A layered semolina dessert with caramelised milk skin, nuts, berries and honey. Named after Count Guriev, supposedly served at his table in the 19th century. One of the most elaborate Russian sweet dishes.
Gurievskaya kasha is one of the most elaborate Russian dessert dishes, named after Count Dmitry Guriev (1751-1825), the Minister of Finance and a noted gourmand who popularised it rather than invented it. The most widely told account credits a serf cook, Zakhar Kuzmin, who had trained in the French manner in Moscow and served the dish at the table of retired major Yurasovsky, where Guriev was a guest; Guriev was so taken with it that he bought Kuzmin and his family, a purchase recorded in a bill of sale dated 1822. Other versions credit Guriev himself, devised to mark the 1812 victory over Napoleon. It is a layered construction: cooked semolina porridge is alternated with layers of caramelised milk skin (penki), toasted nuts, candied fruit and honey, assembled in a mould and briefly baked. The caramelised milk skins are the distinctive element: milk is slowly simmered until a skin forms on the surface, the skin lifted off and set aside, and the process repeated until several skins are collected. These skins are layered into the kasha, giving a chewy, caramelised texture. The dish was a banquet centrepiece in pre-revolutionary Russia, fell out of fashion under the Soviet simplification of cuisine, and survives in some traditional restaurants.
A layered, creamy, nutty semolina pudding with chewy caramelised milk skins, crunchy nuts and bright bursts of berry, sweet with honey. Each spoonful reveals a different layer, the textures shifting from creamy to chewy to crisp.
The technique involves collecting caramelised milk skins and layering them. Whole milk is simmered gently in a wide pan; as a skin forms on the surface, it is carefully lifted off and set aside. The process is repeated 4 to 6 times, each skin lightly browned and caramelised. Semolina is cooked with milk and sugar into a thick porridge. The assembly: a layer of semolina, a layer of milk skins, a sprinkle of toasted nuts (walnuts, almonds) and candied fruit, a drizzle of honey; repeated 2 to 3 times in a mould. Baked briefly at 160 degrees C for 15 minutes to set the layers. Inverted onto a plate, it reveals the strata. The milk skins are what make this dish distinctive, giving a chewy, caramelised texture found in no other dessert.
Variations
Some use cranberries or lingonberries. A version without milk skins is simpler but less authentic.
On the Palate
Where Gurievskaya Kasha sits in the Russian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
5 steps · 30 min
- 18 min
Simmer 1 litre whole milk in a wide pan; collect 4 to 6 milk skins as they form, setting each aside.
Watch outLift each milk skin as it forms and let it brown lightly — those caramelized skins are the dish's whole character; rushing gives you none.
- 25 min
Cook 150g semolina with 500ml milk and 80g sugar into a thick porridge.
Watch outCook the semolina to a thick porridge that mounds on the spoon — too loose and the layers slump together.
- 37 min
Assemble in a buttered mould: semolina, milk skins, toasted walnuts, candied fruit and honey; repeat 2 to 3 times.
- 44 min
Bake at 160 degrees C for 15 minutes to set; rest 5 minutes.
- 53 min
Invert onto a plate; serve warm or cold.
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