Norwegian Cream Cake Food

BLOTKAKE (NORWEGIAN CREAM CAKE)

Steps:

• Bake the cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees and mist a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Combine eggs, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer (or the whisk attachment of a stand mixer) until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Sift cake flour and baking powder into a separate bowl, then fold into the egg mixture in 2 additions.
• Pour batter into pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely before removing from pan.
• Make the frosting and filling: Beat whipping cream, vanilla and confectioners' sugar with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Transfer 1/3 of the whipped cream to a separate bowl and stir in preserves.
• Use a serrated knife to slice cake horizontally into 3 equal layers. Arrange top layer of the cake cut-side-up on a platter. Poke a few holes in the cake layer with a toothpick, then sprinkle with 1/3 of the liqueur or juice.
• Spread half the whipped cream and preserves mixture over the cake layer, then arrange middle layer on top. Poke holes in the middle layer with a toothpick and sprinkle with another 1/3 of the liqueur or juice. Top with remaining whipped cream and preserves mixture.
• Arrange the bottom cake layer on top of the stack, cut-side-down. Poke more holes and sprinkle with remaining liqueur or juice. Frost top and sides of cake with the whipped cream, using a pastry bag to pipe on stars or other designs, if you'd like. Decorate with fresh berries.

NORWEGIAN CREAM CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Grease and line a 20cm x 30cm baking tin - the lining paper should come up at least 2.5cm above the edge of the tin. In your biggest bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar for 8-10 mins until the mixture is pale and thickened.
• Sift the flour and baking powder onto the egg mixture, then use a metal spoon to gently fold in. Pour this into the baking tin and bake for 35 mins until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean - the cake should be golden and spring back when touched. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 5 mins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
• Once cool, take a sharp knife and divide into 3. Mix the jam with 1 tbsp warm water and whip the cream with the vanilla essence and icing sugar until it holds its shape. Transfer one layer to a serving plate then drizzle with ¹/³ of the milk. Spread with a thin layer of jam, then cream, then scatter over 1 pack of blueberries. Cover with the second layer of sponge and then repeat with ¹/³ of the milk, a layer of jam, the cream and 2nd pack of blueberries. Put the third layer of sponge on top, drizzle over the remaining milk, then cover with cream and dot the remaining pack of blueberries on top.

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 CARDAMOM CAKE

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease a 9-inch bundt pan with butter; dust with cookie crumbs. Set aside.
• Combine flour and baking soda in small bowl; set aside.
• Place sugar and butter in bowl of electric mixer; beat until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition, about 5 minutes total.
• Beat in cardamom and cinnamon.
• Add flour mixture; beat until just combined. Add sour cream; beat until smooth, about 1 minute.
• Pour batter into pan.
• Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 50 minutes.
• Let stand 5 minutes; turn out on a wire rack. Cool completely.
• Dust with confectioners' sugar.

NORWEGIAN STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM CAKE BLOTKAKE

Steps:

• FOR THE CAKE; Blend flour with baking powder; set aside.
• In large bowl, whip egg whites until fluffy; gradually add sugar, and beat until stiff and meringuelike.
• In small bowl, beat egg yolks until frothy. Fold egg yolks and flour mixture into the egg whites gently.
• Butter two 9 inch round cake pans and dust with flour. Divide batter between the pans.
• Preheat oven to 350°F Bake layers 30 minutes or until centers spring back when touched with finger. Cool in pans. (Centers of cakes may sink slightly.).
• To prepare the custard filling, in small saucepan, mix egg yolks, butter, cornstarch, half and half cream, and sugar. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until mixture is smooth and thick. Remove from heat, cover, and cool. Stir in vanilla.
• To assemble the cake, cut layers horizontally into 2 layers each. Place bottom layer on cake plate and spread with half of the custard. Top with next layer. Spread with the strawberry or apricot jam. Reserve a few of the nicest strawberries for garnish on top of the cake. Slice the rest of the strawberries and place on top of jam layer. Top with a third layer of cake. Spread with remaining custard. Top with remaining layer of cake.
• No more than 1 hour before serving, whip cream and flavor with the powdered sugar and vanilla. Pile whipped cream on top of the cake and garnish with the reserved strawberries.
• The Great Scandinavian Baking Book.