechoslovak sweets be developed as soon as possible.
  The first who managed to get as close as possible to the original recipe was confectioner Anna Chulkova, who was then the chief technologist of the Vladivostok confectionery factory. The technology for preparing new sweets, called “Bird's milk”, was transferred to other confectionery factories in the Soviet Union.


It was the Soviet sweets “Bird's milk” of the factory “Red October” that became the basis of the cake recipe with the same name.
  A whole team of famous confectioners of the capital worked on creating the most delicious dessert - Vladimir Guralnik, who worked in the Prague restaurant in Moscow, Nikolai Panfilov and Margarita Golova.
A group of confectioners led by Vladimir Mikhailovich Guralnik, head of the confectionery shop of the Prague restaurant


  Half a year was experimented using instead of gelatin agar-agar, a jelly-like product obtained from red and brown algae. Confectioners sought to freeze the souffle, but remained airy. After a stubborn search for the ideal recipe, we finally managed to find the combination of ingredients that is still considered a classic - chocolate filling of the cake, decorated with chocolate, decorated on top, also with a chocolate little 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 Muscovites and guests of the capital were sorely lacking. The delicacy was quickly tasted and it made a splash. Queues lined up behind the cake so that they had to be deployed so that people would not block traffic between Kalinin Avenue (now Novy Arbat) and Arbat. Buyers stood by the clock for hours; the smaller turn was held by coupon holders, which the restaurant sold to the “chosen ones” for 3 rubles. (the bird’s milk cake itself was then worth 6 rubles. 16 kopecks.)
Queue in the confectionery department of the restaurant "Prague"


  The first experimental industrial batches of "bird milk" were produced starting in 1968 at the Rot-Front factory. But because of the complex technology, the batches were small, the prescription documentation by the USSR Ministry of Food Industry was not approved.
  In September 1980, an Application was filed for an invention, and in 1982, the recipes were issued a copyright certificate for the Bird's milk cake, No. 925285, where the method of dessert production was registered, which became an unprecedented precedent for that time. “Bird's milk” was the first domestic cake patented by the culinary specialists who invented it.
  Since that time, Bird's milk cake has been produced in other cities of the country. Bird's milk cakes made in different places had different design, but corresponded to the original recipe fixed by GOST of the USSR.








Cake "Bird's milk" from Soviet times to ours is considered a visiting card of Moscow. A gentle souffle, a thick layer of dark chocolate and very thin cakes made this miracle of culinary excellence a demanded and desired delicacy. Children's memories retained the warmth of the hearth and enthusiasm for the sumptuous dessert.










  In 2006, Vladimir Guralnik became the nominee for the Public Recognition 2006 Award and received the award in the nomination Man Legend.
  In addition to creating the legendary “bird”, for 50 years of work he has developed and put into production 35 branded confectionery products.
  Many of them are now produced in all confectionery shops in Moscow.

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

They made them almost according to the same recipe as marshmallows, only without eggs. In 1960, similar sweets began to be produced in domestic factories. They made a splash, so dainty was unusual.

In 1978, the next significant tasty event happened - the confectioners of the Moscow restaurant “Prague”, headed by Vladimir Guralnik, created a “Bird's milk” cake according to a similar recipe. Of course, he was different from the candy of the same name, but he was just as good. It took more than 6 months to create the cake. Experimented with ingredients, volumes and temperatures. For example, gelatin was lured onto agar-agar, a jelly-like product derived from red and brown algae. It is this exotic substance that makes the cake so lush and airy. By the way, “Bird's milk” cake is the only one for which, during the existence of the USSR, a patent was granted.

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

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

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

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

Most people love sweets, and sometimes can’t refuse to eat this or that candy, cake or a piece of cake. And such a delicacy as bird's milk is a real delicacy for some of us, a favorite dish among all sweets. But have you ever wondered why bird milk is so called? Let's look into this issue.

Beginning of production of bird milk cakes and sweets

Few people know, but Bird's milk cakes and sweets have been produced for more than 80 years, and for the first time the recipe for this delicacy was developed in Poland. Polish confectioners conferred the name “Ptasie Mleczko” on their new culinary masterpiece, which translates literally into Russian as “Bird's milk”. After some time, 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 the sweets and cakes are called "Bird's milk", we will understand below.

The origin of the name "bird's milk"

It must be emphasized that the name "Bird's milk" is not only a name for the famous sweets, as well as cakes. This is an idiom, or phraseologism, that is, a concept that has nothing to do with its name, but carries a semantic load that is accessible to certain peoples or people as a whole.

