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Vínarterta

Vínarterta (Icelandic layer cake) is ideal for Christmas and/or weddings. Make it at least 4 weeks in advance of event. The name translates literally as "Vienna cake". (Click on image to see more photos; read about the origins of Vínarterta or go directly to the recipe.)

This recipe has been made in late Novembers to be consumed at Christmas time by my family for as long as I can remember. We adore this cake. When we were little, rationing was strictly imposed on us or we would have eaten it all in a couple of days.

A family friend who was an Icelandic immigrant (we called her "Aunt Emma") brought the cake each Christmas to my father's house when he was still living with his parents. Then after he and my mother were first married, the cake was delivered to them for Christmas. But the recipe was thought to be lost when "Aunt Emma's" sister, who made the cake, passed away. My mother found a likely looking recipe a couple of years later in one of the Winnipeg daily newspapers and everyone was thrilled that it was exactly the same cake. So the tradition continues. My mother still makes the cake (and so do my sisters and I) to have at our own homes and to give away as presents.

It was served at two of our weddings and I have a vivid recollection of being at my younger sister's wedding reception. One of my nieces, then 5, was demolishing, piece by piece, the plate of cut up vínarterta and had just stuffed a whole piece of cake into her seemingly little mouth. With cheeks bulging and hand delicately held in front of her mouth, she managed to garble out ecstatically, "I love this cake...."

The Recipe  

for one 9 inch round 5 layered cake; make at least 4 weeks in advance of eating

Ingredients

Preparation

1. Filling: Cut each prune in half to check for pits. Don't be tempted to leave this step out. Put prunes into a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil then simmer 10-15 minutes (til tender) Watch for burning!
2. Drain and reserve liquid.
3. Put prunes into food chopper and purée.
4. Return prunes to pot. Add sugar, cooking liquid and cinnamon. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring constantly until thick. Again, watch for burning! (Trust me, I know....) When the prunes resemble molten lava and allow you to see the bottom of the pot for a longer bit of time after a stir, they're probably ready.
5. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Cool.
6. Layers: Using the outside of one of the cake tins, trace 9 inch circle onto wax paper. Cut out 5 circles. Set aside.
7. Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in eggs one at a time.
8. Into a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and cardamom. (If you have purchased whole cardamom pods, remove the outer husk and grind the seeds in a coffee grinder. Green cardamom pods are preferable to white or brown.)
9. Add a small amount of dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Mix in cream and almond extract. Mix in rest of flour. (Let your hands be your friends.)
10. Divide the dough into 5 equal parts. Put a wax paper round into each of the two 9 inch cake tins. Press one ball each onto wax papered 9 inch cake tins. Make sure they are even and flat. Bake 2 at a time at 375F (don't try to do more than 2! The cooking time goes way off and leads to disaster) until each is very delicate gold on the edge. (10-12 minutes)
11. Let each layer cool separately. Put cooled layers together with prune filling (did you remember to put in the vanilla?) evenly distributed in four parts. There is no prune filling on top layer.
12. Assembly: Put cooled layers together with prune filling (did you remember to put in the vanilla?) evenly distributed in four parts. There is no prune filling on top layer.
13. Wrap tightly in plastic then again in foil and in another plastic bag or cake tin. Store in a cooler part of the kitchen (not the fridge) for about three to eight weeks before serving. (The cake can be frozen but it will not cure in the freezer.) When the cake is served, cut it in small squares like Christmas cake. The cream coloured layers contrasting with the prune filling are quite stunning on the serving plate.

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Many thanks to Icelandic cooking and food writer, Nanna Rögnvaldardóttir for correcting my spelling of the name of this cake and telling me about the origins of Vínarterta. (I met her in the Epicurious Kitchen Councel Forum)

To Christmases Past "Disaster Averted" <>8<> Christmas Eve Menu 1996 <>8<> Christmas Eve Menu 1997 <>8<> 7 Dec - Advent 2002 <>8<> 9 Dec - Advent 2003 <>8<> blog from OUR kitchen - Mmmm... vínarterta

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ejm (aka llizard) 2000, 2002, 2006
Toronto Ontario Canada