NORWEGIAN KRUMKAKE AND SPRITZ

NORWEGIAN KRUMKAKE

Krumkake (with various spellings) and spritz (sprits) are two more cookies in the Norwegian cook's holiday
arsenal. To make krumkake, one must invest in a krumkake iron and cone form. To make spritz, one needs a simpler and less expensive tool, the cookie press.

KRUMKAKE IRON AND CONE FORM

There are two kinds of krumkake irons, the old-fashioned stove-top kind, and the electric iron. Surprisingly, there's not much different in the price - about $45 for the stove-top version, and $50 for the electric iron. Both leave a pretty, intricate pattern on the pastry. And either way, the hot krumkake is immediately rolled onto the cone form until it hardens.

YOU CAN FILL YOUR KRUMKAKE WITH

WHIPPED CREAM

OR WHIPPED CREAM AND FRUIT!

Or, you can enjoy your krumkake plain, as we did. I'm printing this recipe, which features whipped cream and nutmeg, but there are other recipes that use vanilla or cardamom for flavoring. All you have to do is Google Krumkake, Krumkaka, Krum Kake, Krumkaker or Krumkager.

WHIPPED CREAM KRUMKAKE

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup cream, whipped

1/2 cup butter

3 eggs

2 cups flour

Beat eggs, add sugar, cream, butter and nutmeg. Add enough flour to handle easily, testing on the hot iron. Place one teaspoon of dough on iron and bake until a very light brown. Roll quickly onto a cone form.



NORWEGIAN SPRITZ OR SPRITS

In a previous post I said that Norwegian Christmas cookies are all made with similar, simple ingredients, and that it's the presentation that counts. There could be no better example than spritz, or sprits, made only with butter, eggs, sugar and flour and squeezed out through a spritz press.



SPRITZ PRESS

A spritz press costs about $17.00 at Scandinavian import shops or on amazon.com.

SCANDINAVIAN SPRITZ COOKIES

1 pound butter

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

5 cups flour

Mix well and put through a cookie press. Bake in a moderate oven until lightly browned. Leave plain or top with colored sugars, nonpareils, dragees or candy sprinkles. Add a maraschino cherry to the  middle if desired.