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Walnut Cake

Walnut cake from Erken 1914: egg yolks, 2 tbsp water and 225 g confectioners' sugar beaten thick; 100 g ground walnuts, 50 g flour with baking powder and 40 g potato starch folded in with stiffly beaten whites. Baked 40 minutes in a round loose-bottomed pan, split into 2 layers and filled with cream of 6 dl cream, 30 g sugar and chopped walnuts. Decorated with piped cream, whole walnuts and fruit.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 517 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

A party cake from the chapter 'Cakes for dessert' in 'Stor kokebok' (1914). Ground walnuts replace much of the flour, and the cake is decorated with piped cream in squares filled with whole walnuts and fruit – a typical showpiece cake of the era.

How to make it

  1. 1

    Grind the walnuts

    Crack 100 g of walnuts and grind them finely.

  2. 2

    Beat the egg yolks

    Beat the egg yolks and cold water with the confectioners' sugar into a thick, light mass – ¾ hour in the original, about 10 minutes with a mixer.

  3. 3

    Mix the batter

    Add the ground walnuts, the wheat flour mixed with the baking powder, and the potato starch. Finally, fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.

  4. 4

    Bake the cake

    Pour the batter into a greased and dusted round pan, preferably with a loose bottom, and bake at not too high heat (about 170 °C (340 °F)) for 40 minutes. Cool completely.

  5. 5

    Prepare garnish and cream

    Crack the rest of the walnuts. Set the nicest whole halves aside for garnish and chop the rest finely. Whip the cream stiff with 30 g sugar. Mix half of the cream with the chopped walnuts.

  6. 6

    Assemble

    Split the cooled cake into 2 layers and fill with the walnut cream.

  7. 7

    Decorate

    Cover the cake with a little of the white cream. Pipe the rest through a piping bag or paper cone into neat squares over the cake, and place whole walnuts alternating with fruit in the squares.

Changes from the original

Measurements have been converted to modern units (g, dl, tablespoon). 'Flormelis' has been given as confectioners' sugar. The ¾ hour beating time has been shortened to about 10 minutes with an electric mixer, and the oven specified as about 170 °C (340 °F). The 30 g of sugar for the cream has been listed as a separate ingredient.

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Time machine – what changed?

Pick two editions and see what Henriette Schønberg Erken added, removed or changed between them.

Modernised → 1949 (proofread, p. 598)~81% of the text changedremovedadded
225 g gr. valnøtter (100 g males til røren, resten til krem og pynt). 225 g melis. gr. flormelis 6 stk egg (plommer og hviter skilles). 2 ss kaldt vann. spiseskjeer koldt vann 50 g hvetemel. 1 ts bakepulver. gr. hvetemel 1/2 teskje bakepulver 40 g potetmel. gr. potetesmel 6 dl dl. kremfløte. 30 g sukker (til kremen). frukt (til pynt). Knekk 100 g gr. valnøtter knekkes og mal dem fint.. Rør eggeplommer males. Eggeplommene og kaldt vann vannet røres med melisen til en tykk, lys masse – i originalen ¾ sukkeret 1/2 time, med mikser ca. 10 minutter.. Tilsett tilsettes de malte valnøttene, hvetemelet blandet med valnøtter, hvetemelet, hvori bakepulveret er irørt, og potetmelet. Vend potetesmelet. De stivvispede hviter skjæres i til sist inn de stivpiskede eggehvitene.. Hell røren sist. Røren has i en smurt og strødd rund form, form; denne bør helst med ha løs bunn, og stek ved bunn. Kaken stekes i ikke for sterk varme (ca. 170 °C) varm ovn i 40 minutter. Avkjøl helt.. Knekk resten minutten. Resten av valnøttene. Sett valnøttene knekkes, de peneste hele halvdelene til side heleste benyttes til pynt og hakk resten å pynte kaken oppå, de øvrige hakkes fint. Pisk fløten stiv med Fløten stivvispes, irøres 30 g sukker. Bland gr. sukker; halvparten av kremen fløten blandes med de hakkede valnøttene.. Del den kalde kaken val­nøtter, resten anvendes til pynt. Den kolde kake kløves i 2 lag og fyll med valnøttkremen.. Dekk kaken lag, mellem disse legges valnøttkremen. Kaken dekkes over med litt av den hvite kremen. Sprøyt fløten; resten gjennom sprøytepose av fløten trykkes gjen­nem sprøitepose eller papirkremmerhus papir­kremmerhus i pene ruter over kaken, og legg over­kaken, i rutene legges de hele valnøtter vekselvis avvekslende med frukt i rutene. frukt. Til 8 å 10 personer.

Note on Modernised

Mål er omregnet til moderne enheter (g, dl, spiseskje). «Flormelis» er angitt som melis. Vispetiden på ¾ time er kortet ned til ca. 10 minutter med elektrisk mikser, og ovnen presisert til ca. 170 °C. De 30 g sukker til kremen er ført opp som egen ingrediens.

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Frequently asked questions

How long should the cake bake?
About 40 minutes in a not-too-hot oven. Use a round pan, preferably with a loose bottom, that is greased and dusted.
Why should the egg yolks be beaten so long?
The egg yolks, water and sugar are beaten for ¾ hour (by hand in 1914) to get an airy batter. With an electric mixer it is enough to beat until the mixture is light and thick. The stiffly beaten whites are folded in at the very end.
How are the walnuts and cream used?
100 g of walnuts are ground into the batter. The rest are cracked: the most whole ones are used to garnish the top, the others chopped finely. 6 dl of cream is whipped stiff with 30 g sugar – half is mixed with the chopped nuts as filling, the rest is used for garnish.
Where does the recipe come from?
From Henriette Schønberg Erken's 'Stor kokebok' (1914), p. 517, in the chapter on cream cakes and layer cakes. It is figured for about 12 servings.

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