Danish Wedding Cake Made for Louise and Gord's Wedding!

This beautiful photo of the cake I made for my daughter's wedding was taken by an amazing young photographer, Baz Kanda.

Danish Wedding Cake (Kransekage)

1 lb. ground (blanched) almonds

(I ground the almonds myself and worked with a mini food processor to mix the ingredients...a bigger food processor would have been nice but you work with what you have! :-) )

4 egg whites

1 lb. powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon baking powder

Add baking powder to blanched almonds and mix.

Add slightly beaten egg whites and vanilla to almonds.

Sift in powdered sugar and mix.

Warm dough in a pan (over warm water) and stir continually.

Cool until next day.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees C.

Roll dough out into sausages the size of thick fingers. Form rings by butting and pinching the ends. Then peak the top of the rings so that the tops form slightly inverted v's. You can get pans in which to bake the rings but if you dont have that make the rings concentric in size so that one will fit atop the next, gradually getting smaller and smaller until the top ring is formed.

Bake on non stick cookie sheets for ten minutes. When cool, turn onto cooling rack to finish cooling.

Make the icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons water (to desired consistency)

1/2 tsp lemon juice or rum flavouring

If not stiff enough add more sugar. Put in pastry tube with small tip or in a baggie with a small hole cut in the corner.

To Assemble the Cake!

Put some icing on the platter to anchor the cake, then place first ring. Apply icing in scallops to each ring and place the next ring on top. The icing will make the rings stay together if they are indeed concentric enough so practice with wax paper to know how long the cake 'sausages" should be. Me, the first time through I just guessed at it and it worked, but my background is math so maybe that helped... :-)

Decorations of flowers, flags small candy pieces can be used depending on the occasion.

They can be affixed with the icing "glue" .

The cake is traditionally dis-assembled by the bride and groom and pieces broken into 2 inch lengths for the guests.

Banana Bread - Just Tried New Recipe

I just tried this fantastic recipe from the Circle of Moms bulletin and it is really good and so easy! Plus it does not use a ton of sugar! My grandaughters love to bake with me and I am trying this one with them again soon!

Source: Inken Chrisman
Makes
12-16 slices

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup whole wheat or regular flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp vegetable oil

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Lightly spray a 5 x 9” loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine the bananas, vanilla, egg and sugar in a large bowl and mix well. In another bowl combine the flour and baking powder and mix well.

Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and mix lightly. Add the vegetable oil and mix just until moistened.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 45minutes to 1 hour, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove the bread from the pan and cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

ENJOY it! We loved it!