Bløtkake
Adapted from North Wild Kitchen
Norwegian Cream Cake
Ingredients
Sponge Cake (Sukkerbrød)
5 eggs
175g (3/4 cup) sugar
175g (1 1/4 cups) flour
1 tsp baking powder
Custard
2 egg yolks
55g (1/4 cup) sugar
2 Tbsp corn starch
500ml (2 cups) whole milk
½ vanilla pod or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Whipped Cream
1 litre (4 cups) heavy whipping cream
5 Tbsp powdered sugar
Other
Berries of your choice for decorating
Strawberry Jam
Milk to moisten sponge (can use juice or syrup - we're going to try our home-made Mulberry syrup next time)
Method
Sponge Cake (Sukkerbrød)
Grease a 22cm round springform cake tin.
In a stand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together for 6 to 8 minutes or until it becomes stiff and light in color.
Sift the flour and baking powder over the batter and mix gently with a spatula.
Pour the batter into the prepared spring form cake tin.
Bake bake at 165°C for 35 to 40 minutes.
When the cake is done, allow to cool. You can also freeze the cake for future use.
Custard
Whisk the sugar and egg yolks together in a bowl.
Add the cornstarch and blend until the mixture is pale yellow and thick.
Scape the vanilla seed from the pod and add the seeds and pod to a saucepan with the milk.
Warm the milk just before it begins to boil, without letting it boil. Take it off the heat and discard the vanilla pod.
Steadily and slowly, add the milk to the bowl with the sugar mixture, whisking constantly to avoid any curdling of the eggs.
When you have mixed everything together, pour it back into the saucepan and return to the stove.
Over medium heat, cook the mixture until it has thickened.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.
Whipped cream
To make the whipped cream, place the cream and the powdered sugar in a kitchen mixer and whip on medium/high for a couple of minutes until the cream is stiff.
Assembly
Cut the sponge cake into 3 even horizontal layers.
On the bottom layer, spoon over some milk or juice (this will help soften the cake) then spread a layer of jam on top.
Top the jam with a good amount of the custard, followed by the whipped cream and spread it out to the edges of the cake.
Place the second layer of sponge on top and repeat with the milk, jam and custard and some more of the whipped cream (reserving enough to cover the cake).
Place the final layer of cake on top and cover completely with the rest of the whipped cream, sides and all.
Decorate the top with the berries.
Bløtkake is one of those cakes that actually tastes better the next day because the custard and whipped cream has had some time to soak into the sponge cake.