Runeberg Torte Image Used Under Creative Commons License From iltalehti.fi
Citizens, this delicious Finnish dessert is a tall cylindrical pastry that is soaked in Swedish punsch, rum or cognac flavored sugar syrup and topped with a dollop of raspberry jam or apple marmalade, lastly garnished with a ring of white or pink sugar icing.
Runebergintorttu is a traditional Finnish sweet named after the poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg, who wrote the country’s national anthem, Maamme.
The origins of this sweet are shrouded in folk legend. Apparently, Runeberg had asked his wife to bake him a cake, but the pantry was almost empty. His wife decided to make it anyway, using those few available ingredients, and drawing inspiration from a cake sold by by confectioner Lars Astenius from their hometown of Porvoo.
The recipe for runebergintorttu was published for the first time in 1850 in a book of homemaking advice and recipes written by Mrs. Runeberg.
From the poet’s table, these pastries gradually became popular in Poorvo’s cafés. They are now the town’s most typical dish, and are traditionally eaten from January until Runeberg’s birthday on February 5. Nowadays, they are found year-round.
My recipe is basically the fantastic version I found at dessertsforbreakfast.com, but with some special tweaks of my own (like using vanilla sugar, Chambord and Swedish Punsch).
Traditionally, the dough for these cakes is baked in special “Runeberg’s tart moulds”, sold in many Finnish stores.
The individual moulds for these cakes are bottomless cylinders about six centimetres tall and with a diameter of about five centimetres. When baked in these genuine moulds, the cakes are called by their proper name, “Runeberg’s tarts”. Try and make them in the traditional shape – these dariole moulds are perfect for the task!
Citizens, this is one dessert that I am fully confident you will absolutely love! )
Battle on – The Generalissimo
PrintThe Hirshon Finnish Runeberg’s Torte – Runebergintorttuja
Ingredients
- for cakes:
- ***
- 2 cups AP flour
- 1 cup finely ground ginger snaps
- 3/4 cup finely ground almonds
- (to grind almonds, put almonds and ginger snaps in food processor at the same time.)
- 1 tspn baking powder
- 1 tspn baking soda
- 1 tspn salt
- 1 1/2 – 2 tspn freshly grated orange zest
- 1 tspn ground cardamom
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 tspn almond extract
- 1 cup butter
- 1/2 cup vanilla sugar
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 Tbspn molasses
- 3 eggs, at room temp
- ***
- for rum syrup:
- ***
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 Tbspn Swedish punsch (preferred) or spiced rum
- ***
- for raspberry topping:
- ***
- 1 cup frozen raspberries
- 4 Tbspn sugar
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 3 tbsp Chambord raspberry liqueur (optional)
- 1/2 tspn cornstarch, sifted
- ***
- for icing:
- ***
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 Tbpsn milk
- 1/4 tspn almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter eight small (90 ml / 3 fl. oz) cylindrical moulds and set on a silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, ground ginger snaps, ground almonds, baking powder, baking soda, salt, orange zest, and cardamom. Whisk to mix. Set aside.
- In a measuring cup, stir and combine milk, orange juice, and almond extract. Set aside.
- Place butter, sugar, and brown sugar in a mixing bowl. Cream on medium low for about 4-5 minutes.
- Add molasses to the butter mixture and cream until fully incorporated. Make sure to scrap down the sides if necessary.
- Add eggs one at a time to the butter mixture, mixing thoroughly to incorporate each egg between each addition.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients (flour mix) and wet ingredients (milk mix) to the butter in three stages–dry followed by wet followed by dry followed by wet, etc. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Spoon batter into cake moulds until about ¾ of the way full, being careful not to touch the exposed sides with batter. Tap the baking sheet lightly on the counter to get rid of any large air pockets. Use a small spatula or a spoon to smooth the tops of the batter.
- Bake for 25-35 minutes (shorter if you have smaller ring moulds) until a toothpick removed from the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from molds. Then glaze with syrup.
- For the syrup:
- While the cakes are baking, make the syrup. Place sugar and water in a heat-proof measuring glass.
- Heat the sugar and water in the microwave on high for a minute and a half. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
- (or, Heat in a pot on the stovetop until sugar dissolves.)
- Add alcohol and stir into the syrup.
- When the cakes are unmolded, poke the tops with a few small holes. Use a pastry brush to brush the syrup on the tops and sides of the cakes.
- For the raspberries:
- In a nonreactive saucepan, saute raspberries on medium high until they begin to release their juices.
- Add the lemon juice, sugar, Chambord and sifted cornstarch, to the raspberries, making sure to whisk to combine the cornstarch.
- Stirring constantly, bring the contents to a boil and simmer until the raspberries have reduced and are slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let cool. Set aside.
- For the icing:
- Combine powdered sugar with milk and almond extract. Mix well until a thick icing forms.
- Spoon icing into a squeeze bottle or piping bag fitted with round tip. Use immediately.
- Assembly:
- Use a sharp knife and cut a shallow cone out of the top of each cake, like filling a cupcake, but make a very shallow cut, about a centimeter in from the edge. Scoop out the cone piece.
- Using a pastry brush, brush more syrup in the cut-out hole.
- Fill the hole with raspberry topping, about 2 tablespoons per hole.
- Use the prepared icing in the piping bag to pipe a generous circle of icing around the raspberry topping.
