Runebergintorttu — Finnish almond cakes with raspberry jam and icing

Preheat the oven to 180°C, conventional heat. Set six tall, round ovenproof molds on a baking sheet, each holding 150 ml, with an internal diameter of about 5.5 cm and a depth of 6.3 cm. Grease them with a total of 5 g butter and coat with 5 g breadcrumbs. Tip the crumbs from mold to mold, then divide the final loose crumbs among their bases; do not discard any. Reserve the remaining 120 g butter and 45 g breadcrumbs for the batter.

Thoroughly mix all 80 g cake flour, 60 g ground almonds, the remaining 45 g breadcrumbs, 5 g baking powder and 1 g cardamom in a bowl. Break up almond lumps with your fingers or a spoon. Separately prepare all 60 g milk and 100 g beaten shell-free eggs; preferably, they should not be straight from the refrigerator.

Cream the remaining 120 g softened butter with 70 g fine sugar and all 8 g vanilla sugar for about 3–4 minutes, until noticeably pale and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs in three portions, mixing briefly after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl so that no uncombined pieces of butter remain.

Add half the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, followed by all the milk, then the remaining dry mixture. Mix briefly after each addition with a spatula or a mixer on its lowest speed, just until combined. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. The finished batter should be thick, soft and uniform, with fine particles of almonds and breadcrumbs.

Divide all the batter evenly among the six prepared molds, about 90 g in each. Scrape in any batter left in the bowl with a spatula. It should reach roughly two-thirds of the height of the molds; gently level it with a teaspoon. Set the molds on one baking sheet with small gaps so hot air can circulate freely around each cake.

Bake on the middle rack for about 25–30 minutes at 180°C. The cakes should rise, turn golden brown and spring back when lightly touched in the center. A skewer inserted into the center of one cake should come out without liquid batter, with at most a few dry crumbs. Remove the baking sheet and leave the cakes in their molds for 10 minutes.

Toward the end of baking, pour all 60 g syrup water into a small saucepan and add 20 g sugar. Heat gently for about 1–2 minutes, stirring, just until the sugar dissolves completely. Do not boil until thick and do not caramelize it. Set the saucepan aside so the syrup is warm when the cakes have completed their first 10 minutes of cooling.

Brush or spoon all the prepared syrup over the six still-warm cakes, leaving them in their molds. Work in two or three rounds, allowing the liquid a moment to soak in before adding more. Scrape out the syrup from the saucepan as well. Leave the cakes for about 20 minutes until the liquid has soaked in; do not remove them from the molds sooner.

Carefully loosen the edges of the cakes and lift them onto a rack, supporting them so they do not break. Use an oven mitt if the molds are still hot. Stand the cakes on their bases, without trimming the tops or sides. Cool for about 30–40 minutes more, until completely cold; warm cakes would melt the icing.

Once the cakes are completely cold, divide all 90 g thick raspberry jam among their tops, about 15 g per cake. Shape a small round mound in the center, leaving space around it for the icing. Serve the jam with its seeds; do not strain it and do not add separate fruit as decoration.

Mix all 30 g powdered sugar thoroughly with 5 g icing water. The icing should be thick and smooth enough to hold a line. Use a teaspoon or small piping bag to divide all the icing into six rings around the raspberry centers. Leave for about 10–15 minutes to set. Serve one cake per portion; keep the finished cakes covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days and take them out shortly before serving.