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Suksessterte is a tart that you see so often at parties and cake tables in Norway and with Norwegian families throughout the world. In fact, no dessert buffet is complete without it in my opinion. My mother-in-law makes the best suksessterte and the whole family usually makes a beeline for it before any of the other cakes at all of our parties.
As much as I love suksessterte, I wanted to give it a bit of Easter zing and create something unique that still stayed a little bit faithful to it's roots. So I have added chocolate to the base of the tart and orange to the topping. Chocolate and orange are two ingredients that you see everywhere in Norway over Easter and this combines all three of the most popular Norwegian Easter ingredients into one rather rich, but deliciously indulgent treat.
I've suggested that this recipe serve 12 people as the tart is so rich, but if you have pre-teen kids like me you'll probably find you are left with just a few crumbs!!
Suksessterte med Sjokolade og Appelsin (Success Cake with Chocolate and Orange) Serves 12
Ingredients
For the base:
4 egg whites
150g/5.3 oz icing sugar or powdered sugar
150g/5.3oz chopped almonds, but not ground. Leave the skins on because it gives the tart it's characteristic colour and texture
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
90g/3 oz chopped chocolate or chocolate chips
For the topping:
100ml/3.5 fl oz double or heavy cream
125g/4 oz sugar
4 egg yolks
150g/5.3 oz butter, at room temperature
Grated rind of 1 orange
To decorate:
A little melted chocolate
Thin strips of orange peel
Or go crazy with some chocolate mini eggs, sprinkles or whatever takes your fancy!
Method
Preheat the oven to 160C/320F
Line the bottom of a 25cm diameter loose bottomed cake tin with a circle of baking or greaseproof paper. There is no need to grease the tin.
Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Sieve the icing sugar and baking powder together and stir in the almonds and chocolate. Carefully fold this into the whipped egg white, taking care not to knock out too much air. Pour into the prepared cake tin and smooth the top. Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for about 30 minutes. When it's cooked it'll be a nice rich golden brown and rebound slightly to a light touch. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely before even attempting to remove the tin. Once cooled, run a blunt knife around the inside of the tin to loosed\n the cake. Place a plate on the top and tip the tin upside down. Lift the tin off and carefully peel off the baking paper. Place a serving plate on top of the cake and tip it back so it is the right way up. Wash the ring part of the cake and slip it back over the cake to form a ring. Don't worry if you don't have a loose bottomed tin, simply make a ring shape from some foil and shape it around your cake to form a "wall".
To prepare the topping, put the cream, sugar and egg yolks into a pan and cook slowly over a low to medium heat stirring constantly. The mixture will gradually thicken and turn less opaque. You really do need to stir all the time or it will split. Try not to boil the mixture. It will take about 5 minutes. Stir in the grated orange rind. Allow it cool for a minute or two before stirring in the butter a cube at a time. You will end up with a smooth, rich and shiny topping that is a beautiful golden colour. Pour the topping over the cake and gently tease it to the edges. Put it in the fridge to cool and set for a couple of hours. When it's set you can carefully remove the tin or foil from around it.
Decorate with the melted chocolate and orange peel or however your imagination takes you!
Vær så god!
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