Blotkake (Norwegian Cream Cake) Recipe (2024)

I have made Bløtkake many times. My method is:- Seperate the eggs.
In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites until fluffy, then gradually add the sugar, continuing to beat until stiff. In one medium bowl, beat the egg yolks and vanilla extract. In another, sift the flour and baking powder together. Gently fold the beaten yolks and the flour into the egg whites until the yellow swirls and any clumps of flour disappear. Pour the batter into the two pans, then bake until the centers spring back.

If you warm the egg-sugar-vanilla mixture, you can get more volume. Put the eggs, sugar and vanilla in your mixer bowl and place bowl over (but not in) a pot of simmering water. Stir the mixture with your hand! You will feel the mixture warm up. You can monitor the mixture so it doesn't get too hot causing the eggs to cook. Also, you can feel the sugar melting. When the sugar no longer feels grainy and the mixture is evenly warm, put it on the mixer. You should get a lot of volume.

Bakeapple jam from Newfoundland-Labrador would be another option.
Bakeapples and Cloudberries are the same berry.

I agree that the problem is in the beating. I have made sponge cake for many decades with only eggs, regular flour, sugar, and vanilla (no baking powder at all). But the egg yolks and whites are beaten separately.

Delicious! I have s bunch of Norwegian friends, and they said that strawberries, bananas, and kiwis are the fruits they use in assembling this cake. I made it with strawberry jam and sliced banana between the layers, and strawberries on top, and it was great. I made it for a Norwegian friend's birthday, and she loved it.
I had some trouble with the cake, and made 2 to get 3 layers. It did not rise well, but tasted good.

It is not really a Norwegian bløtekake then, it is more like a sponge cake. The Norwegian bløtekake, is the same as a Genoise without the butter.
For a (Victoria) sponge you mix the egg white separately from the yolk, and then fold them, while the Genoise has you beat the eggs whole.
Bløtekake is similar to Fraisier, but we do not heath the egg mix. Use one spring pan, then cut in three. It makes it lighter, softer and more soaked (bløt).
Use a cream with ca 38% fat.
From Norway

I feel like this spongecake recipe isn't very good. I think that if they would have had you separate the eggs and use less yolk and more whites, that would have been better. It was difficult to reach a fluffy consistency with so much yolk. If I make this again, I'm using a different spongecake recipe.

It is actually called Bløtkake!
Love, the Norwegian people

Delicious cake. I made the mistake of assembling it just before i served it. It was a really hot Australian Christmas Day and I made it to salute the Norwegian family members. The sponge was still a bit dry but the while thing was indeed a "moist" cake the next day. So it is much better assembled at least half a day before serving.

FWIW, baking powder definitely loses its oomph after a relatively short time. If you used a container that had been open for a while, that might be the problem.

For lack of supplies I was forced to use lingonberry preserve instead of cloudberry and Cointreau instead of Chambord, but with those caveats I offer the following: at least double the amount of jam you add to the whipped cream for filling in the layers, & fill one of the 2 layers with straight-up preserves. Even with plenty of berries on top, the finished cake was one-note bland—pretty much straight whipped-cream flavor, much as I love the stuff—& needed more fruitiness.

Cloudberry jam has REALLY big seeds. Tasty cake, easy to make, but next I will use raspberry jam.

Think I could use limoncello as the liqueur?

Gave up ! I decided to use a different sponge (from Swiss baker, Marcel Paa , great website for German speakers btw!) . A delight to watch and learn from! Briefly : whisk over low heat in a saucepan 6 eggs , 160g sugar , vanilla 1/2 tsp , 1/2 lemon zest , 1 p. salt , till 104 F (40 C) , remove (quickly !) from heat , whisk 10-15 min till stiff/ smooth . Briefly fold in 210g sifted flour , finally 45 g melted butter. Pour into 9 in springform. Bake 355 for 35-40 min.

Would use a different sponge recipe in which eggs are cooked slightly w sugar to about 105 F prior to whisking to increase stability and structure . This type of sponge requires no baking powder and is much more tasty .

My kids always request a vanilla cake with fresh cream and berries for their bdays. I usually buy the Whole Foods Chantily cake (it’s delicious) but this year I felt inspired. As a first time maker of Blotkake, it turned out very well. I followed suggestions to beat egg whites separately to create volume. It worked! Lazy version… just did 2 layers separately in cake pans. If you have spring form, use them as the cake is a bit hard to remove.

I used half the amount of cream and 4 tablespoons of preserves and I still had a some filling left over!

My husband chose this as his birthday cake! Used creme de cassis and sprinkled sparingly. Delicious!

Such a delicious cake. My observations: 3 cups of heavy cream is a lot, I ended up with a ton left over and no use for it. I had barely enough batter for 2 layers, not enough at all for 3. I followed directions in one of the comments suggesting to whip the egg whites separately with sugar, beat the eggs and vanilla, and fold into the sifted flour with baking powder. Sponge cake came out great. I added a bit more confectioner's sugar to the whipped cream and also rolled the blackberries in it.

Made as written for husband's birthday on Dec 31. It was a big hit, very festive, and a lovely change-up from all the chocolate we had been eating over Christmas. A glass of dry sparkling rosé topped with Chambord and a raspberry went beautifully with it.

How in God’s name did anyone make three layers out of this?

Agree with all the notes that the yolks and whites have to be beaten separately. Did mine gluten free, and it worked great, no further adjustments needed.

The recipe looks correct, but the method is a bit off. 3-4 minutes for beating the eggs and sugar isn’t half as much as usually needed. True to the recipe, no need to separate the eggs (as others have suggested as we see in other sponge cakes more common in England, for example). Julia child put it best herself as she learned in her time spent in Norway, you should be able to spell the name “Ole” when you lift up the whisk and the ‘O’ should still be visible by the time you finish the ‘e.’

It should also be assembled a day in advance. “Bløt” means wet, and that is the main idea and what makes the flavors mingle and the taste and texture divine. I mix the jam with water and spoon it into the layers, then add the cream on top of each layer. Interestingly, cake flour doesn’t exist in Norway, but as the millings vary anyway, I am sure it isn’t wrong. Agree that many put bananas in the layers. Whatever is good according to the season works. Whipped enough, baking powder can be omitted.

I added 4 teaspoons of preserves. A very good cake over all.

For sponge cake, have eggs at room temperature, then beat them for about 15 minutes with superfine sugar. You don't have to separate them.

Think I could use limoncello as the liqueur?

I am a barely competent baker. I made this recipe as written before reading the comments. I had zero trouble getting the batter fluffy & silky & amazing; it baked up beautifully! I imagine it just requires a little patience to get the batter to where it needs to be. I could have gotten three layers out of it, but decided on two. I made the cake for friends who are in recovery, so smashed raspberries to make the juice & mixed the pulp into the filling instead of jam. It was absolutely delicious!