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Kransekake

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This traditional Norwegian dessert, meaning “wreath cake,” is made of 18 delicious almond cookie rings. Carefully stacked and arranged with royal icing, it stands out as the centerpiece for any celebration.

  • Author: Heather Thomas, That Bread Lady
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes, plus 8 hours chill time
  • Cook Time: 12 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minute
  • Yield: 1 Kransekake 1x

Ingredients

Scale

Dough:

  • 1 pound, plus 5 Tablespoons almond flour (480g)
  • 1 pound powdered sugar (453g)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 4 egg whites
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract

One batch of my Royal Icing recipe

Instructions

  1. Mix the dough: To the bowl of a stand mixer, add almond flour, cardamom and powdered sugar. Mix until they’re fully combined. Next add egg whites and almond extract and mix until smooth, about 2-3 minutes. The dough should feel very soft and slightly sticky.

  2. Chill the dough: Remove the dough from your mixer and cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate it for at least 8 hours.

  3. Shape: Once the dough has chilled, divide into six pieces and begin to roll each piece out on your work surface – lightly rolling it back and forth with the palm of your hand. Roll it slightly larger than the circumference of a pencil (about 3/8-inch to 1/2-inch). Fill the pans as you roll out each piece. *While you are working, keep the dough and filled pans covered to avoid it drying out.

  4. Fill the pans: Lay the ropes into the ring molds. Pinch the ends together and smooth the dough out to hide the seam. *If you run out of dough before filling all of the pans, you have rolled out your dough too thick. You can remove some of the ropes, roll them out a bit thinner and you’ll get more dough to complete your 18 rings.  As you fill the rings, gently rest the rolled up dough into each ring form. Break the dough as needed to fit the pan. You can also piece short pieces of dough together to fit into the rings of the pans – simply pinch the ends of the pieces together and slightly roll to smooth out the seams. 
  5. Bake: Bake the cookies at 375°F for 10-14 minutes, just until the edges begin to barely brown. They should be more of a light pale brown color – if they are over baked, the cookies will be very crispy and not chewy. Allow them to cool completely in the pans before removing. As they cool, they will begin to stiffen.
  6. Assembling the Kransekake: Group similar sized rings together to keep you organized as you assemble. Starting with the largest ring, pipe the royal icing around the top in a zig zag pattern. Top with the next largest ring, ice and repeat until all 18 layers have been stacked.
  7. Serving the Kransekake: Remove rings and break apart to serve. The almond cookies should stay soft and chewy for 2-3 days.

Notes

  • Find my Royal Icing recipe here: https://thatbreadlady.com/royal-icing/

  • Most traditional recipes will have you blanching almonds, peeling some of them and letting them dry for 24-48 hours, then grinding them into flour. If you’re feeling ambitious, I’ve been told by my Norwegian friends that making your own almond flour makes for an incredible flavor.

  • If you don’t have a ring mold pan, you can make the rings free-form on parchment. Simply use a pencil to make 18 circles in slightly different, but graduating sizes. Use the following measurements as a guide:(Each measurement is the ring circumference in inches) 8, 7.5, 7.25, 7, 6.5, 6.25, 6, 5.5, 5.25, 5, 4.75, 4.5, 4.25, 3.75, 3.5, 3.25, 3 and 2.5. Flip the parchment over, so that the pencil or marker is on the underneath but still visible. Arrange the dough in the specified sizes. You can save space by nesting smaller rings inside larger ones. Be sure that they are at least 2 inches from each other.

Find it online: https://thatbreadlady.com/kransekake/