Kransekake (18-Layer Norwegian Wedding Cake)

Submitted by Charlotte J

"Few ingredients with very helpful directions to aid you in making this. You will need graduated ring pans and a cookie press. This is a family recipe from the Petzenhausers from Lake City. Their 18 year old daughter won a blue ribbon at the 2008 Iowa State Fair for this recipe."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 5
• Yields: 1 cake

ingredients

• 1 lb almond meal or 1 lb almond flour
• 3 1⁄4 cups powdered sugar
• 4 egg whites

• Icing

• powdered sugar
• butter, melted

directions

1. Mix almond meal and powdered sugar until there are no lumps.
2. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. (A stand mixer works best for this.).
3. Whites should stand straight in a peak when you lift out the beater.
4. Reserve 2/3 cup of the egg whites, and mix remaining egg whites into almond flour/powdered sugar mixture with a wooden spoon or with your fingers.
5. The dough will be thick and should have the texture of cookie dough.
6. Place the dough into a cookie press.
7. Using a star-shaped disk, press the dough into kransekake rings that have been greased and coated with bread crumbs or white corn meal.
8. Test one ring by baking at 325 degrees for 15 minutes.
9. If this sample has tunnels, you may need to add a little more powdered sugar.
10. If the dough doesn't rise, you may need to add a little more of the egg white.
11. Do not over bake.
12. After baking all the cake rings, cool to nearly cold before removing the cake from the rings.
13. The cake should be only be slightly brown on the tips of the dough.
14. After baking all the cake rings, cool to nearly cold before removing the cake from the rings.
15. Use a thin knife to start lifting each ring out gently.
16. If a ring breaks, save it and serve it in little pieces around the bottom of the cake.
17. You can either stack the rings into a cone shape and lightly drizzle icing in a scallop pattern or v-pattern around each ring, or you can drizzle the rings with icing first and then stack them into a cone.
18. If you would like to freeze the kransekake, fill empty ice cream buckets with the unfrosted rings layered between sheets of waxed paper.

19. Icing:

20. Mix powered sugar with a little melted butter.