What have I gotten myself into? I went to Williams Sonoma to get a really nice small snowflake cookie cutter for the center of festive Linzer Tarts and ended up buying a whole set of fancy cutters. My adult daughter saw them and has begged me to make a Snowflake Kransekake like the one pictured on the box.
This intimidates me much more than the fancy Buche de Noel I have made in years past. I love to make cookies but have no skills in something of this magnitude, so hoping you can help.
First, does anyone have a good recipe for the cookies? This tree tower requires two cookies of each size, so I will probably make two batches at least. It needs to be a sturdy cookie as well as something that doesn’t spread. I’m thinking of adding some grated lemon rind to give it a nice pop of flavor in case anyone eats it (which I hope they do, don’t want to waste it).
Second, Royal Icing. I’ve looked at online recipes and bought piping equipment and meringue powder. I’m thinking of the method of whipping the meringue powder with a mix of water and fresh (strained) lemon juice then adding the confectioner’s sugar. Is that a good technique or other tips?
Finally, I ordered a rolling pin with guides so the cookies will be the same thickness. What height do you suggest? 1/4, 1/2 inch?? I’ll be making a practice batch to compare heights.
My daughter will be working with me as a team on the decorating. Thank you for any tips you have to avoid our final creation looking like something that belongs on Nailed It!
While that looks spectacular… I’m afraid I can’t offer any help as I have never seen anything like this. Every Kransekake I have seen is made with rings from almond flour and/or marzipan, egg whites, sugar, etc. and is much more cake-like in texture.
How about alternating gingerbread cookies with plain or chocolate sugar cookies? A half inch cookie is too thick. I’d think 1/4" to 3/8" thick. This doesn’t look too difficult. Lower the baking temp 25-50 degrees, baking longer, so the tips aren’t brown and crumbly by the time the cookie centers are firmly baked. You will probably need to bake the larger cookies longer than the smaller ones. Don’t skimp on the icing and dragees!
The product page links to their sugar cookie recipe, so I’d imagine you could use your own version, or variations thereof? An easy base recipe would allow for some playing with colors in the dough to alternate cookies or layers, and so on.
Yep. There are a million Jul traditions for Danes. This is one. I’ll try to do a post of some as we get closer to the main event. This is this the Super Bowl for my wife and her mom ! @Claus knows what I’m sayin !
I am making the Christmas Kransekake next weekend. Today and tomorrow however, I am doing my practice run.
I have a quick question about Royal Icing (with meringue powder). There are two popular methods of preparation. The first calls for mixing meringue powder and confectioner’s sugar together then adding water/flavorings. The second calls for mixing the meringue powder and water first then adding the confectioner’s sugar. Which way do you think is best?
I am going to make a couple large cookies to get the feel of it, the rest I am making to to include in my cookie gifts tomorrow to friends and neighbors. So I will be using some of the stiffer icing to practice line and point decorating, but the rest will be used for flooding smaller cookies.
I’m also thinking of using some of King Arthur’s lemon powder in both the cookies and icing to give the cookies a lemon tang.
So we did our test run today. My daughter did a terrific job piping.
Learned a few things:
The cookie needs more lemon rind. I went that way rather than lemon powder but didn’t add enough.
1/4 inch is the right height for the cookies.
I made the icing as per your recommendations, worked fine.
Royal icing takes FOREVER to harden.
Final results: Snowflake Kransekake! It was a family affair, with me baking the cookies and prepping the icing. Daughter did all the piping. (I put the red dots on.) My husband and his mechanical mind put the layers together.
