Mastering the Traditional Danish Kransekage: A Gluten-Free Scandinavian Almond Ring Cake for Unforgettable Celebrations

Prepare to impress your guests with a stunning traditional Kransekage, the iconic Scandinavian ring cake. Crafted simply from ground almonds, egg whites, and sugar, this magnificent dessert offers a delightful contrast of crisp exterior and wonderfully chewy interior. It’s an absolute showstopper, yet surprisingly easy to make—often compared to rolling play-dough! Best of all, it’s naturally gluten-free, making it a perfect choice for nearly any special gathering. (Jump to Recipe)

The Allure of Kransekage: A Timeless Scandinavian Tradition

Last fall, an exceptional request landed in my kitchen: to create a wedding cake for a couple with unique needs. The groom hailed from Denmark, and the bride, Canadian, navigated multiple food allergies. Immediately, the beautiful, traditional Kransekage sprang to mind. It’s not just a cake; it’s an architectural marvel, a tower of delicately crafted rings. Its dense, delightfully chewy texture, composed of ground almonds, egg whites, and icing sugar, promises a delicious experience that stands apart from conventional wedding cakes. What’s more, its gluten-free nature made it an ideal and safe choice for the bride, ensuring everyone could partake in the joyous celebration.

This exquisite cake, known as kransekage in Danish and kransekake or kransekaka in Norwegian, holds a cherished place in Scandinavian culture. It’s a celebratory centerpiece, traditionally served at weddings, New Year’s Eve festivities, baptisms, confirmations, and significant anniversaries. Its towering structure, often adorned with flags, ribbons, or fresh flowers, symbolizes prosperity and good fortune, making it far more than just a dessert—it’s an integral part of the celebration itself. The simplicity of its core ingredients belies the sophistication of its taste and appearance, making it a truly unique and memorable treat.

A Glimpse into the Past: Baking with Antique Kransekage Molds

The journey to create this particular wedding cake was made even more special by a serendipitous discovery. Raymond’s sister, June, whose husband has Norwegian roots, mentioned, “Oh, I have the pans you can borrow. Wade’s grandma brought them over from Norway when she emigrated to Canada in 1927.” Imagine the delight of using a beautiful set of antique Norwegian kransekake forms! These molds, likely over 100 years old, carried a tangible sense of history and tradition, connecting the present celebration with generations of Scandinavian heritage. Baking with them added an immeasurable layer of authenticity and sentiment to the entire process, making each ring not just a cake component, but a piece of living history that bridged continents and decades.

Crafting the Perfect Kransekage: Recipe Insights and Flavor Innovations

While the essence of Kransekage—almonds, egg whites, and sugar—remains constant, recipes often present various methods. Some traditional approaches suggest freezing the dough, cooking it, or refrigerating it before shaping. Others involve piping the dough into the forms, and some recipes even include a small amount of added flour for enhanced stability. After researching several methods, I opted for a recipe that incorporates a touch of sweet rice flour. This addition, while not strictly traditional in all variations, proved invaluable in preventing the cake from inexplicably collapsing, a concern sometimes associated with pure almond-based doughs. The sweet rice flour helps create a more robust structure, ensuring the rings maintain their perfect shape during baking and assembly, providing peace of mind for the home baker.

For this specific wedding cake, the bride requested a unique flavor profile: lemon and cardamom. This combination turned out to be a wonderfully easy and delicious addition, infusing the dense almond cake with bright citrus notes and warm, aromatic spice. The choice of organic lemon zest ensures a pure, vibrant flavor without any unwanted residues. To ensure perfection, I always recommend a practice batch, especially when experimenting with new flavors or aiming for a crucial event like a wedding. My trial run confirmed the flavor balance, requiring only minor adjustments to the quantities of lemon zest and cardamom. This preliminary bake helps to calibrate the recipe to your oven and specific ingredients. For the actual wedding, I prepared two batches of rings, assembling them into an impressive double-height cake to comfortably serve all the guests, making for an even more spectacular centerpiece.

A Wedding Day Showstopper: The Kransekage Experience

The completed Kransekage was, without a doubt, a showstopper. Its success was evident in the countless guests who kept returning for another piece. The dense, chewy, lemon and cardamom-scented rings were addictively delicious—a refreshing departure from typical light, fluffy, buttercream-laden cakes. The unique texture and rich almond flavor, enhanced by the aromatic spices, created an unforgettable culinary experience. In their fully assembled glory, these rings, reminiscent of wedding bands, formed a beautiful, lacy, flower-adorned tower. It was a truly stunning and symbolic centerpiece, celebrating the union of two souls in a uniquely Scandinavian way that captivated everyone present.

