My husband is half italian and half norwegian (I am all italian). Three months after we were married we attended a wedding from the norwegian side of his family. When it came time for the wedding cake I was surprised because there were two cakes. One traditional, tiered, white frosted wedding cake, and one strange looking, tall, unfrosted cake which I was told was a norwegian wedding cake. Each guest was given a piece of each. Being a lover of sweet frosted layer cakes, I was very skeptical of this plain looking cake. I was more than pleasantly surprised when I tasted it. I became an instant fan of the norwegian wedding cake. I have thought of that cake many times over the years but not knowing where to find a local norwegian bakery, I never had it again. This year when making norwegian cookies for the holidays I thought about the 'norwegian wedding cake' again. I did a search on-line and came across a recipe for Kransekake, also known as the 'norwegian wedding cake'. I think I am going to try to bake this for the holidays.
Norwegian Wedding Cake (Kransekake)
2 cups (450 g) soft butter
1 cup (225 g) almond paste
2 cups (265 g) sifted confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon (5 ml) almond extract
4 egg yolks
5 cups (636 g) sifted flour
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease forms well with softened butter.
Cream together butter, almond paste, sugar and extract until smooth.
Beat yolks in well.
After sifting, measure flour and add gradually, mixing until smooth.
Put dough into cookie press or pastry bag and press onto greased ring forms.
(Cookie press hole should be 1/2" in diameter, or roll dough by hand.)
Bake for 15 minutes or until very lightly browned.
Remove from rings only after they have cooled.
Each form has 3 rings, for a total of 18 rings of different sizes, so they can be stacked on top of each other to form this marvelous cake.
