2 weeks Ago
Stephanie Eglinton of Portland with her Kransekake, a Norwegian cake made for special occasions, including weddings and Christmas. Photos courtesy of Stephanie Eglinton My daughter and her longtime partner eloped this year. Not too surprising, as both are absolutely the personality type to eschew the attention and crazy antics of weddings.
I did get Hannah to agree to a cook-out gathering in our backyard with just a dozen close family and friends. I knew I had to tread carefully not to make the celebration too “reception-y,” but certainly the occasion called for bubbly and cake. If you’d like to contribute to Home Plates, send a recipe and a story telling us how you came to cook it, who you cook it for and why it’s found a place in your life to pgrodinsky@pressherald.
com . Also, please tell us a little bit about your life as a home cook, include a photo of the dish, and yourself, possibly together, and let us know the source of the recipe. Kransekake is a Norwegian cake served at weddings and other special occasions, Christmas among them.
It is made up of 18 almond cookie rings of different sizes that are mortared with frosting into a beautiful tower, traditionally decorated with Norwegian flags. My mother-in-law Mette lived in Norway until emigrating with her family at age 12. She and my father-in-law ended up retiring in Kennebunkport, which contributed to my husband’s and my decision to move from Washington, D.
C., to Portland in 2001 to raise our two daughters. Eglinton’s mother-in-law, Mette, hands out pieces of the Kransekake she made for her son and Eglinton’s wedding.
Mette made Kransekake for the family weddings, including my own. I love the photo of her at our reception passing out pieces of rings to kids who had lined up in front of her. Only now do I wonder, did she travel with the baked rings, did she ice the cake in the hotel, carry it in her lap in the car? Mette passed away in 2022.
I decided I wanted to use her Kransekake molds to make the cake for Hannah and Jonah, and to honor her. The recipe source is “Ekte Norsk Mat” (“Authentic Norwegian Cooking”) by Astrid Karisen Scott. I also collected versions from Mette’s sisters and internet cooks.
There were so many variations, especially in cooking temperature and timing: from 300 degrees for up to 30 minutes to 400 degrees for 7 minutes. Let the test kitchen begin! I made two different dough recipes, cut each into sixths and tested each mold with different variables. Here is where I landed.
To keep it simple, I used canned white frosting. Purchase Kransekake molds online to make this Norwegian cake. KRANSEKAKE You’ll need a set of 6 Kransekake molds, with three rings each to make this recipe.
You can find them online. 1 pound blanched, slivered almonds 1/3 cup raw almonds 4 cups powdered sugar 3 egg whites 1⁄2 teaspoon almond extract Royal icing (or 1 can vanilla frosting) Grind both kinds of almonds in a food processor until fine, about 2 minutes, being careful not to let them turn to paste. Combine the almond meal, sugar, egg whites and almond extract in a large bowl.
Once they are combined, use your hands to knead the dough together. Divide the dough in 6 sections, wrap each with plastic wrap and chill overnight. Grease the Kransekake molds.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F with oven rack in the middle. Using one section at a time, roll out pieces of dough into ropes about the width of your pinkie. Place the ropes in the molds, trimming the length as needed and joining the ends together to form circles.
You can bake two molds at a time, while rolling out the rings for the other molds. Bake for 10-14 minutes, watching carefully, until the top is lightly golden. Underbaked is better than overbaked.
The goal is a cookie that holds together well but still has a chewy interior. Cool for 10-15 minutes before carefully removing rings from pans and cooling completely. To assemble, lay out the rings from largest to smallest and place the icing in a piping bag.
Starting with the largest ring, pipe the frosting in a zigzag pattern around the top and sides of each ring and then place the next largest ring on top until all 18 rings are stacked. The icing serves as the glue. Decorate as desired.
Serve by taking off rings from the stack and breaking them into pieces. MEET THE COOK: STEPHANIE EGLINTON My husband Peter is really the home cook. What skills I have, I learned as his prep cook in our early years together working our way through Molly Katzen’s “The Enchanted Broccoli Forest.
” Today, we lean toward plant-based cooking, though don’t sweat happy exceptions like Maine seafood. I recently stepped down as executive director of a Maine nonprofit and am exploring what to make of my “third act.” One wonderful benefit of more space in life is having the time to make a pot of soup for a friend or neighbor when they most could use it.
I’ve always wanted to be that person. We invite you to add your comments. We encourage a thoughtful exchange of ideas and information on this website.
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