Farmor's Nøderkage (Nut cake cookies)

Recipe

• 2 eggs

• 140 g sugar

• 200 g flour

• 140 g hazelnuts

1. Cream eggs and sugar really well until sugar is completely dissolved.

2. Add flour and then nuts. Stir to make sure nuts are well distributed.

3. Pour batter into a loaf pan (do not grease). It will be a thick batter. Spread evenly.

4. Bake at 300 degrees F for about 30 minutes. It should not be cake-like when you stick a skewer in. It should not be brown at all. It is ready when it is solid and heavy.

5. Cool, wrap, and put in the freezer until you are ready to slice.

6. When ready to bake, let thaw for about 30 minutes. Using a very sharp knife, slice thin slices with the cake flipped upside down. Place slices on a baking sheet with parchment paper.

7. Bake at 200 degrees F for about 5-10 minutes. This is just to crisp up the cookie. The colour should not be brown.

How it turned out

This recipe was passed down from my Farmor to my mom. Written in Danish, my mom had to figure out how to translate it in a time before the internet! Once she did, (and perfected the recipe for decades) she passed it onto me.

This was my first time making it, and it tasted exactly like I remember it growing up. This thin biscotti-like cookie brings Christmas memories flooding back.

What I learned

Cake should be hard. The first bake cooks the cake through. It will be solid. It should not be cake-like or it won't be crisp enough after the second bake.

Slicing will be hard. Unfortunately, having a hard cake means slicing the cake into thin cookies will be difficult. That means you're doing it right! To make it a bit easier, I wrapped the cake in slightly damp towels for 30 mins to soften them up a bit. I also used a very sharp knife (not a serrated knife).