Norwegian Wreath Cake Food

KRANSEKAKE

Steps:

• Arrange a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 300 degrees F.
• Add the almond flour and 1 pound of the confectioners' sugar to a food processor. Pulse about 10 times to combine. Add the egg whites and vanilla extract. Run the processor for about 20 seconds until the dough forms into a ball; it will be slightly sticky. Remove the dough from the food processor and form it into a disc. Tightly cover with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.
• Spray the kransekake molds with nonstick spray and sprinkle with semolina, tapping off any excess.
• Working with a quarter of the dough at a time, roll it out into a rope long enough to wrap into each mold. The width should be even and no thicker than 1/2 inch. (Keep the unused dough covered with plastic wrap.) Repeat the process until all the molds are filled. Transfer the molds to 2 baking sheets.
• Bake until lightly golden, about 20 minutes, rotating halfway through. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the molds. Carefully remove each ring from the molds onto cooling racks for 10 minutes.
• To make the royal icing, add the remaining 1/2 pound confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and 4 tablespoons water to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk until stiff peaks form. If desired, stir a few drops of food coloring into the icing with a rubber spatula. Put the royal icing into a piping bag fitted with a small round tip. Pipe icing onto each ring and stack them, largest to smallest. Dust with confectioners' sugar right before serving.

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.

NORWEGIAN KRUMKAKE

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, cream the sugar with the butter. Beat in the eggs until the mixture is light and lemon colored. Beat in the milk and flour until blended and smooth. Let stand 30 minutes.
• Preheat the krumkake iron until a drop of water sizzles when dropped onto the top.
• Open the iron; coat lightly with nonstick spray. Spoon 1 tablespoon batter onto center of the hot iron. Close iron. Bake about 1 minute on each side until the cookie is lightly browned. Insert the tip of a knife under the cookie to remove form the iron; roll the hot cookie into a cigar or cone shape. Cool on a rack. Cookies become crisp as they cool. Repeat with remaining batter. Batter will thicken as you use it; add water a tablespoon at a time as necessary to thin it to the consistency of thick cream. Store the baked cookies in an airtight container. They can be kept frozen for several weeks.

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.