Kvæfjordkake

Kvæfjordkake is a cake that is a well-loved favourite at celebrations in Norway. It is also known as verdens beste, meaning “the world’s best.” A soft cake base is topped with meringue and almonds and baked, then cut in two and filled with cream.

Baked as one sheet, then layered in two

In one example from a collection of traditional Norwegian dishes, butter and sugar are combined with egg yolks, flour and milk, and the batter is spread on a baking tray. Meringue made by whisking egg whites with sugar is spread on top, sprinkled with chopped almonds, and baked together with the base. Once cooled, the cake is cut in half and filled with a mixture of vanilla custard cream and whipped cream.

When the two halves are stacked, the soft cake and cream show at the cut edge, and baked almonds can be seen on top of the meringue. Some versions use rum-flavoured cream instead of vanilla. The lightness of the meringue and the richness of the dairy cream come together in a single slice.

From a café in a harbour town

This cake is associated with Hulda Ottestad, who came from Kvæfjord in northern Norway. According to a Norwegian encyclopedia, she ran Café Allianse in Harstad with her sisters, and she bought a recipe called “King’s Cake” from a Danish confectioner and adapted it. Reducing the amount of almonds, which were expensive, is said to have been one of her changes.

Citing an account by her grandchild about their grandmother’s cake, the encyclopedia states that the original recipe included sponge, vanilla cream, an almond layer and meringue. The cake, adapted at a café in the north, came to be known by the name of her home district, Kvæfjord.

In 2002, it was chosen as the “national cake” in a listener vote on the Norwegian radio programme Nitimen. In 2024, it also proved popular in a vote on a programme by a broadcaster. Known by the nickname “the world’s best,” it is a cake that is cut and shared at family tables and celebrations.

Glossary