Britatårta

The story

Britatårta is the Swedish name for a cake that began in northern Norway. Wikipedia's entry on Kvæfjord cake traces it to Kvæfjord Municipality in Troms county, credits Hulda Ottestad as its creator, and records that in September 2002 listeners of the Norwegian program Nitimen chose it as Norway's national cake over marzipan cake, carrot cake, kransekake and chocolate cake. Norwegians also call it verdens beste, "the world's best." In Sweden it is Britatårta and in Finland brita-kakku, and the same entry credits Brita Edland with popularizing it in both countries through a series of magazine articles. The method is simple: a thin butter batter is spread in a sheet pan, covered with meringue and nuts, and baked in one go, then cut into layers and filled with whipped cream. The American food blog Smitten Kitchen first read about it as a Finnish summer cake and fills it with strawberries. At Easter, the ScandiCuisine guide to Swedish holidays lists meringue cakes among the desserts and gives Britatårta as its example. The cake needs no special pans or decorating skill. Bake the layers on Saturday and fill them a few hours before Easter Sunday dinner, so the meringue stays crisp.