Happy Syttende Mai

I know I said I was going to stop decorating the dogs for the holidays, but I don't think taping a bumper sticker to Asher's butt counts. I just used a curl of masking tape and he didn't seem to mind. I don't think he knows he's of German descent, so why spoil the Syttende Mai celebration for him.

I used to say Syttende Mai was Norway's Independence Day, but it's not really. On May 17th 1814 the Norwegian Constitution was signed, announcing Norway's independence after 400 years of Danish and the humiliation of being given to Sweden by the Danes after they were defeated in the Napoleonic Wars. Unfortunately, Sweden did not recognize Norway's constitution and the country did not actually become independent until 1905.

Today May 17th is celebrated with parades, festivals and parties in Norway and in Norwegian communities across the United States. On Ashe Road we celebrated by baking a Kransekake.

For the whole run down on Kransekake, or crown cake, check out my December 30th post titled, Karen & Beth Make Kransekake. In this Spring episode Beth & the Weimaraners make Kransekake.

Is the house tilted?

I made the rings on Sunday and froze them. This evening all we had to do was make the icing and put the cake together.

The dogs watched the process carefully.


They were very good and tried their best to ignore the finished cake and pretended not to be tempted.

"What cake? We don't see any cake."

Their reward came when it was time to clean up.

They licked the beater clean.

Asher took charge of the bowl.


Next year I think we'll do a little advance planning and use Norwegian dog bowls like the one below from Vesterheim, the Norweigian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa.

The only thing left to do is track down my little Norwegian flags and decorate the Kransekake.

Happy Syttende Mai

After I looked back on the prior Kransekake post I noticed I never put the recipe in.  Here it is:

Kransekake Rings

2 cups butter

2 cups powdered sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons almond extract

8 ounces almond paste

5 cups flour

• Combine ingredients, form dough into two balls, wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper and refrigerate for an hour or so.
• You need to have special Kransekake ring tins. You might be able to find them at Scandinavian specialty shops, but you can also order them online.
• Grease the tins, take a dough ball out of the refrigerator, tear off a hunk and form/mold it into a tin. Then another tin, and another and another. Your set may have 12, 18, 24, 36 or more tins. I believe the recipe above will do up to 18 tins.
• Place tins on a cookie sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.
• Cool tins before attempting to remove the cookie-like cake.
• Construct cone shaped cake with the frosting recipe that follows.

Icing

1/4 cup butter

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon almond extract