Reimagining Bløtkake: Norwegian Funeral Cake
This recipe was originally printed in Death Warmed Over by Lisa Rogak and is the first recipe I have recreated from her book. After a little bit of internet sleuthing I was a little perplexed to find out that this recipe doesn’t seem to appear anywhere else, and the only “funeral” cake suggestions I could find from Norway were Bløtkakes, which are a traditional frosted cake. What I believe Rogak has created is a sour cream pound cake which is delicious but I cannot find any evidence to suggest that this is an actual traditional Norwegian Funeral Cake. But, here’s my plug, any food that you can bring to a funeral constitutes funeral food. I know that’s a big grey area. I think Rogak may have taken some creative license based off the idea that one or two blogs say that there was a tradition to frost a cake and spell the deceased’s name in the frosting, which is what Rogak says to do with the walnuts in her recipe. What I am posting is my first attempt along with some easier modifications and notes. The main thing you will notice is that my photo has no whip cream layers, that’s because I was not sure right away what the author was doing with the heavy cream, I mean I should have guessed but because I was so focused on this being a Norwegian style cake I had trouble picturing it, which I guess is the reason you test things out huh? I did have a small amount of whip cream left in the freezer so I scooped out a small amount in an attempt to make a halfway decent photo to share.
Do yourself a favor and just buy some store made vegan whip. I will post a recipe for homemade whip cream but honestly it’s kind of a pain in the butt and they make great store bought varieties that last longer and never fail to whip up. I also feel like this recipe has way too much butter like I think I clogged my arteries amount, but I have left it in its original form so that perhaps a more seasoned baker can make their own decisions, but a novice can just follow this and you will still get a delicious cake. I also had some serious sinking issues, which you can’t tell by my photos because each layer still manages to give the next one a little bit of support. I also made a rookie mistake of using what I now know to be not a great pan for a cake with a lot of fat, a removable bottom pan. Cut to me scrubbing a smoking oven in the middle of baking this as the fat ran out of the cake! Sigh.
After all was said and done I made a very tasty, but very sad looking three layer cake. If you intend on trying this recipe yourself I would encourage you to try using a bundt cake pan. I looked up several other sour cream cakes to see if I could find anything like this and most of the recipes use twice as many eggs. I can’t put my finger on what’s up with this recipe but I am going to revisit it and make updates in the future, sadly Lisa Rogak doesn’t cite any sources for her recipes so all I can do is cross reference based on my own knowledge.
Have any tips, tricks, or experience with sour cream cakes? Feel free to reach out! I love talking about food and enhancing my skills and cooking is a community experience.
For the Cake
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 cups soy milk, or other vegan milk (480mL), room temperature
2 cups brown sugar, or cane sugar (400g)
3 cups all-purpose flour, (360g)
2 teaspoons baking soda, (10g)
1 teaspoon sea salt, (2.8g)
⅔ cup vegan butter, melted and cooled (150g)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For the Cream
I like to make it easy and just buy store bought whip cream. Mama is tired but here’s a recipe if you’re hankering to make your own.
14 ounce Can Coconut Cream (400ml) 1 Can, Unsweetened (chilled overnight cannot cannot tell you how important this is!!!!)
3 Tbsp Powdered Sugar Optional
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
For the Sugared Berries
½ cup (118 g) water
½ cup (50 g) sugar
1 cup (130 g) cranberries, or the berries of your choice!
Cake Directions
Grease and flour two 8” cake pans and line with parchment paper. It’s essential so that the cake doesn’t stick.
Heat oven to 350°F/180°C.
In a small bowl or jar, add the apple cider vinegar and the soy milk together and stir to combine. It will curdle. Set aside.
Whisk together sugar, flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Add milk mixture, melted butter and vanilla. Beat with an electric whisk on medium speed for about 1 to 2 minutes until everything is just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and stir one more time to ensure everything is incorporated. Do not overmix.
Pour the batter equally into the cake pans and place in the middle rack in the centre of that rack. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven (test with a toothpick in the centre to ensure they’re fully cooked) and allow to cool completely in the pans.
Whipped Cream Directions
Place the can of coconut cream into the coldest part of your refrigerator and leave it there overnight.
The next day, take it out and carefully open it (don’t shake it around!).
You’ll see that the cream part has separated from the water and risen to the top.
Scoop that out into the bowl of an electric mixer, leaving the water behind. You can use the water in a smoothie or throw it out.
Starting at slow speed gradually increase speed until you achieve a whipped cream consistency.
The harder the consistency of the cream when you scoop it out, the quicker this will be.
Once you have whipped cream consistency, you can stop right there. You're done! OR:
Add some powdered sugar and vanilla for a sweetened cream.
Whisk again until mixed in.
Sugared Berry Directions
Bring water and sugar to a simmer making sure that the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool for 15 minutes.
½ cup water,½ cup sugar
Add berries into the saucepan and let the berries sit in the sugar syrup for 10-15 minutes.
1 cup cranberries
Remove the cranberries from the syrup and allow them to dry on a paper towel for one to two hours. Note that you can certainly use the cranberry syrup for other purposed – there’s no need to get rid of it! ( Happy Hour Anyone?!)
Coat the dried berries in granulated sugar and enjoy!
Assembling the Cake
Once the cakes have cooled gently take a knife and cut the tops off each cake to even them out.
Place the bottom of the cake cut-side up on a cake round or directly onto a cake stand or serving platter.
Spread whipped cream on top and dot with a layer of sugared berries (blueberries, blackberries, diced strawberries)
Place the second cake on top, cut-side down. Spread the whipped cream on the top and sides of the cake to cover. Decorate the top of the cake with remaining sugared berries and a few sprigs of rosemary.