Vinarterta Recipe for Christmas
Vinarterta is a traditional Icelandic recipe with Christmas fruits and spices. It makes a showy dessert to bring to a dinner party, or serve at home.
1 cup butter
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ cup milk
Prune filling:
3 cups pitted prunes
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; stir into creamed mixture alternately with milk to form a soft dough. Chill for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut 7 waxed paper circles to fit into bottoms of 8” layer cake pans. Divide dough into 7 balls. Press dough evenly to edges of each waxed paper circle. Set circles into greased pans. Bake in 350°F oven for 20 minutes or until very lightly browned.
Prune filling: Place prunes in saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender, about 25 to 30 minutes. Drain and reserve liquid. In blender or food processor, combine prunes, brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and cardamom. Puree until smooth, adding enough of reserved liquid to make spreadable. Let cool.
Let cakes cool for a few minutes, then remove waxed paper. When cakes are completely cooled, spread prune filling on 6 of the 7 layers. Stack cakes on top of each other, placing top layer smooth side up. At this point, the cakes will be somewhat crisp; the filling will soften them in storage.
Store in a tightly covered tin for a few days before cutting. If desired, add a thin layer of marzipan to the top or a thin layer of butter icing. Cake may be frozen or kept in a cool place.