At the wedding reception, the bride and groom participated in a cherished Danish tradition. They began by carefully removing the rings, starting from the top, and then broke them into bite-sized pieces. This interactive element adds a special touch to the cake-cutting ceremony. After tenderly feeding each other a piece, a symbolic gesture of unity and care, they gathered the remaining chunks onto a tray and personally made their way around the room, offering a piece to each guest. This tradition carries a beautiful meaning: in Danish culture, it signifies good luck and prosperity for the newlyweds if every guest tastes a piece of their wedding cake, ensuring blessings for their future together.

The Joy of Baking Kransekage: Simple Steps to a Grand Result

If you enjoy the simple pleasure of working with play-dough, you’ll absolutely love making a Kransekage. The dough is incredibly pliable and forgiving, making it a joy to handle and perfect for bakers of all skill levels. The main task involves rolling out long, even ropes, which are then shaped into the distinctive rings. This tactile process is surprisingly therapeutic. Once baked to a beautiful golden-caramel hue, the assembly process is equally straightforward: simply drizzle loose zig-zags of white icing over each ring to “glue” them together, creating the iconic towering effect. The white icing contrasts beautifully with the golden rings, making for a visually striking dessert. For a truly traditional look, you can poke small Danish or Norwegian flags into the sides, or, as I did for the wedding cake, adorn it with delicate fresh or silk flowers for a gloriously decorated masterpiece that truly reflects the occasion.

And for those who adore the flavor profile but prefer a smaller, more individual treat, a slight variation of this dough can be transformed into fantastic Kransekake cookies. These bite-sized delights offer the same crisp-chewy texture and rich almond flavor, and are always a hit at parties or as a charming gift.

Kransekage Baking Essentials: Tips from the Kitchen Frau

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Achieving a perfect Kransekage relies heavily on precision, especially when it comes to measuring ingredients. For this recipe, using a kitchen scale to measure by weight rather than volume is highly recommended. Dry ingredients like almond flour and icing sugar can vary significantly in volume depending on how they’re packed or how finely they’re ground. A digital kitchen scale is an inexpensive yet invaluable investment that will greatly improve your baking consistency and results, ensuring your Kransekage turns out perfectly every time.

Choosing Your Almond Flour

The type of almond flour you use can influence the final texture and appearance of your Kransekage. For the wedding cake, I opted for a very finely ground blanched almond flour, which I ordered online. This produced exceptionally smooth rings, giving the cake a refined, elegant finish. Such fine flour minimizes visible almond meal texture, creating a pristine surface. However, a more coarsely ground blanched almond meal (like Bob’s Red Mill brand) will also work beautifully, yielding a slightly more rustic texture without compromising flavor or the characteristic chewiness. Alternatively, for the freshest taste, you can purchase whole blanched almonds and grind them yourself in a food processor until they reach a fine, flour-like consistency. Be careful not to over-process, as this can turn the almonds into butter.

Kransekage Size and Molds

A traditional Kransekage typically consists of 16 or 18 rings, forming a single tower. For grander celebrations, like the double-height, 32-ring Kransekage I prepared for the wedding, you will need to double the recipe below, making two separate batches of dough and rings. If you don’t own specific ring molds, don’t despair! You can still create a beautiful, albeit more rustic, Kransekage. Simply roll the dough into ½-inch thick ropes and shape them free-form into 18 rings. Each subsequent ring should be approximately ½ inch larger in diameter than the last, starting with the smallest ring (about 2 inches in diameter) and progressively increasing to the largest (about 10 inches in diameter, measured from the centers of the ropes). Always begin by shaping the smallest ring first to ensure a beautifully tapered top for your finished cake. Bake these free-form rings on baking sheets lined with parchment paper, allowing a little extra space between them as they expand slightly.

Serving Traditions

Traditionally, Kransekage is eaten from the bottom up, with the beautifully decorated top section preserved until last. This allows the intricate decoration to be admired for as long as possible before the cake is fully dismantled. However, for the wedding, the bride and groom personalized this tradition: they carefully removed and saved the top section as a cherished keepsake, a tangible memory of their special day, then generously served the remaining rings to their guests, allowing everyone to enjoy the delicious treat.

Homemade Icing Sugar for Dietary Needs

One of the bride’s allergies was to cornstarch, which is a common ingredient in commercially produced icing sugar (powdered sugar), used to prevent caking. The corn-free icing sugar I sourced commercially also had an undesirable greyish tint, which would detract from the pristine white appearance of the traditional icing. The simple, elegant solution was to make my own icing sugar at home. It’s incredibly easy, ensures purity, and allows you to control the ingredients precisely. The recipe for homemade, cornstarch-free icing sugar is included below, enabling you to avoid common allergens and achieve a perfectly white, fine powder for your beautiful Kransekage icing.

Danish Kransekage (Wedding Cake) Recipe

This classic recipe for Kransekage is adapted from Not Quite Nigella, with additional insights on practical cake transportation. Following these instructions carefully will help you create a stunning and delicious Scandinavian almond ring cake.

