Cookie Cake

Exhausted by two major storms last week, I was not inclined to stand long hours in the kitchen on the weekend. But the cold weather and snowy surroundings called for something sweet. When shopping at my favorite Russian market, I glanced at a shelf with plain Russian cookies, cookies that I remember since my nursery school days. Indeed, there are some products that live decade after decade, and their popularity doesn't wither... Looking at these cookies, I remembered a simple recipe of a desert that I offer to your attention today. Let's get started...

What you need:

1lb butter cookies (or plain Russian cookies), coarsely broken in pieces
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
2 sticks minus 2 tbsp (about 200g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk, at room temperature
1 tbsp Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur, optional
2 big mixing bowls, and 1 bowl to form the cake.

Method:

Mix broken cookies with walnuts, and set aside. Beat butter until it forms peaks and becomes whitish.
Mix liqueur into condensed milk, then mix milk into butter gradually, adding 2 tbsp at a time. Milk must not be cold, otherwise butter will "curdle". If you see that butter is not smooth, put the mixing bowl on another bowl with hot water in it (to warm the bottom of mixing bowl with butter), and continue to mix until butter becomes smooth again. Your frosting (or cream, whichever applies here best) must be smooth and a little liquidy.

 Pour frosting/cream into cookies, and mix gently to cover cookies and nuts. Transfer into the third bowl, and press with a wooden spoon. Cover and refrigerate for about 2 hours.

 
To take this cake out of the form might be a challenge, so just scoop out portions of your cake into individual bowls, drizzle with more liqueur, sprinkle with nuts, and serve. With so little effort you will be pleasantly surprised with the result. Enjoy!

Notes:

Any crumbly butter cookies will do for this dessert. The cookies I used are similar to those. Experiment  with flavors: add some vanilla extract to condensed milk, for example. When serving, decorate with fresh or dried fruit, sprinkle with shaved chocolate, lemon or orange zest. As always, possibilities are endless.
And... don't tell anybody it was so simple. :)