Runeberg torte

Ingredients

Cake

• 100 gbutter, softened
• 100 gsugar
• 1egg
• 100 gplain flour
• 80 gground almonds
• 80 gfine dry breadcrumbs, or crushed gingerbread
• 1 tspbaking powder
• ½ tspground cardamom
• 100 mlsingle cream

Soaking syrup

• 100 mlwater
• 60 gsugar
• 3 tbspdark rum, or almond liqueur

To finish

• 4 tbspraspberry jam
• 150 gicing sugar
• 1 tbspwater

Equipment

• 8tall cylindrical moulds, or dariole tins

Directions

1. Mix the flour, ground almonds, breadcrumbs, baking powder and cardamom. Use fine dry breadcrumbs or crushed gingerbread rather than fresh crumbs, which are wet and make the cake heavy.
2. Fold the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture alternately with the cream. Stop mixing the moment the flour disappears, because an overworked batter bakes tough.
3. Grease the moulds well and dust them with breadcrumbs. The crumb coating helps the tall narrow cakes release cleanly, which they otherwise refuse to do. Fill each mould about three-quarters full. Bake at 175°C (345°F) for 20 to 25 minutes until risen and golden and a skewer comes out clean.
4. Boil the water and sugar for 2 minutes, take it off the heat and stir in the rum. Add the rum off the heat so it is not driven off entirely, because the rum note is characteristic.
5. Turn the cakes out and set them on a rack over a tray. Spoon the warm syrup slowly over each cake, a little at a time. Warm cake and warm syrup, and add it in stages. Poured all at once it runs straight off and the middle stays dry.
6. Keep going until each cake has absorbed a good deal and feels heavy and damp. They should be genuinely moist right through, which is the point of the whole exercise.
7. Let them stand at least an hour so the syrup settles evenly. Mix the icing sugar with water into a thick paste. Spoon a dot of raspberry jam into the centre of each ring. Let the icing set before serving. They keep three or four days and stay moist because of the syrup.

Technique

• Crushed gingerbread in place of breadcrumbs is traditional and gives more spice.
• The moulds are sold in Finland specifically for these cakes.
• Runeberg wrote the words of the Finnish national anthem, which is why the day is marked at all.

Substitutions

• Dariole moulds or a muffin tin, accepting a different shape.
• Almond liqueur or arrack in place of rum.

Variations

• Made with crushed gingerbread for more spice.
• Without alcohol, using almond extract in the syrup.
• Baked as one large cake and cut into squares.

History

Eaten on 5 February, the birthday of national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg, whose wife Fredrika published a recipe for it.

Frequently asked questions

What is Runeberg torte?

Runeberg torte is a dessert from Finland: almond and rum cylinder cake topped with raspberry jam and icing. Eaten on 5 February, the birthday of national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg, whose wife Fredrika published a recipe for it.

How long does Runeberg torte take to make?

Runeberg torte takes 30 min plus 1 hr soaking of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 cakes. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Runeberg torte?

Yes, within limits. Dariole moulds or a muffin tin, accepting a different shape. Almond liqueur or arrack in place of rum.

What is the most important thing to get right in Runeberg torte?

Mix the flour, ground almonds, breadcrumbs, baking powder and cardamom. Use fine dry breadcrumbs or crushed gingerbread rather than fresh crumbs, which are wet and make the cake heavy.