Kransekage, a tower of Danish almond cookies bound with icing, is a central player in any Danish New Year’s tradition, right up there with listening to the King’s speech, and jumping from a chair – into the new year – at the strike of midnight. Traditionally, this almond-based cookie is served in concentric circles, balancing on top of each other, but I like it better as individual bites, with lots of frosting and a berry as a jewel in the crown.
From my cookbook NORTH – Scandinavianish Cooking.
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Kransekage: Danish Marzipan Bites with Icing and Berries
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Yield: Makes 12
Description
A stack of iced marzipan almond cookies, Denmark’s traditional New Year’s treat, made here as individual berry-topped bites instead of the classic tower.
Ingredients
For the Homemade Marzipan
- 4 oz (115 g) blanched almonds
- 2 oz (60 g) sugar
- 1 large egg white
For the Kransekage
- 4 oz (115 g) fresh marzipan (homemade or store-bought)
- 2 oz (60 g) sugar
- 1 egg white
For the Frosting
- 1/4 cup (30 g) icing sugar
- 1/2 tbsp water
- Fresh berries, for garnishing
Instructions
To Make Homemade Marzipan
- Blanch the almonds by placing them in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then removing them to cool. Slip off the skins.
- In a food processor, grind the blanched almonds until they become fine crumbs. Add the sugar and pulse until well combined.
- Gradually add the egg white and pulse until the mixture forms a smooth dough. If it is too sticky, you can add a little more ground almonds or powdered sugar.
- Once smooth, shape the marzipan into a log or ball. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour to firm up.
To Make the Kransekage
- Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg white and sugar until light and fluffy. Fold in the marzipan (homemade or store-bought) and beat until a smooth dough forms.
- Roll the dough into a tube, then cut it into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a small ball and place them on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 6-8 minutes, or until they turn light golden. Remove from the oven and allow the cakes to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Whisk together the icing sugar and water until smooth. Once the cakes have cooled, drizzle or pipe the frosting over each one.
- Before the frosting sets, place a single fresh berry on top of each cake for garnish.
- Allow the frosting to stiffen before serving.
Notes
- Whether you make the marzipan from scratch or buy it, you need 4 oz (115 g) either way — homemade needs an hour in the fridge to firm up before you shape it, and the batch below makes a little more than you need, which keeps wrapped in the fridge for a couple of weeks.
- The oven runs hot on purpose: 450°F (230°C) for just 6 to 8 minutes sets the outside while the center stays chewy, so pull them the moment the edges turn light gold.
- Let the cookies cool completely on a rack before icing — the frosting needs a cold surface to set, and the berry goes on before the icing does.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Category: Recipes
- Cuisine: Danish
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 69
- Fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 12 g
- Protein: 1 g
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use store-bought marzipan?
Yes. It is 4 oz (115 g) either way, and the book gives you the homemade version as an option rather than a requirement. If you make your own, it needs blanched almonds, sugar and an egg white, plus an hour in the fridge to firm up before you use it.
Why such a hot oven for only 6 to 8 minutes?
At 450°F (230°C) the outside sets quickly while the almond center stays chewy. They are small, so the window is narrow — pull them when they turn light golden rather than waiting for color across the whole surface.
Can I make them ahead of a party?
Bake them and let them cool completely on a wire rack, which you need to do anyway before frosting. Add the icing and the berry close to serving: the berry goes on before the frosting sets, and the frosting needs time to stiffen.
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If the homemade marzipan uses four ounces of almonds and the cakes only need four ounces of marzipan, am I meant to have some left over? Mine made noticeably more than I needed.
You’re right Soren! The homemade batch makes more than the twelve cakes need, so you will have marzipan spare. It keeps wrapped in the fridge for a couple of weeks and is no bad thing to have about in December.
The recipe is lovely but the instructions are all run together in one block on my screen, no line breaks, and a couple of the sentences have no space after the full stop. Had to read it three times to work out where one step ended. Worth a look.
Birgitte, thank you. The steps had been saved as paragraphs instead of a numbered list, which is why they ran together, and one sentence had been split in two so it read cut it into12 equal pieces. It is rebuilt as a proper list now.