With its Old World flavors and many layers this cake make seem intimidating to make. But, it’s actually one of the easier cakes I’ve ever made! That’s because there’s no frosting involved and no fiddly cutting of delicate cakes. The layers of this “cake” start out as cookie-like creations that are much easier to bake and to work with. The only downside to this Icelandic Vínarterta cake is that it takes a little while to reach peak perfection. On the other hand, it only gets better with time and you’ll see what I mean as you read on.
Even though the Icelandic and Scandinavian communities in the US are smaller than say, German-American communities, there is still a hearty tradition of making this cake for special occasions here. Any major holiday is a great time to make this, and almond cakes are served at almost every special function from birthdays to wedding anniversaries in Iceland.
The base of this cake is the luscious, rich, buttery, almond cookie/cake layers. This dough comes together easily and smells heavenly while you mix it. For this recipe we’re using 2 13”x18” size sheet pans as that’s a size that many people have on hand. This will make a square cake that is roughly 8″x10″ in size. If you’d rather make a round cake then go for it, but you might need to re-use some pans so it would take longer to finish.
The filling is an aromatic mixture of dried plums, lemon, vanilla, and cardamom. I will be the broken record here and say that freshly ground cardamom is the best for baking.
You probably know dried plums by their less sexy name of prunes, which is actually the French term for plums. They don’t tend to have a reputation as a party food, but in this cake they are wonderful and their sweetness shines from between the layers of almond cake.
There are many cakes that use the combination of plums and almond, but this one has got to be one of my favorites.
About the wait time: this cake is best served after the fruit filling has sat in between the layers at least overnight. This softens the cookie layers and makes them more like cake. If you can let the cake sit for 2-5 days it’s even better. That is if it lasts that long in your house.
Icelandic Vinaterta
Diet: Vegetarian
For the filling:
- 2 cups water
- 32 oz pitted prunes
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or more to taste
For the cake:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for flouring
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon almond extract
- 1/2 cup milk
Preparation
- Add water and prunes to saucepan. Cook over medium until prunes are soft, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool, placing in refrigerator if needed, then add them to food processor with remaining filling ingredients. Pulse until uniform and a spreadable texture.
- Preheat oven to 350˚F while prunes cook. Cream butter and sugar together for cake using electric mixer. Mix in eggs one at a time. Combine flour, cardamom, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Combine milk and extracts in a small bowl. Alternate adding in dry mixture and milk mixture to butter mixture until all have been added and dough is uniform in color. Finish mixing by hand if needed. Mixture will be like thick cookie dough.
- Roll out dough on floured surface to ¼” thick. Transfer to lined sheet pans (13”x18” size) using rolling pin. Or press into lined pans then roll out to smooth. You should end up with 2 half sheet pans or 6 round 9” cake pans. Trim edges if using rectangular pans.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes but do not over bake. Layers should be firm but not brown. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing to cooling racks to cool completely.
- Cut cakes in half so you end up with 4-6 pieces roughly 8”x10” in size. Trim any uneven edges. Place first layer on serving dish and spread fruit mixture over the top and to edges. Place second cake layer on top, followed by more fruit mixture. Repeat until all layers have been used, ending with a cake layer.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 2-5 days to soften the cookie/cake layers. Cut into squares to serve. Optional: dust with powdered sugar just before cutting (use a perforated pizza pan to get dots as in photos). Or make a simple glaze for the top from milk and powdered sugar.
Recipe adapted from Port and Fin.