Time for a food post. For New Year’s Eve I wanted to make a cake since my parents were coming to celebrate with me. I decided to make a Norwegian celebration cake known as a kransekake because we all love the almond-y flavor and it looks cool.
I had made one a while ago, but it had been some time so I didn’t really remember how to (in fact, the first time I wrote this post, I thought it was the first time until I found the old post). I used a recipe from a Norwegian cookbook I received a few years ago and used a slightly different technique from last time. Here’s the recipe:
Cake:
- 500 g powdered sugar
- 500 g powdered sugar
- 4 egg whites
Frosting:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 egg white
- 1 tsp lemon juice for flavor
I verified the basic idea and the techniques by watching some videos on YouTube. All in all it isn’t that difficult.
You basically weigh out the ingredients (the powdered sugar and almond flour are above). I had almond flour from making macarons on hand so I didn’t even need to grind almonds like last time although I suspect grinding my own would have given me more of the texture I’m accustomed to.
Then you add in the egg whites, pipe it into the molds (sorry I don’t have a picture of this — it was fun) and bake for 10 minutes or so. Let the tiers cool, and then glue them together with the frosting that’s drizzled on with each later. Last time I rolled out the dough but I think I prefer the piping method since the wreaths are more even.
Overall, I’m pretty proud with how mine turned out! My parents and husband and I enjoyed it. It was a little more marzipan-y than I like so maybe I’ll reduce the sugar next time.
It’s also traditional to add little flags. I printed those out on my printer, folded in half and put some sticky between them with a toothpick and voila. Happy new year! And, as they say in Norwegian, godt nytt år!
