Go Back
Russian tarts "Little stairs"
Print

Russian tarts "Little stairs"

Juicy sponge cake, delicate butter cream with caramel flavor, crunchy walnuts and sweet chocolate icing are combined in the Russian tarts "Little stairs" from the Soviet era. Creamy, soft, nutty, caramel, chocolatey and incredibly delicious they taste. But not only taste convince the tarts. Their appearance in the form of stairs with many layers is magical. And the sweet "Little stairs" are also easy to make according to this recipe.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Russian
Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Servings 8 tarts

Ingredients

for the sponge dough

  • 5 eggs
  • 100 g sugar
  • 125 g flour
  • 20 ml water
  • 1 pinch of salt

for the cream

  • 150 g walnuts (roasted and finely chopped)
  • 150 g caramelized sweetened condensed milk
  • 250 g butter (room temperature)

for the chocolate glaze

  • 250 g milk chocolate
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • approx. 40 g walnut pieces (roasted)

for the sugar syrup

  • 20 g sugar
  • 20 ml water
  • 20 ml rum or cognac

Instructions

Preparation of sponge cake dough

  • Beat eggs, sugar and salt to a fluffy white mixture.
  • Fold in flour to make an airy, thick dough.
  • Add water and stir gently until the dough regains a homogeneous consistency.
  • Spread the sponge cake dough evenly, thinly on the entire baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake it in a preheated oven at 180 °C for about 15 minutes. Let the sponge cake cool down afterwards.

Preparation of the sugar syrup

  • Put water and sugar in a small saucepan and boil it briefly, stirring constantly. The sugar must have dissolved before boiling. Let the sugar syrup cool down.
  • Add rum or cognac to the sugar syrup and stir.

Preparation of the cream

  • Beat softened butter together with caramelized sweetened condensed milk for about 4 - 5 minutes until creamy.
  • Add roasted and finely chopped walnuts and stir to a homogeneous cream.

Preparation of the "cakes"

  • Cut the sponge cake into two equal-sized cake layers (parallel to the shorter side) and soak them with sugar syrup.
  • Spread the two sponge cake layers with the cream, stack them on top of each other and chill the "cake" for a few hours so that the cream sets.
  • Cut the "cake" into three equal strips (parallel to the shorter side) and cut one of the three strips again into two equal strips, so that you end up with two wider and two narrower strips (see the pictures at the top of the post).
  • Place the two narrower cake strips on top of the wider strips from one side at a time.

Preparation of the chocolate icing

  • Melt milk chocolate and mix it with vegetable oil.
  • Make four morsels of walnut pieces equally spaced on each top cake strip (see pictures in the post).
  • Pour the chocolate frosting over the two "cakes" and let the frosting dry.
  • Cut each "cake" into four equally spaced tarts so that the walnut morsels are placed on top under the chocolate frosting in the center of each tart.

Notes

  • Use good quality milk chocolate for the chocolate frosting.
  • Alcohol can be omitted from the sugar syrup.
  • The time to cool the sponge, the "cake" and to dry the chocolate icing is not included in the preparation time.
  • Note the detailed tips and tricks for baking the tarts "Little stairs" at the top of the post.