Kransekake ~ Norwegian Crown Cake or Viking Wedding Cake

Baking Kransekake has been a tradition in my family forever...typically for Christmas Eve. But honestly, this should be made for many other family get togethers. In Norway this traditional wedding cake is served at other celebrations such as birthdays, 17th of May (Syttende Mai), which is Norway’s Constitution Day and other special events.

 

It's just so good with a big cup of coffee after dinner...or in the morning at breakfast time. The good news: It's flour-free! The bad news: It's half confectioners sugar. (powdered sugar) The other good news: It's fat-free & packed with almonds! (I try to find more good news than bad news in my desserts) This "cake" is not your typical cake...as you can see, it resembles a tower - which apparently inspired another name, Tower Cake (tårnkake in Norwegian). If you follow tradition, then the way to decorate the Kransekake would be to stick little flags and colorful candies into it.

 My family keeps it clean and forgoes the tradition of sticking things into the cake...we just want to get at it and eat it! How do you serve such a cake? I'm glad you asked. The way to serve Kransekake is every man, woman and child for themselves. You start by removing the bottom ring of the cake and break it apart...then work your way up the cake right up to the tippy top.

 

The cake is easy to make using the special baking forms. click the image on the left to order baking molds If you don't have the baking rings/molds, place baking paper on cookie sheets and form 18 rings in graduated sizes to build the tower. I have the rings that my grandmother always used...yes, they are old and I'm kinda wanting to get some new ones, but they work so well that I'll wait until I completely destroy them. Okay, lets get to baking these sweet & nutty rings.

 

Start off by taking18 oz. of raw almonds and pour those into a food processor. I like buying the 3 pound bag at Costco and just separating it into thirds…it’s perfect when I’m making Fyrstekake and Kransekake (Crown Cake or Norwegian Wedding Cake).

 

 You’re going to want to grind them up until they are basically crawling up the sides of the processor and you can see that the oils have released.

 

 Here’s what your processed almonds should look like.

 

 Then into the mixing bowl they go.

 

 The next step would be to add the confectioners sugar and give it a mix on low speed. Please, don’t try to rush it or you’ll have powdered sugar everywhere…take it from me, it’s not fun to clean up.

 

 

 Add in 4 egg whites and continue to mix on low speed until everything is well incorporated. Scrape down the sides and along the bottom of the mixing bowl just to make sure that there aren't any almonds that haven't been incorporated into the mixture.

 

 

Turn the attention to the forms. Taking a paper towel, apply a little butter or shortening to the surface of each ring form.

 

 

 

Then take the Cream Of Wheat and pour it into a medium sized bowl. Scoop it with the form and allow the Cream Of Wheat to completely coat it. Then turn it upside down and give a little tap to release any stray bits.

Repeat with all of the forms and set them aside onto a cookie sheet.

 

 

 Now to our dough. You can wrap it up in plastic wrap and chill it in the fridge for a couple hours to make it a little more pliable for rolling out. However, I tend to go straight from the mixer to the prep mat and start rolling out my ropes of dough. Start with about 5 Tbsp. of dough, or just a golf ball sized ball of dough, and roll it with the palms of your hands to form a rope the thickness of your index finger or thumb. Lay the rope of dough into the form...DO NOT press down...cut off any excess rope and pinch off the ends to make a complete circle.

 

 

 Place the rings on a baking sheet and into the preheated 350°F oven. Each ring has a different baking time, so you have to keep your eyes on them. However, you can set a timer for 15 minutes and then check every couple of minutes to see which rings need to be removed from the oven. (the smaller rings take between 10-12 minutes) You want them to be a light golden color. Watch carefully, they will burn quickly if unattended.

 

 

 Once removed from the oven, let the rings rest a few minutes before taking cakes out of the forms. (I tend to allow 10-15 minutes...those forms are HOT)  Do your best to refrain from taste testing them as they come out...its hard, but you should have plenty of dough leftover to make some just for you. (or to replace those that decide to break on you)

Turn the forms over and tap the bottom of the form with the handle of a table knife to release the cake. If they do not release easily, very carefully use a table knife and make your way along the edges of the cakes. Place on cooling racks until completely cooled.

 

While waiting for the forms to cool, throw together a little icing with complete ease. Take powdered sugar, almond extract and a little milk to make the icing as thin or thick as you like. Mix with a small wire whisk or teaspoon until the lumps of sugar have been broken down and dissolved.

 

 

 Then it's time for assembly. Start by making a ring of icing right under the largest cake ring. This will help hold everything in place. Then continue to place a layer of icing along the top of each ring, building from largest ring to smallest. Drizzle any remaining icing along the rings of the cake.

 

 

Time to jump in and start enjoying your creation. Tradition calls for the bottom ring (largest) to be broken and removed from the tower...and devoured first. Then work your way up to the smallest ring at the top.

Nutty Spiced Cranberry & Golden Raisin Oatmeal

I have always been a fan of oatmeal...then I discovered Steel Cut Oatmeal. Oh, that only made me love oatmeal even more! If you have never tried it before, there is a distinct difference...a wonderful kind of nuttiness that comes from the steel cut oats.

