Krumkake
Heritage is a funny thing. When you look back to where you came from, how far back do you go? One generation? Two? All the way back to where your ancestors came from? I grew up in Junction City, Oregon, a town that was founded by people of Scandinavian heritage. Every August, the town would hold a Scandinavian Festival to celebrate the heritage of those who founded the town. We all participated. I served food at various booths, and danced, and dressed up, and looked forward to it every year.
I have no Scandinavian heritage in my background. My mother loves genealogy, and has only ever found one little link to Norway in all of the many branches of our family tree. Because of Junction City, I still consider it part of MY heritage. The fond memories of every summer, the treats, the dances, the costumes, are all a part of me, even if none of my direct ancestors ever set foot in those countries. Because of that, I have collected and still make several of my favorite recipes from those festival days.
Krumkake was always my favorite, a fine pastry cooked like a very thin pancake, then rolled into a cone and filled with cream or pudding or ice cream, or fruit, or whatever creative thing people can come up with. I made these in the Girl Scout booth at the Scandinavian festival. The girl scouts served ice cream cones, and if you were willing to pay extra, would serve them in krumkake cones. I got to make the krumkake on old krumkake irons that were black with use. Krumkake irons have beautiful designs etched into them. They work similarly to a waffle iron- you put in the batter, close the lid, and wait for the krumkake to cook. When hot, you pull them off of the iron, roll them into a cone, and let cool. They cool thin and crispy, and when they were done, I would fill them with ice cream and serve them to the customers.
To make krumkake, you can TRY making it in a regular pan, but to get it really thin, I do recommend a proper iron. Amazon carries them, and so do specialty kitchen stores sometimes. My favorite filling is a homemade custard or pudding with some whipped cream piped in on top. When using these for events, I make the krumkake and store them in a sealed container until just before the party, then I fill them and display them on a tray. After an hour or so, the filled krumkake will start to get soggy, so don’t fill too many at once.
Broken krumkake are great sprinkled on ice cream for a crunch topping. You can also shape the warm krumkake into cups and scoop ice cream into them that way.
Krumkake
5 Tbl butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1 cup flour
Melt the butter carefully- do not overheat. Mix in the sugar, stirring well. Using a mixer, add eggs and beat until a light yellow color. Add milk and flour and continue to mix until smooth. Follow the instructions on a krumkake iron to properly heat. When ready, spoon a Tablespoon of batter onto the iron, and close the lid. Wait until ready according to iron directions, open, and remove krumkake. While warm, wrap the krumkake around a cone form and allow to cool. Fill with custard, ice cream, fruit, whipped cream, or other toppings as desired.
*note- I have not tried using the batter without the iron. It should technically work if you spread it thin on a nonstick pan, but I can’t vouch for the method. Let me know if you try it!