I'm back!!!
The reason I haven't been blogging is I started to feel very guilty that I was baking all these awesome desserts that my husband with Diabetes shouldn't be eating. I still baked, but it was mostly for holidays, potlucks or I brought the sweet stuff to work (much to the frustration of those dieting).
I toyed with making sugar-free desserts, but I had a big problem. I don't like fake sugar and it doesn't like me back. I find most alternative sweeteners to be disgusting/icky after taste, make my stomach hurt and/or they give me a migraine.
So I'm taking the middle road. My New Year's baking resolution for 2016 is to make desserts that are (mostly) sweetened with fruit and to make it taste amazing, put a little of something sugary-sweet on the top!
I started my new journey with Banana Oat Bars. (click the link for the recipe) The recipe recommends some optional mix-ins. I choose to add ground walnuts to the batter for some protein (carbs+protein is a good plan for anyone with blood sugar issues) and my sugar-on-top ingredient was mini chocolate chips.
The recipe can easily be adjusted to be made paleo, kosher parve, vegan, gluten free and nut free. You could also skip my sugar-on-top option and be on the clean-eating wagon. Whatever works for you.
The reason to make these bars:
1. I could give them to my kids for breakfast -- guilt free!
2. They tasted like gooey banana bread. Nuff said.
Now Bake That!
It's a bird, it's a plane, its a cookie beehive!
Okay, it's not a cookie beehive.
It's a Kransekaka.
Not a kreme-de-la-kaka. Not a krala-la-lala. Not a krans-a-what-do-you-call-it.
It actually has several spellings: Kransekaka/Kransekake/Kransekage
It has several translations: Scandinavian wreath cake, Danish/Norweigan wedding cake, ring cake, ring tree cake, or ring pyramid cake.
What is a Kransekaka really? It's a concentric ring of stacked, iced almond cookies.
It tastes like a French Macaroon. However, unlike a macaroon, you can hide a half bottle of wine or liquor under this little beauty. It's from Scandinavia, so it's beige. Like the other Scandinavian foods I remember: Sandbakkels, Rosettes, Krumkake, Lefse, and Swedish Meatballs. All beige. I'm not saying Scandinavian only eat beige foods. No no no. They just have a lot of them.
Traditionally it is made in Scandinavia for special occasions (mostly weddings, but it is not strictly a wedding cake). It's decorated with flags. You are supposed to take off the top tiers to reveal the wine bottle. Then serve the largest rings first, breaking into pieces. If there is no bottle, obviously you can serve it top down.
As I mentioned in blogs past, I'm a Minnesota native. Minnesota is full of hockey loving, beige colored food eating, blue eyed, blonde haired Scandinavians. So it was typical for me to go in a local bakery (even some grocery store bakeries) and see a pretty, beige kransekaka in the display window. My sisters and all had them at our weddings. Now I live in Missouri. I brought one of these suckers to a party and suddenly people are perplexed. What's that?!?
The one I made above was for a medal party. A friend of mine is a two time, bronze medal winner for paralympics in track. So I made her a kransekaka for her party because:
A. It's circular, like the medals she just won in London.
(I am an occupational therapist, and we just love themes.)
B. She was finally eating sugar again.
C. It's awesome.
Okay! On to making one.
First you need the tins. Technically you could make them without the tins, but I think it would be hard to judge the sizes. You get them online. One place is through Ingebretsen's Scandinavian Gifts, which is a shop in Minneapolis that I love going to.
I have two recipes: my Grandma's (well her friend Bertha's) and the one from the box of tins (which is gluten and dairy free by the way)
Bertha's Ring Tree Cake (Kransekake)
2 c butter, softened
1 8oz can almond paste, cut into chunks
2 c sifted powdered sugar
2 tsp almond extract
4 egg yolks, beaten
5c flour
Icing (recipe follows)
Preheat the oven 350 degrees. Grease the tins. Using an electric mixed, blend together butter, almond paste, sugar and almond extract until smooth. Beat 4 eggs in well. Measure flour and then sift. Add flour in gradually. With your hands roll 1/2 inch diameter strands of dough (width of index finger) or use a pastry bag with #6 tube. Place in well greased tins. Bake 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until delicately browned. Prepare frosting and place into pastry bag. Place rings on a plate. Assemble the cake by starting with the largest ring, frosting as you go, and stacking one on top of the other.
Frosting:
1 c powdered sugar
2 tbsp whipping cream
2 tbsp vanilla
*Tips: I use either a food processor a stick blender to make the initial dough (before the flour). Then I use a hand mixer to mix in the flour. Then I use a cookie press with a pastry holder (no tip) to get the dough in the tins. It's easier. Trust me.
Kransekage
3 c almond paste
1 1/2c granulated sugar
3 egg whites, slightly beaten
Break almond paste into small chunks, add sugar and egg whites. Mix thoroughly with an electric mixer (or food processor/stick blender). Fill a pastry bag with a number 6 tip. Grease the tins (really well). Bake 325 degrees for 20 minutes until surface is crusty and golden brown. Remove cookie from the rings as soon as they are cooled. Use the point of a knife to loosen the outer edge of the cake ring and then loosen the inner edge. It will come out if baked thoroughly.
Frosting
1 egg white
3-4 drops vinegar
confectioner's sugar to make a thin icing
Mix ingredients until smooth and well blended. Place icing in decorating bag with icing tip. Starting with the largest ring, make drizzels and scallops on the top/sides, stack the next size ring on the top and repeat.
Now Bake That!
