No Bake Hedgehog Cakes

Posted on by Ben | Havocinthekitchen
No Bake Hedgehog Cakes

These No Bake Hedgehog Cakes are made with just a bunch of simple ingredients. It’s a super easy recipe where the decoration part takes much more time than actual cooking!

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No Bake Hedgehog Cakes

Hello everyone – I hope you’re doing well. And if you reside in Canada, I hope you’ve had a nice Thanksgiving, too. Andrew and I are going to have a short getaway this week. Nothing special – just a couple of days in a cottage.

But before I go for our vacation, I wanted to share these No Bake Hedgehog Cakes. Aren’t they quite cute?

This recipe is similar to these Russian Mini Cakes “Potatoes”. Although these cakes are ubiquitous in Russia, I know similar hedgehog-styled cakes are quite common in other European countries. You will need just a few simple ingredients for this recipe: cookies, sweetened condensed milk, butter, dark cacao powder, and salt. Vanilla extract is a nice but optional addition.

No Bake Hedgehog Cakes

For the best result, you will need cookies with a low moisture content and not overly sweet such as digestive biscuits, Marie biscuits, tea biscuits, Speculaas, etc. Cookies with filling such as Oreos can technically work, but you will need to adjust the recipe significantly by reducing the wet ingredients. Indeed, I quickly baked shortbread-like cookies with the reduced amount of sugar (Which I’ve been always doing lately), and they worked perfectly!

Depending on size, you can have 12 to 16 cakes. But indeed you cane make one gigantic cake!

Now, while it’s absolutely easy to make these cakes, you will need some patience to decorate them! I tried few options for decorating it, but I think sunflower seeds work the best. Of course, the more time you could invest, the cuter and more neat they would turn (And more realistic, too.) As you can see, I was quite lazy, but I know you will do much better! :) Also, you can make firm frosting and decorate cakes using a pastry bag.

I hope you like these No Bake Hedgehog Cakes, and you will try it soon. If you make it, let me know in this post or send me an Instagram message or share you photos adding the hashtag #havocinthekitchen.

Cheers!

No Bake Hedgehog Cakes
No Bake Hedgehog Cakes
No Bake Hedgehog Cakes
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No Bake Hedgehog Cakes

Recipe by Ben | HavocinthekitchenCourse: No Bake Treats, Russian Cuisine
Servings

12-18

servings
Prep time

5

minutes
Cooking time

10

minutes
Decorating Time

30-45

minutes

These No Bake Hedgehog Cakes are made with just a bunch of simple ingredients. It’s a super easy recipe where the decoration part takes much more time than actual cooking!

Ingredients

  • about 400 gr. cookies with a low moisture content and not overly sweet (Such as digestive biscuits, Marie biscuits, tea biscuits, Speculaas, etc.) – see notes

  • 100 gr. butter, softened

  • 1/2 to 2/3 cup of sweetened condensed milk

  • 1/3 cup dark cacao powder

  • a pinch of salt

  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)

  • about 1/3 cup toasted sunflower seeds (for decorating) – see notes

Directions

  • Place biscuits into blender and pulse until they turn into fine crumbs. You can also use a rolling pin and plastic bag. You will need end up about 2 and 2/3 to 3 cups of these crumbs, packed.
  • In a large bowl combine the condensed milk with the vanilla extract (if using) and softened butter (You can soften cubed butter in a microwave for about 10 seconds or so.) Combine well with a whisk.
  • Stir in the cacao, salt, and most of the cookie crumbs. Start with 2 and 1/2 cups. Using a wooden spatula or spoon, stir well to combine. Gradually add more cookie crumbs, as needed and mix until incorporated. The mixture will be slightly sticky and soft but pliable. Avoid adding more dry ingredients as it might make the decorating process more challenging.
  • Take a little piece of dough (around 3 tablespoons or depending on desired size) at a time and roll it into an oval then shape into hedgehogs.
  • Stick sunflower seeds in the body of the hedgehog. Shape and decorate 2-3 cakes at a time because they will firm once setting which would make decorating more challenging. Repeat with the remaining dough.
  • Cover and let them cool in the fridge for 30-60 minutes (Although you can eat them right away, but they so taste better then cooled.) Enjoy!

Notes

  • Always have a little bit of extra ingredients (Both dry and wet) when making these cakes. The moisture content in ingredients can vary, so you might notice the dough is slightly too wet or dry as it should be. In this case, you can crumble and add 1-2 extra cookies or a spoon of cocoa or 1-2 tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk.
  • You can use other things for decorating such as pine nuts or almond sticks.

40 thoughts on “No Bake Hedgehog Cakes”

  1. Kerry says:

    Do you think there is a dairy free alternative to using the condensed milk? Want to make some for a friend but not sure what to swap it for

    Reply
  5. bread&salt says:

    Dear Ben! These look beautiful. Presentation is perfect. They Really look fingerlickingly delicious. I think i try it with our Turkish biscuits. Because we cant find “Marie” biscuits in our markets.

    Reply
  12. Marissa says:

    Oh my, Ben, are these ever adorable!!! Love that they’re no bake. These are definitely going on my holiday not-baking (haha) list!

    Reply
  14. Shashi says:

    Ben these are just too cute! And you have done such a fantastic job shaping their faces! I love the idea of using sunflower seeds for their spikes! Simply adorable! I love that you suggested using digestive biscuits or Marie biscuits – these are the cookies I grew up on! I hope you and Andrew have a good Thanksgiving vacay in the little cottage.
    Shashi recently posted…By: NatalieMy Profile

    Reply

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