How bird's milk cake appeared at MuffinTaffin

Bird's milk cake did not start as a slice on a shop counter. The name is older than the recipe: it points to a rare treat, milk from birds, something people say does not exist.

In 1936, confectioner Jan Wedel in Warsaw sold Ptasie Mleczko candies. A milk soufflé sat inside a chocolate shell. Those were not yet the layered cakes guests order now, but the idea was already clear.

How a candy became a cake

In 1978, Vladimir Guralnik at Moscow's Praga restaurant built the cake from thin sponge, an agar-agar soufflé and chocolate glaze. In 1982 the recipe received a Soviet author's certificate, rare for a dessert.

Agar set the foam more firmly than gelatin, so a slice stayed even the next day. That method keeps the center light without letting it collapse.

In November, orders at MuffinTaffin in Budva, Montenegro, are for these cakes, served cold and cut just before the table. Those sales stay with the whole cake, not with pieces left warm on display.