Runeberg's Torte

 

I just had my Birthday a few days ago 2nd of February yeeeyyy)  and was inspired by one of our seasonal pastries, Runebergin torttu, to make my Birthday cake with the same ingredients.

Runebergin torttu or Runeberg's Torte is named after our National poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804-1877) who was famous for writing the lyrics to our national anthem. The torte was rumoured to have been created by his wife Fredrika and according to legends J.L. Runeberg enjoyed this torte for breakfast accompanied with a glass of Punsch. The torte is found in all the Finnish bakeries from January until the 5th of February which is Runeberg's birthday. The torte is normally the size of a cupcake and contains almonds and arrack or rum.
My version was a bit bigger. I made the cake with the same ingredients as traditionally found in the torte but filled it not only with raspberries but also mascarpone cream. I was missing maybe a bit of the bitter almond taste but will incorporate that to  the recipe next time.
The taste is not exactly the same as a Runeberg torte but it turned out to be a pretty yummy cake.

So here's the recipe of my Birthday cake!
Also Happy Birthday to Mr. Runeberg!


For the cake:

100g gingerbread cookies (I used Annas pepparkakor)
2 1/2dl almond flour
3 dl all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp cardamom
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
250g butter
1 1/2 dl sugar
1 1/2 dl brown sugar
4 eggs
2 dl cream

For moistening:
1 dl water
1 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp punsch

Mascarpone cream:
mascarpone 2dl
cream 2dl
sugar

Raspberry jam:
 2 bags (300g) Frozen raspberries
1 1/2 dl jam sugar

Heat the oven to 200° C
Crush the gingerbread cookies in a blender.
Mix together the gingerbread, flour, almond flour, baking powder, cardamom and vanilla sugar.
Beat the butter and sugar until light and a bit fluffy.
Add the eggs one by one while mixing.
Add the cream.
Mix in the dry ingredients until well incorporated.

Prepare 2 cakemolds 15cm in diameter.
pour in the batter equally into both.

Bake the cake in the oven for approximately 40 mins

Let the cakes cool down on a rack and cut of the dark and hard top. Cut them in half to create more layers.
Make the raspberry jam. I just heated some raspberries in a kettle and added some sugar used for making jams. I let it simmer until it thickens up just a bit. I prefer the taste of this to store bought raspberry jam.

Whip the cream and mascarpone and sweeten with just a bit of sugar.

Moisten every layer with the punch mixture and add raspberry jam and mascarpone cream. My cake ended up being really rustic and a bit messy...but it a was really moist and tasty. However, personally being a fan of the almond taste in the original Runeberg torte I was hoping I had had some almond extract or amaretto at home.