Ingredients for the Kransekage Rings:

• 550 grams (approximately 1¼ lbs) almond flour, or finely ground blanched almond meal
• 550 grams (approximately 1¼ lbs) icing sugar (also known as powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar) *See note on homemade icing sugar below
• 50 grams (¼ cup) sweet rice flour (also called mochiko), crucial for stability and structure
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated zest of an organic lemon (optional, but highly recommended for a bright, fresh flavor)
• 1 tablespoon ground cardamom (optional, for a warm, aromatic spice profile)
• 4 to 5 large egg whites, at room temperature, for optimal mixing
• Extra sweet rice flour, and oil or cooking oil spray for thorough greasing of the molds
• 1 set of kransekage ring molds (most sets have 18 rings; my antique set had 16 rings, influencing rope thickness)

For the Icing:

• 1 large egg white
• 2 cups (225 grams or ½ lb) icing sugar *(to make your own, see recipe below)
• 1 – 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, added gradually to achieve the perfect drizzling consistency
• A small amount of pearlized white icing coloring (optional, but adds an elegant shimmer to the finished cake)

Instructions for Baking the Kransekage Rings:

1. Prepare Your Molds: Begin by preheating your oven to 400°F (200°C). Thoroughly spray each kransekage ring mold with cooking oil spray or lightly brush them with a neutral oil. Then, dust them generously with sweet rice flour, ensuring every surface is covered, and tap out any excess. This crucial step prevents sticking and ensures the rings will release cleanly after baking. Arrange the prepared molds onto sturdy cookie sheets, leaving a little space between them if possible.
2. Combine Dry Ingredients: In the large bowl of an electric mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment), combine the finely ground almonds (or almond flour), icing sugar, sweet rice flour, lemon zest, and ground cardamom (if using). Mix on low speed for 1-2 minutes until all ingredients are thoroughly combined and appear uniform, with no lumps of flour or sugar visible.
3. Form the Dough: Add 4 of the large egg whites to the dry mixture, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue mixing on low to medium speed until the dough begins to come together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, forming clumps. Gradually add as much of the fifth egg white as needed, little by little (a teaspoon at a time), mixing until the dough is moist, pliable, and comes together into a cohesive, somewhat sticky mass. You will likely not need all of the fifth egg white; discard any remainder. To test the consistency, pinch a small amount of dough between your fingers—it should stick together nicely and feel like soft “playdough,” not stiff modeling clay (plasticine). If it feels too wet, add a tiny bit more sweet rice flour; if too dry, a few more drops of egg white. The correct consistency is key to easy shaping.
4. Shape the Ropes: Scrape the prepared dough out onto a clean, lightly floured work surface and gently pat it into a large ball. Divide this ball into quarters, then roll each quarter into a smaller ball. Work with one dough ball at a time, keeping the remaining portions tightly covered with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out, which can make them crumbly. Roll each small ball into a long, even rope. Using a ruler can be incredibly helpful to maintain uniform thickness along the entire length of the rope. For a 16-ring set of molds, aim for each rope to be approximately 9/16ths of an inch thick. If you have an 18-ring set, reduce the thickness slightly to ½ inch to ensure you have enough dough for all rings.
5. Fill the Molds: Carefully lay a piece of rope into one ring mold at a time, gently pressing it into the curve. Pinch off any excess length, and then smoothly join the ends of the rope together, pressing firmly with your fingers to create a seamless, continuous circle. The dough is very forgiving, so don’t hesitate to re-roll a few rings or mend imperfections if needed. If you find you’re running short of dough for the last rings, you can always make the ropes slightly thinner and re-roll.
6. Bake the Rings: Bake the filled molds in the preheated oven, in batches if necessary (depending on your oven size), for 15 to 20 minutes. The baking time can vary, so keep a close eye on them. The rings are done when they achieve a beautiful golden caramel color and feel firm to the touch when gently pressed. They should be crisp on the outside and chewy within.
7. Cool and Store: Allow the baked rings to cool completely within their molds before attempting to remove them. They are fragile when warm. Once cool, you may need to gently insert the tip of a thin knife or a small offset spatula underneath the rings to help them pop out of the pans without breaking. Gently wipe any loose sweet rice flour from the bottoms of the rings with a clean, dry tea towel. At this stage, the individual rings can be stored in a tightly sealed plastic container at room temperature for several days. To help them retain their unique dense chewiness and prevent them from drying out, place a piece of fresh apple or a few pieces of orange peel in the container with the cake rings; the moisture released will keep them wonderfully fresh and supple.

