Ever since Thanksgiving, things have been a whirlwind around here and consequently I haven’t posted in a while. In addition, I also made a bunch of recipes that weren’t worthy of posting, but that changed today!
One of my sons had a holiday party in his classroom today and the theme was “An International Feast”. Every family was asked to make a dish from their ethnic background. My husband is of Danish heritage, so I decided to make something Scandinavian. Krumkake are actually Norwegian, not Danish, but don’t tell anyone. Denmark and Norway aren’t that far apart.
I got the idea from my sister. Her husband is of Norwegian heritage and his grandmother used to make these every Christmas. He grew up loving them. My sister’s Aunt Judy gave her a Krumkake iron a number of years ago (thank you Aunt Judy!) and my sister has been making them for Christmas ever since, keeping the nice family tradition alive. When my sister heard that I had to make something special for a school celebration she talked me into borrowing her Krumkake iron and whipping some up.
I don’t usually post time-consuming recipes or recipes that need special equipment, but these were so good that they’re worthy of posting. They were a huge hit at the school parties today. Two of my sons had parties, so I brought enough of these for two classes. In total, I was at the stove for 4+ hours, but seeing the smiles on the children’s faces made it all worthwhile.
I filled them with whipped cream (on demand) at school. I plan to put ice cream in them as well. I don’t like store-bought ice cream cones. I think they taste like cardboard. These on the other hand are spectacular and will be perfect as an ice cream cone. You can also serve them with powdered sugar on them.
A couple of tips. Making these is a little like making pancakes. The first one never looks as good as the rest of them do. Eat the first one yourself! Put on some good music because you’ll be standing at the stove for quite some time (~ 2 hours.) Have fun!
Krumkake
Adapted from Aunt Judy’s recipe1 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 cups flour
1 cup melted butter
1/2 tablespoon ground cardamom (more or less to taste)
1/4 teaspoon vanillaLine your stovetop (around your burner) with foil. There is a lot of butter in these wafer cookies, and as you turn the Krumkake iron some butter may leak out onto your stove. Using foil around your burner will save lots of clean-up.
Spray the Krumkake iron with Pam.
Preheat the Krumkake iron. It takes about 5 – 6 minutes to heat up over a medium-high flame. Don’t forget to flip it to warm both sides.
Using an electric mixer, beat eggs slightly. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until light and creamy. Slowly add melted butter.
Sift flour and fold into egg mixture with cardamom and vanilla.
Drop by teaspoonful onto heated Krumkake iron. Cook on both sides for about a minute over a medium-high flame; then remove and roll on a cone shaped form.
Remove from cone when cool or when the krumkake holds its shape.
Repeat process until all the batter is used.
Serve plain or fill with sweetened whipped cream and strawberries.
Yield: ~30 Krumkake
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What gorgeous creations! You did your kiddos proud, for sure. : )
Yay! It’s lovely to read about Norwegian food on foreign blogs. I’m Norwegian from Oslo. In Norway it’s tradition to bake seven types of christmas cakes for christmas. This is not “normal” cakes, but mostly crumbly cakes like this, and cakes that can be kept for weeks. This includes smultring – doughnuts, goro – like krumkake, but shaped like a playing card and more crumbly, pepperkaker – gingerbread cookies shaped like stars and people.
Glad you enjoyed them! Nice to see the tradition continue. Still remember many sore fingertips as I rolled the krumkake as my mom cooked them!
Wow! Your Krumkake looks amazing!
My boyfriend is Norwegian and we’re living in Oslo. We made Krumkake for christmas, ours are very crumbly and not nearly as beautiful as yours… But can’t complain, they’re so tasty! Next time, I will try your recipe 🙂
Those are beautiful krumkake. My grandma has been teaching me how to make krumkake lately, and one of the most difficult things about it is how to make them without burning one’s fingers. Do you have any tips?
Hi,
I wish I had some tips for not burning your hands, but unfortunately I don’t. I just work very quickly in an attempt to minimize the heat. Good luck!
Diane
I was taught how to make these by my grandmother and have taught my daughters as well. I bought double electric irons for myself and daughters from Bethany Housewares and they works wonderfully
Can a pizzelle iron be used?
Hi Pat,
I am not sure how this batter will do in a pizzelle iron. Pizzelle irons have deeper grooves than a krumkake iron, and krumkake batter is pretty thin, so I’m not sure this batter is ideal for a pizzelle iron. I believe pizzelle batter is thicker. If you end up trying it, please do let me know how it turns out.
I have my Mother’s old krumkake iron and still love making them – reminds me of her. Question – does anyone have a good way of cleaning one??? Through all the years mine has become built up with black burnt batter in the tiny holes. I’ve tried a tooth brush, etc. and nothing works. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and have a Merry Christmas! Please email me any helpful hints.
I have original instructions from my grandmas iron: wash with warm soapy water, never use harsh abrasives or steel wool on inside of plates; clean with a stiff vegetable type brush. My grandma taught me how to make these. She passed away many years ago, so I carry on the tradition and have taught my son. some years we have given them to teachers for a holiday gift. Although some years we are not able to fit this in before Christmas, so then it makes a perfect project for one of the cold snowy winter days.
I would like to see some pictures of the cooking process and helpful tips as to how I can use my waffle iron instead of the krumkake iron. Thank you.
Not much of a baker or dessert person, but I make an exception for krumkake! Love keeping alive Norske traditions. (Plus, lefse is too much work!)
~For fingertips: Use salad tongs to help shape the hot form around the cone. ~For cleaning, try soaking a paper towel in water mixed with dishwasher detergent and let it sit between the iron for an hour. Try using a plastic kitchen scraper to dig matter out of the grooves. ~For serving, mix ice cream and berries into a thick milkshake consistency and pour into krumkake then drizzle the whole thing with hot fudge sauce or liqueur (chocolate, hazelnut, almond, fruit, etc). ~For gifting, re-purpose a tin, or line a paper bag with decorative paper napkin, stack 2-3 together and arrange them upright in the bag.