Vínarterta (Icelandic pronunciation:[ˈviːnarˌtʰɛr̥ta], "Vienna torte") or Randalín, is a popular dessert originating in 19th century Iceland, now popular among the descendants of Icelandic migrants to North America. The recipe has exhibited little change in the past 150 years and is often rigorously preserved by North American makers. Alterations to the recipe are often shunned.[1] Recipes vary slightly from family to family but most vínarterta are multi-layered cakes made from alternating layers of almond and/or cardamom-flavoured biscuit and prunes or sometimes plum jam, the filling sometimes including spices such as cinnamon, vanilla, cloves, and cardamom.[2][3][4] Other fillings such as apricot and rhubarb are less well known, but traditional going back to the 19th century.[5] The cake's history was the subject of a book chapter by historian L.K. Bertram who argues that Icelandic "Vienna torte" came to Iceland from Vienna through Denmark, likely arriving on the far northern island in a Danish cookbook or through a baker connected to Copenhagen sometime after 1793, but it's a debatable issue.[1] Icelandic bakers then revised the recipe to adapt to limited access to imported goods, resulting in a recipe that focused on dried plums, which were more cost effective and could withstand the long trip to Iceland. This recipe was brought to Manitoba by Icelandic immigrants to Canada, many of whom initially settled at New Iceland, but can be found throughout Icelandic settlements and households in North America, including the American midwest and the Pacific coast.[2][1]
The cake is now better-known in the Icelandic communities in Canada and the United States than it is in Iceland.[6][7] The modern Icelandic cake differs from the traditional cake, with common substitutions for the plum jam including cream or strawberries.[2]
The cake is typically served in rectangular slices with coffee.[6] It can be iced with bourbon flavored sugar glaze, however some recipes strictly reject the use of liquor, sometimes as a result of strong first wave feminist and temperance sentiment amongst earlier generations of Icelandic women.[8][1]
^Olafson-Jenkyns, Kristin (2002). The Culinary Saga of New Iceland: Recipes from the Shores of Lake Winnipeg. Guelph, Ontario: Coastline Publishing. pp. 181–182. ISBN9780968911907.