Assembling Your Kransekage: The Icing and Decoration

8. Prepare the Icing: In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk together the egg white and icing sugar until thoroughly combined, smooth, and lump-free. Gradually add 1 to 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice, mixing continuously until the icing reaches a good drizzling consistency—it should flow smoothly from a spoon but not be too thin or watery. If desired, stir in a small amount of pearlized white icing coloring for an elegant, subtle shimmer that enhances the cake’s festive appearance. Transfer the prepared icing to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (like a Wilton #2 or #3), a squeezable plastic piping bottle designed specifically for icing, or simply use a heavy-duty plastic freezer bag with a tiny corner snipped off to create a small round hole.
9. Assemble the Cake: Arrange your cooled Kransekage rings in order of size, from largest to smallest, on your work surface. Traditionally, the rings are placed bottom-side-up to present a smoother top surface. However, I often find that some flour residue can remain on the bottoms, making the “right-side-up” tops appear cleaner and nicer. I recommend choosing whichever orientation looks best to you. Begin by securing the largest ring to your chosen cake base or serving plate with a small ring of icing to prevent it from sliding. Then, pipe loose zig-zags of icing generously over the top surface of this ring. For exceptionally tall cakes (like my double-height wedding cake), I added an extra continuous ring of icing around the circumference of each layer, underneath the zig-zags, for added structural insurance and stability. For a standard-height cake, the zig-zags alone should be sufficient to hold the rings together securely. Carefully place the next smallest ring directly on top, aligning it centrally. Repeat this process, piping icing and stacking rings, ensuring each layer is centered, until you reach the smallest ring at the very top.
10. Transporting and Final Touches (for Tall Cakes): If you’ve made a double-height Kransekage, assembling it in sections can make transportation much easier and safer. I typically ice mine together into three manageable sections, carefully packing each section into a sturdy box surrounded by tissue paper or bubble wrap to prevent movement and damage during transit. I then bring my icing squeeze bottle along to the reception venue and assemble the final layers on-site, adding the last zig-zags and delicately joining the sections there. This ensures the cake looks pristine for its grand reveal.
11. Decorating the Base (Optional for Wedding Cakes): For a truly professional and personalized wedding cake base, I purchased a sturdy foam disk from a craft store. To add a bit more height and create a cleaner edge, I glued a circle cut from foamcore board onto both the top and bottom of the disk. I then covered this elevated base with ready-made fondant, rolled out thinly and smoothed meticulously for a flawless finish. A beautiful decorative ribbon was wrapped snugly around the edge of the fondant-covered base, adding a touch of elegance. The first (largest) kransekage ring was then glued directly onto it with a generous ring of icing for stability. To further adorn the cake, I crafted a wreath and several small sprays using a mix of dried and silk flowers, which were delicately attached to the cake using corsage pins. A charming set of simple wooden bride and groom figures provided the final, personal touch to the front of the cake, making it truly unique to the couple.

How to Make Homemade Icing Sugar (Cornstarch-Free)

This simple recipe is perfect for those with cornstarch allergies or who prefer to control their ingredients. It ensures a pure, perfectly white, and fine powdered sugar for your icing. This recipe yields approximately 2 cups of icing sugar, ideal for one batch of Kransekage icing.

• 1 cup (200 grams) white granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon potato starch (or cornstarch, if no allergy concerns)

Instructions:

Combine the granulated sugar and potato starch in a powerful blender or food processor. Blend on high speed for several minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides, until the mixture is incredibly fine and powdery when rubbed between your fingers. It should feel like commercial icing sugar. To prevent sugar dust from sifting into the air during blending, loosely cover the blender with a clean tea towel. For best results and to ensure even blending, process only one batch at a time; attempting larger quantities may result in inconsistent texture.

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The Canadian Food Experience Project began June 7, 2013. As we, the participants, share our collective stories across the vastness of our Canadian landscape through our regional food experiences, we hope to bring global clarity to our Canadian culinary identity through the cadence of our concerted Canadian voice. Please join us.

This month’s topic is: February 2014, A Canadian Love Affair

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View past Canadian Food Experience Project entries here:

June, 2013: My First Authentic Canadian Food Memory: Buttery Sauteed Mushrooms with Spruce Tips and Chives

July, 2103: A Regional Canadian Food: Saskatoon Roll or Saskatoon Cobbler and How to Freeze Saskatoon Berries

August, 2013: A Canadian Food Hero in Northern Alberta, and Pickled Beets and Creamed Vegetables

September, 2013: My Cherished Canadian Recipe: Evans Sour Cherries in Brandy

October, 2013: Preserving, Our Canadian Food Tradition – Sweet and Spicy Apple Butter

November, 2013: The Canadian Harvest: Quinoa Harvest and Recipes (Quinoa Onion Frittata & Honey Vanilla Quinoa Pudding)

December, 2013: A Canadian Christmas: Gumdrop Fruitcake

January, 2014: A Canadian Resolution: Wild Rice and Mushrooms

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