Kransekake Delight

I love Kransekake. It's sweet, sticky and so chewy. Very similar to those large macaroons with an almond in the middle (childhood memories).  I believe it's a Norwegian wedding cake although don't quote me on that and up until a few days ago I'd never tasted one let alone make one.

You need to but some special Kransekake pans although you can use the dough to make cookies instead.

The Kransekake is made over two days as the dough needs to be left overnight in the fridge. It can easily be made and decorated by children but be aware that the unused dough contains egg white.

You Will Need 
450g ground almonds
4 egg whites (slightly beaten)
450g icing sugar
Icing sugar, sprinkles, edible glitter etc too decorate

1. The instructions said whisk lightly so I whisked them until they were just starting to peak but still a bit frothy.

2. The instructions said to add 1/4 of the egg white to the ground almonds to make a dough. I found I needed more like half the egg white and the dough was quite crumbly but moist. I mixed it together by hand in a large metal sauce pan as you need to gently heat the dough at the end.

3. Add the sieved icing sugar and the remaining egg white to the dough and mix thoroughly. Again I did this by hand. Gently heat the finished dough over a very low heat until warmed through.

4. Allow dough to cool. Wrap in clingfilm and put in fridge over night.

THE NEXT DAY ...

5. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it warm up a little before rolling it into longl tubes about the width of a finger. Carefully place the rolled dough onto the pans making 3 circles per pan. Squeeze the ends carefully together where the circles join.

6. Bake in a pre heated oven (200 degrees/gas mark 6) for 5-10 minutes. I say 5-10 as it depends on how hot your oven gets or how toasty you like them cooked. This was my first time cooking this and the rings were turning brown by about 6 minutes. I'll drop the temp a bit next time. They were still lovely and chewy.

7. Leave to cool.

8. Use some of the icing to stick the first ring to your tray/plate. Next pipe a scallop pattern over the top of the first ring and place the next ring on top. Continue doing this until you have placed all the rings on top of each other.

9. I then added some Christmas decorations and put some chocolate stars on the top.

This is so easy to make and looks amazing. A great alternative to cake!