Why should the butter be creamed for so long?

The original 1914 recipe says the melted and clarified butter should be creamed with the sugar for 1 hour. The long creaming works air into the batter — the cake has no baking powder, so the air from the creaming and the eggs is the leavening. With an electric mixer it goes considerably faster.

How thick should the batter be, and how is it baked?

The batter is spread about one finger thick in a lid from a tin box (unbuttered) or on trays lined with white, buttered paper with the edges folded up two fingers high. It is then sprinkled with coarse crushed sugar, blanched finely cut almonds, and currants, and baked light golden brown.

How is the cake divided up?

It is cut into diamonds (rhombus shapes) with a sharp knife while still freshly baked. If needed, the pieces are dried lightly in the oven afterward. The recipe makes about 50 pieces.

What does the recipe contain?

1/2 kg butter, 1/2 kg sugar, 10 eggs, 1/2 kg wheat flour, 75 g almonds, 75 g currants, and 1 teaspoon vanilla powder. The eggs are stirred in two at a time, then the flour and vanilla.

Mor Monsen

Name: Mor Monsen
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 50 servings
Cuisine: Norwegian
Ingredients: 500 g butter (melted and clarified); 500 g sugar; 10 pcs eggs; 500 g wheat flour (sifted); 75 g almonds (blanched and finely cut); 75 g currants; 1 tsp vanilla powder (or vanilla sugar); 2 tbsp pearl sugar (coarsely crushed sugar for sprinkling)

Mor Monsen from Erken's Grand Cookbook 1914: clarified butter creamed with sugar, 10 eggs, flour, and vanilla; the batter is spread in a thin layer in a sheet pan, sprinkled with coarse sugar, almonds, and currants, baked light brown, and cut into diamonds.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 565 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

Mor Monsen is one of the best-known Norwegian Christmas cakes, baked in a thin layer and cut into diamonds. Erken describes the old method with a tin-box lid or a tray lined with folded-up buttered paper.

How to make it

1
Cream butter and sugar
Melt and clarify the butter, let it cool a little, and cream it well with the sugar — the original says one hour by hand, 10 minutes with a mixer.
2
Add eggs, flour, and vanilla
Stir in the eggs two at a time, then the flour and vanilla powder.
3
Fill the pan
Spread the batter one finger thick in a sheet pan lined with parchment paper folded up two fingers high along the edges (originally an unbuttered tin-box lid).
4
Sprinkle over
Sprinkle over coarse sugar, blanched finely cut almonds, and currants.
5
Bake and cut
Bake at about 180 °C (355 °F) until the cake is light golden brown. Cut into diamonds with a sharp knife while it is hot. If needed, dry the diamonds lightly in the oven.

Changes from the original

The quantities in the OCR lacked numbers for butter, sugar, and flour; here they are set to 500 g each, which is standard in Erken's proportions with 10 eggs. Clarified butter is retained, the creaming time shortened with a mixer, and the baking temperature estimated at 180 °C (355 °F). The tin-box lid is replaced with a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

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Tidsmaskin – hva endret seg?

Velg to utgaver og se hva Henriette Schønberg Erken la til, fjernet eller endret mellom dem.

Fra1914 1949 Modernisert

Til1914 1949 Modernisert

1914 (korrekturlest, s. 565) → 1949 (korrekturlest, s. 658)~32% av teksten endretfjernetlagt til

~~1/2~~ ½ kg. smør ~~1/2~~ ½ kg. sukker 10 egg ~~1/2~~ ½ kg. hvetemel 75 gr. mandler 75 gr. korinter 1 ~~teske~~ teskje vaniljepulver. Det smeltede og klarede smør røres 1 time med sukkeret. Eggene røres i, to ad gangen, ~~derpaa~~ derpå melet og ~~vaniljen.~~ vanilijen. Røren ~~lægges~~ legges i en fingers tykkelse i ~~blikbokslok,~~ blikkbokslokk, som ikke smøres, eller ~~paa~~ på plater, belagt med hvitt, smurt papir, brettet op om kantene 2 finger høit, overstrøes med grovt, støtt sukker, ~~skoldede, finskaarne~~ skåldede, finskårne mandler og korinter; stekes lyse gulbrune og skjæres i ~~spidser~~ spisser med en skarp ~~kniv.~~ kniv, — Om om nødvendig ~~tørres~~ tørkes de ~~let~~ lett i ~~ovnen.~~ ovnen, ganske lett!

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Frequently asked questions

Why should the butter be creamed for so long?: The original 1914 recipe says the melted and clarified butter should be creamed with the sugar for 1 hour. The long creaming works air into the batter — the cake has no baking powder, so the air from the creaming and the eggs is the leavening. With an electric mixer it goes considerably faster.
How thick should the batter be, and how is it baked?: The batter is spread about one finger thick in a lid from a tin box (unbuttered) or on trays lined with white, buttered paper with the edges folded up two fingers high. It is then sprinkled with coarse crushed sugar, blanched finely cut almonds, and currants, and baked light golden brown.
How is the cake divided up?: It is cut into diamonds (rhombus shapes) with a sharp knife while still freshly baked. If needed, the pieces are dried lightly in the oven afterward. The recipe makes about 50 pieces.
What does the recipe contain?: 1/2 kg butter, 1/2 kg sugar, 10 eggs, 1/2 kg wheat flour, 75 g almonds, 75 g currants, and 1 teaspoon vanilla powder. The eggs are stirred in two at a time, then the flour and vanilla.

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