17 1/2 oz ground bitter almonds
17 1/2 oz icing sugar
3 tbsp potato flour
3 egg whites
ICING
5 oz icing sugar
1 egg white
Directions
This recipe requires bitter almonds. Bitter almonds
are poisonous if eaten raw but baking destroys the
toxins and produces a more concentrated flavour. If
bitter almonds are unavailable, then ordinary almonds
will suffice.
The Story:
Roal Dahl: (...) Like "krokaan" and "riskrem",
"kransekake" (pronounced 'kranserkaker') is a totally
Norwegian food, which every Norwegian man, woman and
child knows as well as the British know baked beans
and sausages. Happily, it is a good deal more subtle
than either of those bland old British stand-bys.
It is, in fact, a magnificent many-tiered cake made of
ring upon ring of wonderful macaroon-like biscuit, and
no self-respecting Norwegian house is without a
kransekake on the table for the Christmas feast.
At Easter they do it all over again, except that the
kransekake is turned upside-down to make a basket, and
one of the larger rings is broken in two to form
handles for the basket.
Over there they love their kransekake so much that it
has become a sort of national symbol, which they
bedeck with Norwegian flags on these festive occasions
(...). A kransekake is obviously a bit of trouble to
make, but in Norway every mother, sweetheart and cook
thinks that the trouble is well worthwhile, and with
this I heartily agree. It isn't only the actual taste
that is so seductive; it is the aura of grandness this
great towering cake gives to the table that makes it
so splendid.(...)
The Recipe:
Preheat the oven to 400 oF / 200 oC.
Oil the kransekake moulds if you are lucky enough to
have them; don't worry if they are not available.
Sieve the icing sugar and potato flour into a bowl
with the ground almonds.
Very lightly whisk the egg whites until fluffy and mix
into the dry ingredients.
Knead to a soft but firm dough.
Pipe into the moulds or roll the mixture into
5/8-in.-thick ropes on a worktop lightly dusted with
icing sugar. The small rope should be 5 1/2 in. long
and the next 1 in. longer and so on. Make approx 14-15
ropes.
Join the ropes into rings and place on an oiled baking
tray, allowing plenty of room for expansion.
Bake in oven for 8-10 minutes until crisp and golden.
Leave to cool completely before removing.
To assemble, sieve the icing sugar into a bowl.
Add the egg white and beat until smooth.
Make a greaseproof piping bag and fill with some of
the icing. Snip off the point of the bag. Pipe icing
on top of the largest ring and stick the next sized
ring on top. Continue sticking the rings together in
this way to form a pyramid.
Now decorate each ring with a dropped line forming a
scalloped effect.
Norwegians decorate the kransekake with Norwegian
flags and red ribbons tied into bows at Christmas, and
with flowers and eggs at Easter.
From: Felicity and Roald Dahl, Memories with Food at
Gipsy House, Viking, Penguin 1991, ISBN 0-670-83462-9
Typed for you by Rene Gagnaux @ 2:301/212.19 (or
2:301/707.20)
Servings: 1 cake
Kransekake Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Cake
The History of Recipes
We are able to trace the history of written recipes back into the distant past, in truth as far back as the Egypt of the Pharoahs, and maybe even further. Interesting though that maybe, mostly, these early records were just basic pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for preparing meals.
The truth of the matter is, the most ancient recipe discovered so far, according to experts in ancient history is a collection of clay tablets in Sumerian which show the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making drinkers feel exhilarated. As we move on, there are two books published in the 1300s - a book entitled `Forme of Cury`, and another titled `Curye on Inglish`. Although the titles sound familiar, these books have no connection with the curry that appears on menues today, but instead recipes for the types of food served to the rich and wealthy people of those days. During the next few centuries, the powerful families of Europe tried to offer the most extravagent banquests, and because of this chefs and their recipes increased in prestige. Even so, it wasn`t until the 1800s that formal cookery and recipe publications reached a high level of popularity. Mrs Beeton in the UK, and Fannie Farmer in the US, dedicated the best years of their lives to assembling, verifying, and writing down the recipes that were being prepared for the better households. By the advent of the 20th century, recipe publications were starting to become popular as a result of higher levels of literacy, increased leisure time and a general increase in wealth. |
We hope you enjoy this Kransekake recipe.
