Right now I am missing my grandmas favorite cake, hjónabandssæla, a traditional cake from Iceland. Food is such an important to the culture and places that I visit but that also means that when I travel for a long time I long for the food from home and the smells and tastes can give you a feeling of belonging and comfort.
Read more: Don’t miss this Cake in Iceland.The Traditional Happy Marriage cake
Hjónabandssæla, is a traditional Icelandic happy marriage cake or marriage bliss as some translate it. It’s a classic cake that I believe is in every family’s recipe book. The cake is made out of oatmeal, then spread with jam, preferably rhubarb, the extra dough is spread around on top.
My grandma was always very particular about the placement of the dough dollops on top. She wanted small spots so you could see the redness of the homemade jam. My local bakery puts the extra dough in a chequered pattern even though some people prefer to cover the whole top with extra crumbs. Its crazy how the taste of they cake changes so much depending on placement of the extra dough. How they distribute the extra dough makes the cake become a completely different cake, it just doesn’t taste the same.
The Cake from the Bishops Garden
A restaurant in Hólar í Hjaltadal, in the north of Iceland, makes their happy marriage cake in a unique way. Hólar is more known for its place as pastoral in the 12-13 century. Guðmundur Arason, often referred to as Guðmundur góði (or Gudmund the Good), was a bishop there. There are some sources that say that he had a luscious garden where he grew fruits and vegetables becouse he had many kinds that were unknown to Iceland as he got seeds from Europe, like plumes and tomatoes.
The plum jam makes the Bishops happy marriage cake unique and special. The restaurant in Hólar í Hjaltadal now uses this story to make their cake. They recreate the cake based on the stories of what was growing in the bishops garden Instead of rhubarb like everyone else.
I may be biased, but my grandmas cake is the only one that is made the correct way. She makes with her cake with jam out of the rhubarbs from her back garden. Which also makes hers the tastiest.
I wish I were there smelling the fresh pie coming from her oven.
