Runebergintorttu season, is one of my favourite times of year. For those of you outside of Finland, Runeberg cakes are small moister almond cakes, topped with a ring of icing filled with raspberry jam. The are eaten to celebrate the Finnish national poet’s birth. I am a complete almond addict so I usually manage to eat my own body weight in torttu each year. However instead of the usual individual cakes, I decided to make a big version that can be shared with friends, although to be honest this one didn’t really get shared, instead it was like a giant Runebergintorttu dream for me!
Runeberg Cake – serves 6 – 8
Dry ingredients:
250 g flour
75 g almond flour
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/ 2 dl candied orange peel (sokeroitu appelsiininkuori)
1/2 dl almonds chopped
1 dl biscuit crumbs, for example biscoff or gingerbread biscuits
a good pinch of salt
wet ingredients:
3 dl almond milk
0.8 dl rapeseed oil
0.75 dl plant based yoghurt
1/2 tsp bitter almond essence
1/2 dl apple purée
2 tsp cider vinegar
100 g coconut sugar
to decorate – raspberry jam or I made my own jam from 200 g raspberries, 75 g jam sugar and a squeeze of lemon simmer for 15 mins before allowing to cool).
125 g icing sugar
Preheat the oven to 165 degrees c. and grease and line a 23 cm loose bottomed tin.
Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl and lightly mix.
In a separate bowl whisk together the wet ingredients and the coconut sugar until the sugar begins to dissolve.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until fully combined. Pour into your prepared tin and bake in the oven for 30 – 35 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Set to one side to cool completely before removing from the tin.
Meanwhile, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add a few drops of water, keep stirring and adding water drop by drop, until you have a smooth thick icing.
Use a spoon or icing bag to pipe out a thick circle of icing around the top edge of the cake. Allow to set before filling the inner circle with jam.
A Brit in Helsinki 