This Giant Cookie Cake Is Ordered for My Christmas Party Every Year.
Every year I host a festive Christmas party. I buy the biggest tree, bake cookies for days, and hang enough lights to shake the electrical grid. And while I’m always making savory cheese boards and Thai food, there’s only one thing my friends ask about weeks before. “Are you making a giant macaroon cake?” It’s called kransekake, and this tree-shaped Scandinavian cookie cake became my party mascot. There are a million reasons why, but here are three: it’s amazing in size, truly delicious, and the dough only requires four ingredients.
What is Kransekake?
Kransekake is a Norwegian wedding cake, but it would fit perfectly on the dessert table of any celebration. It’s essentially a cookie stack made up of about 18 concentric rings of cookies that are slightly reduced in size. Sometimes I even make extra rings for a taller cake.
Macaroon cookie dough is somewhat reminiscent of edible amaretti Play-Doh. It is thick and pliable, so you can easily roll out a lump into a long snake as thick as a pencil. The almond rope is placed in a kransekake mold and baked right there to hold its shape. While you could do this by hand, like they did in the Great British Bake Off, I wouldn’t recommend it. There’s no Hollywood floor in your house anyway, so just get the molds. They are non-stick, durable and last for years.
Everyone loves an eye-catching and versatile dessert.
I’ve been making this cransekake recipe for my Christmas parties for five years now (this is my sixth year) and every time, no matter if everyone has seen it before, this cookie cake gets showered with compliments, “oohs” and “aahs.” ah!”, and at least five boomerang videos about it will appear on social networks. I place it on a cake turntable and decorate it with edible glitter so maybe I’m a little eye-catching.
Everyone’s favorite thing is to remove the cookie rings (each “glued” to the other with sweet and crunchy royal icing). The practice of slowly picking apart and eating this cake over the course of an evening brings out a special, perverse joy of eating something wonderful. When only the large rings remain, people usually start breaking off a small segment as they walk by. I like to dip them in a hot cup of glögg for this recipe .
How to make Kransekake cookies
The cookie dough itself is surprisingly easy to prepare.
1. Knead the dough
Place equal parts of store-bought blanched almond flour and caster sugar into a large bowl, add two egg whites and a few drops of almond extract. You can let a stand mixer with the paddle attachment knead the dough, but I prefer to put on a pair of food-safe vinyl gloves and knead the dough with your hands. It only takes a minute for the dough to mix thoroughly.
2. Roll out the almond ropes.
After covering most of the dough with a piece of plastic to prevent it from drying out, separate a piece of dough. Use both palms and a clean countertop (no flour for this recipe) to roll it out into a thin rope. Carefully lift the rope into one of the recesses of the kransekake mold. Just choose the option that suits you best, at this stage the dough is a very gentle putty.
If the rope is too long, rip a little off the end and fold the ends together to complete the circle. If the string is too short, you can roll out a small piece of dough to fill the gap. Be sure to press the seams carefully so that there are no weak spots left after baking. If your rope gets tangled or broken, simply roll it into a ball and rewind it. There is no wheat flour in this dough, so you don’t have to worry about gluten development or tough cookies.
3. Bake the rings
Once I’ve filled two pans, I place them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven to bake while I roll out and fill the next two. Once the baked cookies come out, let them cool completely. They are very light and tender while still hot, so let them cool for about 10 minutes before removing them. I use a fork to loosen one side of the cookie ring and then the whole thing usually pops out at once. If they stick too much, return the pan to the oven for another five minutes.
Once I’ve baked and cooled all the cookies, I usually store them in the freezer until the big day. Then I bring the cookies back to room temperature, drizzle them with royal icing (powdered sugar with a little egg white), and stack them into a proud almond-flavored tree. If you like, you can add sprinkles to the frosting, edible glitter, or small candies. The cookies themselves will be crisp and chewy, showcasing a slight sweet almond flavor. Enjoy leftovers for about three days if well covered.
Kransekake cookie dough recipe
Ingredients:
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10.5 ounces almond flour
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10.5 ounces powdered sugar
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2 fresh egg whites
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½ teaspoon almond extract
1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Place the cransekake molds on a baking sheet.
2. Mix all ingredients thoroughly using your hands (preferably gloves) in a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. The dough should be soft, but not sticky. If so, add a spoon or two of almond flour and stir again.
3. Keep the dough covered with a small piece of plastic wrap. Tear off golf ball-sized pieces and roll them into long ropes the thickness of a pencil. You will need smaller ropes for smaller circles and larger ones as you progress. Carefully place the dough ropes into the rings of the pan, bringing the ends together, pressing them together and shaping them into an endless circle. Repeat the same with the remaining rings.
4. Bake cookies for 15 to 20 minutes or until puffed and lightly browned on top. Don’t overcook them or they will become too crispy later.
This dough is enough to make all 18 rings. Use excess dough to correct mistakes, or roll it into balls and bake chewy amaretti cookies.