Bird milk has long been called something unknown, precious, unbelievable. Bird milk, as such, does not exist, which is why something incredible and unthinkable, precious, began to be called such phraseologism.

It was this name that the Polish confectioners were guided by when they created a completely new recipe for an uniquely tasty dessert. Apparently, they already understood then that soon this recipe would fly apart not only to the entire Union, but also throughout the world. So it happened, and today the name of sweets and cakes "Bird's milk" is more famous than the once popular phraseologism of the same name.

Interesting facts about the brand "Bird's milk"

In addition to the origin of the name of 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 produce and sell it under the original name. Other enterprises can also produce sweets using open technology, but they do not have a legal right to give such a name to their products.

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

Agar-agar we pour whipped protein, then we introduce the butter and condensed milk, mix and cool to 80 degrees. Then pour this mass into the mold and put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Then it’s worth to lay the layers correctly, because “Bird's milk” is a cake-constructor. The dough layer alternates with the agar-agar layer, and so on. Chocolate is poured over the dessert.

By the way, chocolate also has its own secret, ”says the author. - It should have a certain melting point of 38 degrees, otherwise it will turn gray in the refrigerator. And chocolate, to make it tasty, must be kneaded properly. We have a special machine, which, without ceasing, interferes with chocolate.

However, now every confectionery has its own, slightly different from the original recipe for "Bird's milk". HELLO.RU decided to find out how to prepare "Bird's milk" in the Odessa restaurant "Babel". You can definitely repeat such a 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 percent

egg white 7 pcs.

Cooking:

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

2. Bake the mass at a temperature of 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 the water with swollen gelatin. Then beat the whites until a stable foam.

4. Separately, whip the butter with condensed milk and gradually introduce into the mass with whipped proteins and a gelatinous solution. Do not stop whipping.

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 out the dessert in layers and pour over chocolate.

Enjoy your meal!

I) && (eternalSubpageStart

The history of the dish: cake "Bird's milk"

We continue to acquaint you with the history of famous dishes, and the next to our "hero" is the cake "Bird's milk". Why does everyone beloved in Soviet times treats have such an unusual name? Why was there a day in line for dessert, and now far from every housewife manages to repeat the original recipe? You will learn all this and much more from our material.

Cake made of tender dough 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 candy “Ptasie Milechko”, which was once tried during a business trip by the USSR Minister of Food Industry. “To do something similar, but according to the original recipe,” the minister ordered, 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 confectioner Vladimir Guralnik. The name of this man will forever go down in the history of cooking, and it would seem that with such a rich past he could now work in any of Moscow’s most expensive pastry shops. However, the Guralnik remains faithful to “Prague” to this day - he works in the confectionery shop for the benefit of preserving many years of tradition and creating new culinary masterpieces.

Together with the team, we have been working on Bird Milk recipe for more than 6 months. I wanted the bottom to be from an unusual test: not biscuit, not sand, not puff. So a new type of dough was created - rich and knock-out 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 point of about 120 degrees, in contrast to gelatin, which coagulates 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: some ingredients were added, others were removed, brought to different temperatures - either syrup turns out, or a sticky mass. While we found the right consistency, just 6 months passed,

Guralnik once told the publication "Evening Moscow". In the Soviet years, Bird's milk cake was a real “king of tables”. For the original cake, sold only in the Prague restaurant, people stood in line for several hours - a string of people who wanted to be treated could fill half of the Old Arbat with themselves. What is real success, Guralnikov learned when he was furtively offered coupons for his creation by the metro.

The secret of such success lay not only in the taste of dessert, but also in its name - in its, so to speak, sacred sense. According to ancient mythology, bird's milk is an unprecedented miracle. That which does not really exist, that which the birds of paradise fed their children. “A man who has everything can only dream of bird milk” - this expression has again gained popularity in 18th-century Europe. And who did not want to have something fantastic and impossible during the years of deficit in the USSR!

According to one legend, once girls to get rid of annoying gentlemen sent them to wander around cities and villages in search of "bird milk". Those, of course, did not return back.

Now to leave for "Bird's milk" and not return - the story is from the category of incredible. The delicacy is presented in almost all the country's confectioneries. True, the original cake according to the prescription of Vladimir Guralnik is exclusively sold in only 10 stores in Moscow. As he himself says, cakes are delivered there in special branded vans and the taste of this treat cannot be confused with anything.