View complete posting: Nutty Spiced Cranberry & Golden Raisin Oatmeal

Spiced Monkey Bread ~ Perfect For New Year's Breakfast

There is really nothing better than homemade ooey-gooey goodness that comes out of the oven early in the morning. 

And so far, every kid that has come in contact with this monkey bread has been pleased by all of the gooey mess on their little fingers. (except my Grace, she is not a fan of cinnamon) 

And it seems that every adult is still a kid inside, enjoying licking the sticky glaze from their fingers.

It seems like everybody loves monkey bread...when I first tried it I really wasn't impressed since the only monkey bread I had ever had was a microwave one out of a box (can we say dry & not very tasty?).  It definitely did not make me ever want another monkey bread again.

Until I figured out how to make it myself! And the fact that it is ridiculously easy and quick to bake makes it all the better. So, if you have about 15 minutes in the midst of morning chaos to put this together and only about 30 minutes to bake it + 10 minutes for cooling, then let's get to monkeying around!

(Remember, there is a lot that you can get done during the baking time)

There are only a few items needed:
a fluted baking pan, cooking spray, Pillsbury Country Style Biscuits, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, brown sugar and butter. (maybe a few nuts, raisins or dried cranberries)

Alright, now that I have everything that I need to get started, I grab my sugar & spices.

Since I like to have quick clean-ups, I prefer to use a sealable baggie to mix my sugar & spices in. It also makes it easy to drop the biscuits in and coat them quickly. Okay, so here we have our granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves.

Oh my gosh! I am always amazed at how wonderful those three spices smell when put together. Since most monkey breads call for just cinnamon & sugar, I wanted to add just a little bit more to make it harder to resist. Just a little bit of something extra can be such a wonderful surprise for your taste buds...and the smell, oh the smell is just so good.

Since the idea behind this is to make a relatively quick and easy monkey bread, I decided to go with the Pillsbury Original Biscuits. No biscuit mix to make, no waiting for yeast to rise...Simply take each biscuit and cut it in half. Boom! That's it!

Now if you're a little bit of a perfectionist, then you can always go ahead and round out each edge of the biscuits. It does make a pretty ball, but really isn't necessary.

Then I just drop each piece into the little baggie of sugar & spices and toss them around. 

You know, this part is actually pretty fun...the kids can help you too without a disastrous mess flying across the kitchen counter and floor.

Take a moment to coat the baking pan with cooking spray. (we do NOT want all of our efforts to go to waste) And then start lining up each beautifully sugar & spiced biscuit ball in the baking pan.

Now here is where you start adding little bits of extras...in this case raisins. As each layer is laid down, drop in a few raisins...

Perhaps a few walnuts (or pecans)....

At this point everything is looking so good...if I didn't know better, I'd grab one of those little biscuit balls and eat it!

Don't give in.

Don't do it...

Patience.

I just remind myself that patience is my friend. And then continue to add sugared biscuit balls and the "extras" as I go along.

But in a medium sized baking pan, 2 levels of these little sugared balls is just not enough...

So I grab another roll of biscuits and start cutting and dredging them in the sugar spiced mixture again. It's so worth it.

After finishing off the final roll and adding in more extras, this little monkey bread is ready for the final step...

The sugar glaze! Start with brown sugar and then add in the remaining sugar & spice mixture that was used to coat the biscuit balls.

I then cube my butter....I love using my Pyrex measuring cup in the microwave...in 30-50 seconds, cold butter can be melted down to perfection.

A little stir and into the sugar bowl it goes! Stir in the butter and allow some of the sugar to dissipate (only about 2 minutes).

 

Once the butter and sugar are mixed, you have this wonderful smelling glaze that is ready to go all over the top of the monkey bread.

Alright, here we have our baking pan of bliss....full of monkey bread and sugar glaze.

Mmmmm.

It may look like too much glaze, but oh no...trust me. This is the perfect amount.

Into my preheated oven it goes at 350°F for 28-32 minutes. And now we wait...and wait....oh yeah, I couldget some vaccuming done, or perhaps some laundry....

*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

Oh timer of joy, how I love thee right now.

There is a wave of giddiness that sweeps over me at this moment.

Just look at this golden brown crusty goodness! And OH THE SMELL! That aroma that just teases you because you can't dig in right away...again, patience.

After 10 minutes (which seem like an eternity), invert the baking pan on a large dish or serving platter. Give it a slight jiggle...and the monkey bread should slide right out.

This is when you are rewarded with the sight of that beautiful glaze dripping down the sides.

Time to get sticky! Don't hold back, just jump in there and grab a few pieces. (I like to go after the ones on the bottom...they have a wonderful crunchiness from being exposed in the oven)

 

Then after about 3-4 minutes, this is the sight that you will see....monkey bread disappearing rapidly. ENJOY!

***If you do not have a bundt pan, a muffin/cupcake pan can be used instead!  This also allows for easy portion control. BUT cut the biscuits into quarters so that you can arrange approx. 6-8 pieces in each hole.  This also takes about half the cook time!! Adjust the cook time to 11-14 minutes, depending on your oven.***