Eclectic Home and Life: Kransekake for beginners or short on time

December 11th

Kransekake, Norway's celebration cake

I have written several times about Norway's famous celebration cake, Kransekake and many who have tried it in our home have loved it. It is however not a cake that many non-Norwegians seem to want to tackle. I have pondered this many a time and I can only think that to create the rings we use special moulds and for the occasional, I'll give it a try to see if I can do it, baker, why would you want to buy a set of kraneskake ring moulds? So I have come up with a solution and as with most things in life, it is a compromise. You can make a kransekake, but it won't be in the format of the ring cake! [If you really really want to make it in a ring shape and do not want to buy the moulds, I did write a post a few years ago as to how you could attempt it, Kransekake without the ring moulds ]

So today I share with you the 4th of the 7 biscuits for Christmas. We are making the cake but in effect, we are making it in long stick shapes which would come under the heading cookies, think of it if you will as the Norwegian version of Ammeretto biscuits you would have after dinner with a coffee or liqueur. When a kransekake is made this way, that is exactly how you have it, with a coffee or a tipple. A burst of sweetness in your day.

Grinding almonds

Kransekake stang ~ Kransekake sticks

Pre heat oven to 170C
You will need:

500g ground almonds, ground preferably with skin still on, this adds to the colour
500g icing sugar
2 egg whites

icing sugar for decoration ~ optional

Mix the ground almonds ( I ground mine, but for a quick cake, just buy bought ground almonds) and icing sugar thoroughly together.

Add one egg white at a time, trying to bring the dry ingredients together. This is a sticky task. I tend to begin with a wooden spoon and end up using my hands to form the dough. you want it to be forming a ball but not too sticky!

The mixture should just come
together, do not let it get too wet

Divide the mixture up into about 20 sections. Roll each out of a slightly icing sugar-dusted work surface. Alternatively, you can pipe this mixture, it is quite dense, so this may be difficult. I have a metal piping tube which is ideal for this and I use the star-shaped nozzle.

Each roll should form a sausage about the thickness of an adults finger.

Place each sausage on a lined baking tray.

I tend to make each sausage about 8-10 cm long.

Trying to keep them as even and uniform looking as possible.

Rows of kransekake
sticks ready to be baked

The mixture will not swell so you can place these sausage 'sticks' fairly tightly on the tray. There should be enough mixture to make about 40 lengths of the baking tray.

Bake in the oven at 170C for about 10 mins, but check as you do not want them to burn. They should only very subtly change to a slightly darker colour. Leave to cool in situ for a few minutes as at this stage they are very fragile and will crumble. Then cool on a wire rack.

Store in an airtight jar and they will last for a couple of weeks. Alternatively, they freeze very well for up to a month. Just remember to defrost thoroughly before use. Freezing them has the added bonus of making them quite chewy which most Norwegians love.

A trick my mother taught me many years ago to add the soft chewiness, almost meringue type chewiness we are talking about here, not toffee type chewiness. Is to add one or two slives of bead into the airtight tin for a few hours. this seems to miraculously transform the kransekake from a brittle and hard (still delicious) consistency to a softer chewier one!