Making Swedish Wedding Cake: A Traditional Recipe Guide

Swedish wedding cakes are a delicious treat that can be prepared for Christmas, weddings, and other special occasions. The cakes are made from a variety of ingredients, including margarine, sugar, egg, dates, vanilla extract, crispy rice cereal, walnuts, and sweetened flaked coconut. The process involves cooking the margarine, sugar, egg, and dates in a saucepan over medium heat until thick, and then combining the mixture with the remaining ingredients. The final step is to form the mixture into balls, roll them in coconut, and store them in an airtight container.

Choosing the right almonds

First, decide whether you want to use blanched or unblanched almonds, or a combination of both. Blanched almonds have their skins removed, giving the cake a lighter colour and a slightly milder flavour. If you opt for blanched almonds, you can either purchase them pre-blanched or do it yourself by boiling them for 3-4 minutes and then peeling off the skins.

Next, you'll need to grind the almonds. You can use a food processor, a coffee grinder, or a specialised nut grinder. Grind them until they form fine crumbs or are pulverised, being careful not to over-process them into almond butter. If you're using blanched and unblanched almonds, grind them separately as they may require different processing times.

If you're grinding your own almonds, be sure to sift them after grinding to remove any large pieces. You can then regrind these larger pieces to ensure a consistent texture. It's important that your ground almonds are very fine, as large pieces can make the cake more fragile.

Finally, measure out the required amount of ground almonds for your recipe. Most Swedish wedding cake recipes call for 1 lb of almonds, but this may vary depending on the recipe you choose.

By selecting the right type of almonds, processing them correctly, and measuring the appropriate amount, you'll be well on your way to creating a delicious and beautiful Swedish wedding cake.

Grinding the almonds

Firstly, you'll need to decide whether to use blanched or unblanched almonds, or a combination of both. Blanched almonds have had their skins removed, resulting in a lighter colour and a slightly milder flavour. If you choose to use blanched almonds, you can either purchase them pre-blanched or blanch them yourself by boiling for 3-4 minutes and then peeling off the skins. It's important to ensure the almonds are completely dry before grinding, so spread them out on a baking sheet and leave them to dry overnight.

When you're ready to grind the almonds, place them in a food processor and process until they form fine crumbs. This may take a couple of minutes, and you may need to grind them in stages to ensure there are no large pieces remaining. Be careful not to over-process, as you don't want to end up with almond butter! The goal is to achieve a fine, consistent texture that is almost like a paste or butter.

Once you've ground the almonds to the desired consistency, you can add the remaining dry ingredients and then the wet ingredients to form the dough. It's important to follow the recipe closely, as the ratio of dry to wet ingredients will affect the final texture of the dough.

After the dough is formed, it's ready to be shaped, baked, and assembled into the iconic tower, held together with royal icing.

Preparing the dough

To begin, you'll need to gather your ingredients. For the dough, you'll need blanched almonds, confectioners' sugar, salt, and egg whites. It's important to note that the almonds should be sliced or ground into a fine crumb, so if you're buying whole almonds, you'll need to process them first. You can use a food processor or a coffee grinder to do this.

Once you have your ingredients ready, it's time to start mixing! Combine the almonds, sugar, and salt in a food processor and blend until they are well combined and have a powder-like consistency. This should take around one minute. Then, add the egg whites and continue processing until a dough forms. The dough should have a similar texture to cookie dough. If it seems too dry, you can try adding another egg white to make it more manageable.

At this point, you'll want to wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to chill. Leaving it overnight is ideal, but if you're short on time, aim for at least 30 minutes. Chilling the dough will make it easier to work with and will help it maintain its shape during baking.

While the dough is chilling, you can prepare your baking equipment. Grease your kransekake molds or rings with softened butter to prevent sticking. If you don't have kransekake molds, you can use a cookie press or a sausage stuffer attachment for your mixer to shape the dough into ropes.

Once your dough is chilled and your equipment is ready, it's time to shape the dough. Divide the dough in half and cut it into small portions. Roll these portions into ropes that are slightly thicker than a pencil, or about 3/8" to 1/2" thick. If you're using molds, fit the ropes into the rings, trimming them to fit as needed. If you're using a cookie press or sausage stuffer, simply fill the device with dough and press it out into long strands.

With your ropes or strands of dough ready, it's almost time to bake! Preheat your oven to 300°F and place the molds or strands on an unrimmed baking sheet. Bake for around 30 minutes, or until the dough is puffed and lightly golden brown. Allow the rings to cool completely before removing them from the molds or cutting the strands.

And that's it! You've successfully prepared the dough for a Swedish wedding cake. Now you can move on to making the royal icing and assembling your impressive tower of cookie rings!

Shaping the rings

To shape the dough for the rings, you'll need a metal cookie press or a stand mixer with a sausage stuffer attachment. Attach a 1/2-inch tip to the cookie press or sausage stuffer. Fill the cookie press or stuffer with the prepared dough. Keep in mind that this dough is too stiff for a pastry bag.

Now, press the dough out onto a flat surface in long strands or ropes. The ropes should be slightly thicker than the diameter of a pencil, about 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick. You can also use your palms and a countertop to roll the strands and make them as smooth and even as possible.

Next, carefully place these strands into the prepared rings, ensuring you don't overfill them. Seal the ends of the dough strands together within the rings. At this stage, you can cut the dough in half to create flat surfaces on the bottoms of the rings, which will make stacking them easier later.

Once you have filled and sealed the rings, it's time to bake them. Preheat your oven to 300°F for dark or non-stick pans, or 325°F for regular pans. Bake the rings for about 30 minutes, or until they are firm and golden brown. Be careful not to over-bake them!

After baking, let the rings cool completely in the pans. To remove them from the pans, carefully insert the tip of a sharp knife under the baked dough rings in several places and lift gently. If any rings break during this process, keep the pieces intact, as you can mend them later with royal icing.

Now you have successfully shaped and baked the rings for your Swedish wedding cake! The next step will be to assemble the cake by stacking the rings and using royal icing to hold them together.

Baking and assembling the cake

To bake the cake, you'll need to start by making the dough. Stir together the almond flour and powdered sugar, before adding the egg whites and beating the mixture until it forms a cohesive clump. The dough should be slightly sticky but not so sticky that it won't pull away from your fingers. If it is too sticky, add almond flour, one tablespoon at a time, until it reaches the right consistency.

Next, form the cake rings. Grease your kransekake rings with cooking spray and grab small fistfuls of dough. Roll them into strips on a lightly powdered sugar-dusted surface until they are roughly as thick as your index finger. Gently press the dough into your kransekake ring mould, trimming the ends so that they just overlap. Gently press the ends together to seal.

Now you're ready to bake! Bake at 400°F for 8-10 minutes, or until just golden. Allow the rings to cool in their moulds, and then carefully remove them. If the rings don't immediately come out, run a butter knife around the edge of the ring and invert again. If you continue to have issues removing them, they may need to be baked for a further 1-2 minutes.

To assemble the cake, you'll first need to make the royal icing. In a bowl, whip the meringue powder and water until frothy, before adding the powdered sugar and whipping until you reach a piping consistency.

Attach a fine writing tip to a pastry bag and spoon the royal icing into the bag. Place the largest ring on a serving plate and pipe some icing on top. Stack the next largest ring on top, and repeat the process until all the rings are stacked. Allow the icing to set before serving.

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