Kransakaka Food

KRANSEKAKE

Steps:

• Dough: Place almonds in a food processor and process to form fine crumbs, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and salt and process until well combined and powder-like, about 1 minute. Add egg whites and process until a dough forms (it will have the texture of cookie dough). Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 300°F with oven rack in the middle. Brush a set of 6 kransekake molds with butter. Divide dough in half. Working with one half of dough at a time, cut into small portions and roll into ropes that are slightly thicker than the diameter of a pencil (about 3/8-inch-to-1/2-inch thick). Fit ropes into rings of 3 molds, trimming to fit. Place molds on an unrimmed baking sheet and bake until puffed and lightly golden brown, about 30 minutes.
• Transfer molds to a wire rack and let cool completely on baking sheet. Repeat shaping and baking process with remaining half of dough and remaining 3 molds. Carefully remove rings from molds.
• Royal Icing: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine confectioners' sugar and egg whites. Mix on medium-high speed until combined and thickened, about 8 minutes. If decorating with more than one color, divide icing into batches. Using the end of a toothpick, add food coloring until the desired shade is achieved.
• To Assemble: Sort rings in order of size. Fill a piping bag with icing and pipe a few dots onto the base of the largest ring and adhere to a cake plate. Pipe icing onto the base of next largest ring, and stack on top of the first ring. Repeat process, continuing to stack rings in decreasing size to form a tower of 18 rings. Decorate as desired. Allow icing to set before serving.

PISTACHIO CHERRY SHORTBREAD COOKIE TOWER (KRANSEKAKE)

Steps:

• Beat together the butter and confectioners' sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until combined. Add the vanilla and mix until just combined.
• In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, ground pistachios and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar, beating just to combine. Add the dried cherries and mix just until combined; the mixture will look crumbly. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead few times with your hands until the dough comes together. Divide into 3 pieces and form each piece into a disk; wrap with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 4 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll the dough, one disc at a time, to 1/3-to-1/2-inch thick. Cut 2 rounds with a 6-inch cutter. Cut the center from each with a 4-inch cutter to create rings. Then cut 2 rounds with a 5 1/2-inch cutter and use a 3 1/2-inch cutter to create rings. Cut 2 rounds with a 5-inch cutter and use a 3-inch cutter to create rings. Cut 2 rounds with a 4 1/2-inch cutter and use a 2 1/2-inch cutter to make rings. Cut 2 rounds with a 4-inch cutter and use a 2-inch cutter to make rings. Cut 2 rounds with a 3 1/2-inch cutter and use a 1 1/2-inch cutter to make rings. Cut 2 rounds with a 3-inch cutter and use a 1-inch cutter to make rings. Cut 2 rounds with a 2 1/2-inch cutter and 2 rounds with a 2-inch cutter, leaving them whole. You may gather and reroll the scraps up to 2 times if needed but you will need to chill the dough before rerolling.
• Arrange the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 1 inch of space in between. Bake until the edges of the cookies are lightly golden brown, about 22 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies completely on a wire rack before assembling.
• When ready to assemble, stack the two 6-inch ring cookies atop each other, using the white Royal Icing to adhere to one another creating a sandwich. Repeat with the other like-size cookies so they are all in 2-cookie stacks.
• To assemble the tower, pipe white icing on the bottom of the stack of 6-inch cookies and set it on a decorative platter (the icing will help it adhere). Decorate the cookies with swags of red icing and add the next-largest sandwich. Continue decorating with swags of alternating colors of icing and stacks of cookies in descending sizes. Finish with the solid rounds on top.
• Add the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; turn on low to combine. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time, beating with the mixer on medium speed until the icing is thick and glossy but soft enough to pipe. Divide among 3 bowls, tinting one red, one green and leaving one white. Transfer the icing to plastic piping bags; snip off the corners.

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.

KRANSEKAKE (18-LAYER NORWEGIAN WEDDING CAKE)

Steps:

• Mix almond meal and powdered sugar until there are no lumps.
• In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. (A stand mixer works best for this.).
• Whites should stand straight in a peak when you lift out the beater.
• Reserve 2/3 cup of the egg whites, and mix remaining egg whites into almond flour/powdered sugar mixture with a wooden spoon or with your fingers.
• The dough will be thick and should have the texture of cookie dough.
• Place the dough into a cookie press.
• Using a star-shaped disk, press the dough into kransekake rings that have been greased and coated with bread crumbs or white corn meal.
• Test one ring by baking at 325 degrees for 15 minutes.
• If this sample has tunnels, you may need to add a little more powdered sugar.
• If the dough doesn't rise, you may need to add a little more of the egg white.
• Do not over bake.
• After baking all the cake rings, cool to nearly cold before removing the cake from the rings.
• The cake should be only be slightly brown on the tips of the dough.
• After baking all the cake rings, cool to nearly cold before removing the cake from the rings.
• Use a thin knife to start lifting each ring out gently.
• If a ring breaks, save it and serve it in little pieces around the bottom of the cake.
• You can either stack the rings into a cone shape and lightly drizzle icing in a scallop pattern or v-pattern around each ring, or you can drizzle the rings with icing first and then stack them into a cone.
• If you would like to freeze the kransekake, fill empty ice cream buckets with the unfrosted rings layered between sheets of waxed paper.
• Icing:.
• Mix powered sugar with a little melted butter.

SCANDIA KRANSEKAKE/KRANSAKAKE

Steps:

• Break almond paste into small pieces.
• Mix in well 3/4 cup of sugar.
• Add unbeaten egg whites, mix.
• Add rest of sugar, mix.
• Grease rings and flour heavily.
• Bake at 325 for 13-15 minutes.