Kransekake

Kransekake is made from a dough of ground almonds, icing sugar and egg white, piped or shaped into rings of graduated size, baked, and then stacked into a cone held together with piped icing in zigzag lines. A full tower can have eighteen rings or more and stand half a metre high; it is decorated with small Norwegian flags, crackers or ribbons depending on the occasion, and it appears at weddings, christenings, confirmations, seventeenth of May gatherings and New Year. The texture is chewy rather than crisp, and it is naturally gluten-free, which has helped it survive. Convention is to lift the tower off the top and break rings apart rather than to cut it.

Highlights

• The stacked rings - graduated almond rings built into a cone.
• The icing zigzags - piped lines holding the tower together.
• The decoration - flags, ribbons or crackers depending on the occasion.
• The breaking - rings lifted and snapped rather than sliced.

When to go

Year-round at bakeries, though it is essentially a celebration cake; 17 May, weddings and New Year are when it appears most. Large towers are made to order.

Practical notes

It is extremely sweet and dense, and a small piece is usually enough. Full towers are expensive and need ordering in advance. Poorly made versions are dry and hard rather than chewy.

Nearby

Bakeries throughout Norway make it; 17 May gatherings are the easiest occasion to encounter it.