Norwegian Almond Cake Recipes

NORWEGIAN ALMOND CAKE

Steps:

• In a saucepan over low heat, or in a metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Stir in the heavy cream. Cook and stir until the mixture is very thick: a few drops dribbled onto the surface should be visible. Remove from heat, and stir in the butter until completely incorporated. Place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface, and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch springform pan.
• In a glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites with an electric mixer until it is able to hold a firm peak. In a separate bowl, stir together the ground almonds, baking powder, and confectioners' sugar. Using a whisk or rubber spatula, fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the almond mixture to lighten; fold in the remaining egg whites until well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top of the cake springs back when pressed lightly. Cool cake, then remove from the pan. Spread the glaze on top, and serve.

KRANSEKAKE (NORWEGIAN ALMOND RING CAKE)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line 2 sheets with parchment paper.
• Combine confectioners' sugar, ground almonds, and baking powder in a large bowl. Add unbeaten egg whites one at a time, mixing until a firm dough forms. Knead dough for 2 minutes until it holds together and doesn't fall apart easily.
• Roll dough into 18 ropes the thickness of your index finger, each rope a little longer than the next. Shape each rope into a ring. Arrange rings on the baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Watch smaller circles carefully, as they may finish baking before the larger ones. Remove from the oven and let cool.
• Mix confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract together to make icing. Pour icing into a piping bag fitted with a small tip.
• Place a doily on a serving plate. Pipe a ring of icing as large as the largest cake ring. Place the largest cake ring on the icing. Pipe icing in a zig-zag pattern over the ring. Stack remaining cake rings on top, from largest to smallest, piping icing between each ring.

NORWEGIAN ALMOND CAKE

Steps:

• Beat egg whites until stiff. Chop almonds and add to egg whites. Blend in sugar and baking powder. Bake in springform pan for 20 to 30 minutes. Let cool.
• Heat whipping cream, egg yolks and sugar over low heat in saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Let cool, mix in butter until well blended and spread over Almond Cake.

NORWEGIAN WREATH CAKE

Steps:

• Whisk together the almond meal, powdered sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add the egg whites, almond extract and orange blossom water or rosewater, if using, and stir with a spatula to combine. At first it will seem like there is not enough liquid to hold everything together, but just keep on mixing and it will eventually form a dough. Pat the dough into 2 discs, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and position two racks in the center of the oven. Use your hands to grease the kransekake molds liberally with butter or coconut oil, then set aside. (I prefer to set the molds on large baking sheets so that they're easier to move around.)
• Working with one dough disc at a time, chop off a piece of dough and roll it into a rope that's a generous 1/2-inch thick (or, if you're pulling your kitchen ruler out, just go with 5/8-inch thick), dusting with additional almond flour if the dough is sticky. Coil the rope into the molds, then pinch off any excess dough and pinch the ends to seal them together. Continue the process, re-rolling scraps as needed, until all of the molds are filled. Don't worry about overworking the dough!
• Bake until golden; begin checking for doneness at 9 minutes. You'll likely need to bake these layers in batches, which is totally fine; just keep any dough that you're not working with covered and in the refrigerator.
• Let the rings cool in the pans, then carefully pop them out (a small offset spatula or butter knife will help) and transfer to a baking sheet or wire rack.
• Stack the rings up using dots of the royal icing as "glue" (I do dots at 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock and 9 o'clock). Decorate with sprinkles. Let the icing dry, 30 minutes to 1 hour, then decorate with paper chains, flags or other decor as desired. This is good for at least a few days uncovered at room temperature, so feel free to make it in advance!

NORWEGIAN ALMOND CAKE

Steps:

• Prepare the glaze: In a saucepan over low heat, or in a metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water, whisk together the egg yolks and white sugar. Stir in the heavy cream. Cook and stir until the mixture is very thick: a few drops dribbled onto the surface should be visible. Remove from heat, and stir in the butter until completely incorporated.
• Place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface, and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch springform pan.
• In a glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites with an electric mixer until it is able to hold a firm peak. In a separate bowl, stir together the ground almonds, baking powder, and confectioners' sugar.
• Using a whisk or rubber spatula, fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the almond mixture to lighten; fold in the remaining egg whites until well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top of the cake springs back when pressed lightly. Cool cake, then remove from the pan.
• Spread the glaze on top, and serve.
• Note: Be sure you are using gluten-free baking powder if you're concerned about gluten sensitivity.

SCANDINAVIAN ALMOND CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Spray pan with cooking spray/Pam and flour.
• Beat sugar, egg, extract, and milk well. Add flour and baking powder. Add butter.
• Bake for 40-50 minutes. Edges must be golden brown.
• Cool in pan overnight before removing. Cake will break if removed too soon.
• Sprinkle with icing sugar.

NORWEGIAN APPLE CAKE

Steps:

• Peel and core apples; slice 1/2-inch thick. Set aside. Use some of the butter to grease an 8-inch springform cake pan. Dust with a little flour. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Sift or whisk flour with baking powder. Set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat granulated sugar with 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) of the butter for several minutes, until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat mixture about 3 minutes until creamy. Gradually add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with milk, mixing well after each addition. Transfer batter to pan.
• Arrange the apple slices on top of batter in tight overlapping concentric circles, gently pressing them in a bit. Scatter almonds on top. Dust with brown sugar and cinnamon. Dot with remaining butter. Place in the oven and bake about 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean, the top has browned and feels fairly firm to the touch.
• Allow to cool in the pan until just warm. Remove sides of pan and serve with whipped cream or ice cream. If cake has cooled completely it can be warmed before serving.