Bløtkake, Norway's Celebration Cake, For Brettemesse

Brettemesse is another important day on the Primstav (Nordic Runic Calendar) and is marked on 11 January with the axe or horse symbol It's a day when the rest of the Christmas food was eaten up, but it's also a day when accidents can happen. So don't go out on your horse and be careful of ladders, black cats and broken mirrors!

Bløtkake, probably Norway's most famous cake

Bløtkake is probably Norway's most popular cake, It always appears at parties and celebrations of every kind and everyone has their own favourite filling. The principal is always the same though; a light fat free sponge, fruity filling and lots of whipped cream.

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Bløtkake seems like the perfect thing to bake today. If, like me, you have lots of cream left over from Christmas and maybe some leftover cranberry or lingonberry jam this is a delicious cake to carry on the Brettemesse tradition of using up the Christmas food.

The cream is reminiscent of the snow in the middle of the winter and the berries are a bright reminder of Christmas that has just passed.

Bløtkake is a light sponge filled with cream and berries

I've used lingonberry jam in my bløtkake (it was left over from Christmas Day), but you could use any jam you have to hand. A sprinkling of berries on the top of the cake adds a little cheerfulness and colour.

Bløtkake is almost always seen on the table for National Day

Bløtkake (Celebration Cream Cake) Serves 8

Ingredients

For the cake (sukkerbrød):

3 eggs

200g /7 oz sugar

80g / 3 oz potato flour

80g / 3 oz all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

For the filling:

4 tablespoons lingonberry jam (or cranberry or any other jam you happen to have)

500ml / 17 fl oz double or heavy cream

2 tablespoons icing sugar or powdered sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/365F

Grease an 8inch cake tin and line the base with a circle of greaseproof paper. Whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy and the mixture holds the shape of the whisk for a few seconds. This will take about 5 minutes. Sift together the flours and baking powder and very gently folding into the egg mixture. Take care not to bang it around too much, you don't want to loose all the air you have just spent time whisking in.

Carefully pour the cake mix into the tin and bake in the centre of the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until it's a light golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Gently heat the jam in a pan until it's a little runny and warm. This way it will soak into the cake better. Bløtkake is traditionally a slightly damp cake and heating the jam makes the cake softer. Cut the cake in half horizontally so that you have a top and bottom. Spread half the jam on the cut side of the top piece and half the jam on the cut side of the bottom piece. Allow it to soak in for a few minutes whilst you prepare the cream. Whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks and then whisk in the icing sugar. Use several spoonfuls of cream to sandwich together the top and bottom pieces of cake. Place on a pretty plate and smooth the rest of the cream on the top and sides of the cake. Use your imagination to decorate the cake with some piped cream or a sprinkling of fresh or frozen berries or both!

Vær så god!

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