runeberg's tarts

some of you might not know who johan ludvig runeberg was, but you can check him here. legend goes that this national poet of finland liked to have something sweet with his morning drink of punsch.

another legend says that he had once asked for something sweet from his wife fredrika who at that time didn't have anything sweet in the house. she then decided to bake something from the ingredients she had.

general opionion agrees that runeberg's tarts have almonds, punsch and are decorated with raspberry jam. the tarts are only available for about a month, from january up until and around february 5th which is runeberg's birthday and one of the flag days in finland.

there are numerous recipes for these tarts, somehow i never quite took to liking them before. certain someone loves them so i've made an effort to make them a couple of times each january. i've narrowed the recipes i'll use again and again down to one. however, this entry will show you two recipes, one for the real stuff and one light version. scroll all the way down for both recipes in english

these were used in the light version, the red silicon mold is by iloleipuri and is especially for these tarts, though can be used for many other things as well






some of the pictures are from a patch of the real stuff i made at the cottage, this one is of the light version made at the shack







for the decorating you need 1 dl of icing sugar and 2 tsbl of raspberry juice. i didn't have any so i used black currant juice instead...







...and got a funky color paste. you can also use water to make this paste which should be thick enough so that it stays where you squirt it







pouring the paste into a mini-size resealable freezer bag







just nip out a corner







and start squirting







these here were made at the cottage. placing raspberry jam inside a ring of icing sugar. i find it easier to first squirt the icing sugar paste and then add the jam. for some strange reason all recipes tell you to do it the other way around







real stuff ready for coffee







light version all done and dressed. this shape is the traditional form and used by professional bakeries, at most homes these tarts are baked in muffin tins. most recipes also call for dipping the tarts in either almond liqueur or punsch when slightly cooled, or moistening them with a teaspoon of sugarwater each. as i'm not a big fan of either of the alcoholic beveridges and think the tarts are sweet enough without the sugarwater, i don't bother with these additions







tastewise i like the real stuff better. the light version tastes ok as such but they are quite bland compared to the other version. the lighter version could maybe dressed up different and not called runerberg's... creamcheese-lime frosting comes to mind first...


recipe for the real stuff by iloleipuri
makes 12

225 gr butter
1½ dl sugar
3 eggs
3 dl all purpose flour
1 dl almond flour
1½ dl breadcrumbs / cookie crumbs
2 tl baking powder
1 dl cream

raspberry jam, icing sugar, water, almond liqueur

1. beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add eggs one by one mixing each in thoroughly

2. mix all the dry ingredients and add them to batter alternating with the cream. fill the pastry forms 2/3 full. (the finnish version calls for squirting a ½ tsp of raspberry jam into the middle of each tart, never done it, but feel free to try it, i just think these are sweet enough with jam just on top)

3. bake in 200C oven for 15-20 mins or until light brown in color

4. dip the bottoms of cooled tarts in almond liqueur

5. place 1 tsp of raspberry jam on top of each tart and pipe the icing sugar paste around it


light version
makes 15


3 eggs
1½ dl sugar
1½ dl all purpose flour
1½ dl breadcrumbs
1 dl sliced almonds or cookie crumbs
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp almond extract or ground cardamom
½ tsp vanilla sugar
1 dl sour cream * (our kermaviili is similar to kiselo vrhnje)
100 gr liquid margarine *

* you can leave out the margarine and use 2 dl of sour cream instead

1. beat the sugar and eggs until light and fluffy
2. mix dry ingredients and and to batter
3. add sourcream and margarine (if using)
4. divide into greased muffin tins, silicone molds, individual muffins forms, etc
5. bake in 200C oven for 15-20 mins until light brown
6. cool and moisten (if preferred) and place 1 tsp raspberry jam on top and pipe icing sugar paste around the jam


to moisten you'll need:
1 dl water, 1 tbsp sugar, or 1 tsp almond extract and punsch or rum, or 2 tbsp of raspberry juice


on top:
icing sugar paste and raspberry jam, the recipe calls for 2 dl of jam, to me that's a lot.

also this recipe calls for inserting jam into the tart, wonder how i haven't heard of this before...