Icelandic Christmas Cake Recipes

VíNARTERTA - ICELANDIC CELEBRATION CAKE

Steps:

• Heat water and prunes in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the prunes are very soft and water is evaporated, stirring occasionally- approximately 30 minutes. Once the prunes are very soft, mash them with a potato masher or blitz them through a food processor. Add lemon juice, cardamom, vanilla, sugar and cinnamon and stir well. Set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350.
• In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in eggs one at a time.
• In a small bowl, mix together the milk, vanilla extract and almond extract.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cardamom and baking powder.
• Add a third of your dry ingredients to the creamed butter bowl and mix well. Then, add a third of the milk mixture to the butter bowl and mix well. Continue to alternate adding dry ingredients and wet ingredients to the butter bowl until everything is mixed together.
• Roll dough out on to a floured surface until roughly ¼ inch thick (or rather, thin!). Using an inverted 9 inch round springform pan OR an inverted 8 inch rectangular brownie pan, trace a square/circle with a knife. Gently place your dough square/circle on to a baking sheet (I like to roll it on to a rolling pin and then roll it off on the sheet). If you have two baking sheets, you can bake two layers at once, cutting down your cooking time. You should end up with 5-7 'cookie' layers in total, depending on the width of each layer and the size your are cutting them to.
• Bake each layer of dough for 10-12 minutes, until firm, but not browned. As they are baked, gently transfer each to a wire rack to cool completely. The baked and cooled squares/circles should have a firm, cookie-like consistency.
• Once all your dough layers are baked and fully cooked you can start to put them all together! Place one cookie layer down on a piece of wax paper. Using a spatula, gently spread a layer of the prune mixture over the cookie, getting as close to the edges as possible. Place the second cookie layer overtop and do the same. Repeat this until you have one cookie layer left and place that on top but do not cover your top layer with the prune mix.
• Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and/or tinfoil and store in a cool, dry place for at least 3 days or up to 4 weeks, until ready to serve. The longer you let it sit, the softer your cookie layers will be. I like to wait at least a week buuuut... sometimes I just can't resist and break into it early. ???? To serve, slice into slices or squares.

VINARTERTA

Steps:

• Make the cake: Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter and granulated sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. With machine running, add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
• Reduce speed to low. Working in batches, add flour mixture to butter mixture, alternating once with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Mix until dough is smooth. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Make the filling: Combine prunes and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until prunes are tender, about 15 minutes. Strain, reserving liquid. Coarsely chop prunes in a food processor, and return to saucepan with reserved liquid and the granulated sugar. Cook over medium heat until mixture is thick, about 15 minutes. Add vanilla, salt, and cardamom. Refrigerate until slightly firm, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 7 equal pieces (about 6 ounces each). Roll each piece into a 10-inch round, and cut into a 9-inch circle using the bottom of a 9-inch cake pan as your guide. Place 1 dough circle on a baking sheet, and bake until edges are golden, about 14 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool. Repeat with remaining 6 dough circles.
• To assemble: Spread about 3/4 cup prune filling evenly onto 1 cake circle. Top with another circle, and continue until all 7 layers have been assembled (do not put filling on top layer). Wrap in plastic; let stand overnight.
• Dust cake with confectioners' sugar. Cut into quarters, then horizontally into 1/2-inch-thick slices.