Rainbow Lefse Pride Cake
A full spectrum of colorful, fruity whipped cream and fluffy Norwegian lefse, topped with six kinds of fresh fruit, make this cake a feast for all the senses.
Happy Pride Month! This cake is both a celebration of my identity as a queer person and a celebration of my Norwegian family heritage. Growing up, my dad and I would make lefse (a fluffy, potato-based flatbread originating from Norway), and typically enjoy it with a bit of butter and sugar. For this recipe, I wanted to take it up another notch by making a full lefse cake. I took some inspiration from mille crepe cake, which layers crepes with whipped cream, added in a lot of colorful, fruity flavors, and voila!
Servings: 10 to 12 | Prep / Cooking Time: 4 hours 10 minutes | Chilling Time: 9 hours
Large pot
Strainer
Potato ricer
9” x 13” baking dish
Baking sheet
Griddle / lefse grill
Pastry cloth / silicone mat
Rolling pin
Flat icing spatula
Parchment paper
Hand-mixer / stand-mixer
Small and large piping bags
Large star piping tip
Offset spatula
Lefse:
5 lbs. (about 8 medium) russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 tbsp butter, room temp and cubed
2 ½ cups flour + more for dusting
⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
Strawberry Whipped Cream:
½ cup heavy whipping cream, cold
2 tbsp freeze-dried strawberry powder
3 tbsp powdered sugar
Red food coloring
Mango Whipped Cream:
½ cup heavy whipping cream, cold
2 tbsp freeze-dried mango powder
3 tbsp powdered sugar
Red food coloring
Yellow food coloring
Pineapple Whipped Cream:
½ cup heavy whipping cream, cold
2 tbsp pineapple gelatin dessert mix
3 tbsp powdered sugar
Yellow food coloring
Kiwi Whipped Cream:
½ cup heavy whipping cream, cold
2 tbsp fresh kiwi juice (about 2 large kiwis)
3 tbsp powdered sugar
Blue food coloring
Yellow food coloring
Blueberry Whipped Cream:
½ cup heavy whipping cream, cold
2 tbsp berry blue gelatin dessert mix
3 tbsp powdered sugar
Blue food coloring
Blackberry Whipped Cream:
½ cup heavy whipping cream, cold
2 tbsp blackberry syrup (I used Torani)
3 tbsp powdered sugar
Blue food coloring
Red food coloring
Vanilla Whipped Cream:
2 cups heavy whipping cream, cold
½ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp clear vanilla extract
3 tbsp cold water
2 tsp unflavored gelatin powder
Assembly:
4 to 6 medium strawberries
1 small mango
1 small pineapple
2 to 3 large kiwis
5 to 7 blueberries
3 to 5 blackberries
3 tbsp apricot jam
1 tbsp water, hot
Lefse (2 hours 35 minutes prep / cooking + 9 hours chilling)
Place potatoes in a large pot, cover with water, and bring just to a boil over high heat.
Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes, or until fork tender all the way through.
Strain potatoes and use a potato ricer to rice them into a bowl. Set aside.
Place the cubes of butter at the bottom of a 9” x 13” baking dish.
Rice the potatoes a second time into the dish so it covers the butter. Gently mix to ensure the butter is fully incorporated.
Cover and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour, then refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
Add flour, cream, salt, and sugar to the potatoes and mix with your hands until a crumbly dough is formed. Be careful not to overmix.
Divide dough into approximately 32 balls, about 2 inches in diameter.
Place on a baking sheet and refrigerate.
Preheat griddle (or lefse grill if you have one) to 400 F.
Generously flour a pastry cloth or silicone mat and a rolling pin.
Taking one chilled lefse ball out of the fridge at a time, roll it very thin, about 1/16” thick.
If the lefse starts to stick to the surface or the rolling pin, dust with more flour.
Carefully slide a flat icing spatula under the lefse, making sure it is completely detached from the mat. With the spatula in the middle of the lefse, lift and transfer it to the griddle, unrolling it gently with the spatula.
Cook the lefse until bubbles form, about 3 minutes, then flip.
Cook the other side another 3 minutes.
Transfer cooked lefse to a plate covered with a clean kitchen towel. Keep the cooked lefse covered so they don’t dry out.
Roll out and cook the rest of the lefse, two to three at a time (or however many will fit on your griddle).
Allow lefse to cool completely under the kitchen towel.
Cut out a 6” diameter circle of parchment paper. Using this as a guide, trim down 19 lefse so they are all perfect circles.
Transfer lefse to an airtight container and store at room temperature until assembly.
Strawberry, Mango, Pineapple, Kiwi, Blueberry & Blackberry Whipped Creams (30 minutes)
Make each of the fruit whipped creams using the following steps:
In a medium bowl with a hand-mixer, or stand-mixer, whisk the cream on low speed until soft peaks form.
Add the fruit powder (or juice/syrup), powdered sugar, and a couple drops of the food coloring.
Continue to mix on low until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to overmix.
Transfer each whipped cream to a small piping bag and keep chilled until assembly.
Vanilla Whipped Cream (5 minutes)
In a large bowl with a hand-mixer, or stand-mixer, whisk the cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla on medium until soft peaks form.
In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin powder over the cold water and let solidify, about a minute.
Place gelatin mixture in the microwave and heat for 15 to 20 seconds just until it liquifies.
With the mixer on low, drizzle the gelatin mixture into the cream and whisk until stiff peaks form.
Transfer to a large piping bag with a large star piping tip.
Refrigerate until assembly.
Assembly (1 hour)
Place one of the lefse on a cake board or serving dish.
Cut off the corner of your blackberry cream piping bag and pipe a layer (about one third of the total cream) on top of the lefse.
Spread the whipped cream into an even layer all the way to the edge with an offset spatula.
Repeat two more times so you have 3 purple layers.
Place another lefse and repeat the same process for the blueberry cream.
Repeat the process for the remaining colors in the order of kiwi, pineapple, mango, and finally strawberry.
Place the last lefse on top of the final layer of strawberry cream.
Cover the entire cake with the vanilla cream, using the offset spatula to smooth the top and sides.
Pipe large rosettes along the bottom edge of the cake with the remaining vanilla whipped cream.
Wash and dry the fruit.
Quarter the strawberries and place in a ring around the outer edge of the top of the cake.
Cut the mango into long strips and place the strips in a ring just inside the ring of strawberries.
Slice the pineapple into small wedges and place in a ring inside the ring of mango.
Slice the kiwi, then cut into half circles, and place in a ring inside the ring of pineapple.
Place the blueberries in a ring inside the ring of kiwi.
Finally fill the center with blackberries.
In a small bowl, combine the apricot jam and hot water.
With a silicone or pastry brush, gently brush the glaze onto the fruit.
Serve immediately. Leftovers may be stored in the fridge, covering any exposed sides of the cake with plastic wrap, up to one week.
Enjoy!
Be sure to check out my Best Practices page for tips on how to make this recipe yourself. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions and feel free to tag me on Instagram @made.by.shade if you make it!
-Shade