Deep fried cakes

Before the cast iron stove found its way into Danish homes in the 1830s, baked cakes were a special luxury. In households without a stove, cakes cooked in fat were more or less the only way to enjoy something sweet at the Christmas table. We still know klejner, peppernuts and fat biscuits today, all of which were either cooked in fat or baked at the open hearth.

Deep fried cakes

'Smolt' is an old Danish word for rendered fat. The Smolt cake offers a good idea of how Christmas cakes tasted before the arrival of the stove, although you can certainly adjust the flavour with modern spices such as vanilla and lemon zest, and you may choose to dust them with icing sugar.

Procedure

Mix the three types of flour, salt, nuts and berries. Add the milk and stir well. Add the honey and eggs. Whisk the batter, which should have the consistency of firm porridge. Adjust with a little more flour or milk if needed.

Melt and heat the fat in a pot.

Using two spoons, gently lower spoonfuls of batter, each about one to two tablespoons, into the hot pork fat. Leave space between them, so avoid cooking too many at once. The Smolt cakes are cooked for about ten minutes and turned during cooking so they become crisp and golden.

Serve with honey.

Ingredients

4 persons
  • 75 g barley flour
  • 75 g rye flour
  • 90 g wheat flour
  • 0,5 tsp salt
  • 60 g hazelnuts, finely chopped
  • 120 g dried cranberries or hip berries, finely chopped
  • 500 ml milk
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 2 large or 3 small eggs
  • Lard (or vegetable fat)
You should also try our Elderflower cakes. Go to the recipe here.