Kransekake

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.

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Prep Time: 1

Cook Time: 12

Chill: 8

Total Time: 9 12

Servings: servings (1 Kransekake)

Equipment

1 set of kransekake molds

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

Dough:

1 pound plus 5 Tablespoons almond flour
1 pound powdered sugar
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
4 egg whites
1 teaspoon almond extract
¼ cup semolina flour or all-purpose flour
½ batch my Royal Icing recipe

Instructions

Mix the dough

To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the almond flour, cardamom and powdered sugar. Mix with a wire whisk until they’re fully combined.
Add the egg whites and almond extract. Mix with the paddle attachment on low speed until smooth, about 2-3 minutes. The dough should feel very soft and slightly sticky.

Chill the dough

Remove the dough from the mixer and cover with plastic wrap. Flatten to a disc. Refrigerate the dough for at least 8 hours.

Shaping

Spray the kransekake molds with nonstick spray and dust with semolina flour to prevent them from sticking. Semolina works best but you can use all-purpose flour if needed.
Divide the chilled dough into six pieces and begin to roll each piece out on a lightly floured 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.
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.

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.

Assemble 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.

Serving

Remove rings and break apart to serve. The almond cookies should stay soft and chewy for 2-3 days.

Video

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 diameter 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.

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