Norpro Cake Forms Nonstick Kransekake Norwegian Dessert Ring Tower New

My mom is in her 70s and has been making kransekake at least for Christmas - often for weddings, birthdays and other special occasions in between. She's an expert, and she taught me well. These rings are exactly right - good heft, cook evenly - all the photos are of kransekaker baked with these rings. They work well if you smear in a light coating of butter and coat lightly with semolina. But the real trick with kransekake is getting the right texture - done right, it's got some crusty bite on the outside, and is soft and slightly chewy on the inside. This is a total crap shoot under normal circumstances - it will either be brittle like biscotti or kind of mealy-soft. Still delicious of course, because it's basically marzipan, but not RIGHT. The trick, proven over dozens of kransekake baking, is to make the kransekake at least 24 hours in advance - but you can make it a month ahead, too if you have a good freezer. As soon as it's cool out of the oven, place it in the freezer. I like to put all 3 rings out of a mold nested inside of each other, put a square of cardboard on either side, and put two or 3 layers like that in a 2 gallon plastic bag, squeezing out all the air. Take the kransekake out a few hours before you plan to serve it, let it thaw for maybe a half hour, then do the icing and decoration. By the time it's fully thawed, the texture is ideal. If you overdid your baking a bit and some rings are still hard and crispy all the way through, save those rings for the second day - by then, they will soften up at the center and be just as good as the perfectly baked ones. If you don't believe me, do an extra ring next time you bake one, and treat that one as described above. Tell me it's not worlds better. The other great thing with this trick - is kransekake becomes the ultimate make-ahead dish. You can make your Thanksgiving kransekake tomorrow, and all you need to do the day of is ice it!

Love them they don't stick and are well made

This was my first attempt at making kransekake and these pans made it very easy. I was worried at first because my aunt (who was born in Norway) told me she has never had any success with kransekake pans sold in the US. She uses the sausage attachment on her Kitchen Aid to form the rings and then has pans that she brought back from a Norwegian bakery. I made them using the recipe and directions on the box with only 1 minor change - I added some almond extract to punch up the almond flavor. The pans are great for making the rings the right size so they will stack nicely and look good. You could just roll the dough and form it in a circle on a baking sheet but then you have to break out a ruler or tape measure to make sure you get the rings in all of the different sizes. The pans are so much easier! Clean up was easy as well, just some soapy water and they were clean. Great pans!

Finally, these nonstick pans made my Kransekake perfectly! No sticking! I still used spray corn meal.

These worked like a dream, far superior to the vintage single-ring forms I had. The multi-ring design makes baking easy because it takes up less room in the oven, and is easier to store. These have a nice non-stick coating, but I found I still had to use a non-stick spray plus a dusting of powdered sugar on the pans to get a really easy release. But I was very happy with these pans.

After having seen Paul Hollywood of "The Great British Baking Show," I knew I had to purchase these in order to make a kransekake to celebrate my husband being Norwegian this Christmas. I gave the pans 4 stars because the box instructions were rather brief. When it comes to specialty recipes more IS better. Though I used Paul's recipe, there are things I will change a bit when done again in a week. Note: Paul bakes his at 375F for 10 minutes or until golden and I must admit that this worked out great. I am including a photo, so asked that you excuse my wonky piping, as CRPS pain in my right hand was very bad that day due to over-use. Suggestion: Unless you have your own grinder, purchase professionally ground almonds at the market. My Cuisinart couldn't quite get the almonds down to the desired consistancy for this recipe.

I have been wanting to try my hand at this recipe since I spent some time in Norway, and figured I'd wait until the holidays to give it a go. After some (several) Icelandic beers I decided to give it a go late last night. I made the rings finger thick rather than pencil thick as the box suggested. I also oiled and then dusted with corn meal rather than just oiling. And I hand washed the rings, as per the recommendation. Cake rings lifted out quite easily, rings cooked perfectly...evenly, crispy outside, chewy inside. If you're wanting to try a unique baking project then I recommend these pans...I intend to try my hand at a few more variants soon.....UPDATE: I added photos of the box recipe since people were asking, but it's not the best recipe. Neither is Paul Hollywood's that everyone is raving about. I am told by Norwegian friends that the key to this is to hand grind the almonds, as almond flour loses some of the natural fats in the processing stage and that affects the flavor. Don't kid yourself into being lazy by saying you care about reduced fat, this cake has over a pound of sugar in it anyway, it's worth doing this traditionally

I had never heard of kransekake until I watched a British baking show's holiday special. I knew I needed to get the pans to make one of these amazing creations! I did not use the recipe on the box, instead used a combination of GBBS recipe and suggestions from those who had made it. The pans were so very easy to use, making my first kransekake a real show-stopper! I look forward to seeing what else I can do with the ring molds. Five stars, I love these pans!