Recipes: Krumkake 2 ways

Krumkake may sound funny, but it tastes awesome.

My husband likes to taunt me with the sound of this Norsk dessert.

“KaKa” he says; like in the begining of the Selena movie when Selena lets the pet chicken in the house and the Mom is mad because there is now “KaKa” all over the walls. (watch this clip; at the 1:25 mark)

“KROOOOOOM ka-ka” I say, as if that makes it better.

It doesn’t.

“CRUMB-kaka” I say, as if altering the oooh to an ahhh will improve the sound.

It doesn’t.

I try to explain that they are a lot like homemade waffle cones–almost exactly–but that doesn’t help, either. Waffle Cones sound better than Kaka.

In fact, there is no way to get past the funny name that comes with so many Northern European sweets and treats (Ebelskivers, Stroopwafels, Lefse, Fattigmann…) until you’ve been lucky enough to eat them.

I was lucky enough as a kid to have Krumkake, lefse, rosettes–all of it–on a fairly regular basis. As the Queen of the Sons of Norway lodge, I was always around for celebrations like May 17th and Santa Lucia in the winter. For the 10 years before getting my crown, I gobbled up the treats at heritage camp, folk dancing performances and when my Grandma bought them at fundraisers at the lodge.

Since we aren’t Scandinavian, and this was well before the time of the internet and allrecipes.com, we didn’t know how to make these goodies. Most families had pizzelle irons, lefse sticks and rosette molds that had been handed down to them by their grandparents; we weren’t so lucky.

So now that I’m an adult, and I have the internet, I spend entirely too much time looking–searching–for perfect recipes and equipment for my edible childhood memories. Krumkake is one of those memories.

Special Equipment: you will need a Pizzelle/Krumkake iron and a cone for rolling the waffles around.

A simplified version of krumkake was found at allrecipes.com:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Beat egg. Add sugar and vanilla and mix well. Add whipping cream. Add dry ingredients and beat until smooth.
2. When krumkake iron is hot, put 1 teaspoon of batter on the iron and bake until light brown. Roll on stick immediately when krumkake is still hot.
3. OPTIONAL: you can fill the krumkake with cream before serving, or dip half of it in melted chocolate. Or just dust with powdered sugar, like a normal person.

A more traditional take on Krumkake, from Adventurejournalist.com:

 

INGREDIENTS

3 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter (melted and cooled)
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cardamom

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat Krumkake iron (medium-high heat, let both sides warm).

Beat eggs and sugar together until blended and fluffy. Mix in rest of ingredients until well-combined. Pour a generous tablespoon of batter onto the iron. Close the iron and flip over until both sides are very lightly browned (about 30-45 seconds per side, depending on your stove).

When done, open the iron and place the rolling cone on one edge, wrapping Krumkake along the cone until it’s complete. Set rolling cone aside to cool while you cook the next one.

Once cool, pile Krumkake pastries on a plate and serve any way you like. Traditionally they were served with whipped cream or fruit inside. Tonight we served them as accompaniments to vanilla bean ice cream, drizzled with chocolate-Bailey’s sauce.