“Now I’ve gone in a different direction”

Runeberg cookies have white chocolate instead of sugar icing. Roni Lehti

Today is an important treat day. After all, the tart named after our national poet is one of the few Finnish pastries.

– What an incredibly good delicacy runeberg tart is. Why not eat them all year round? Once a year, the överit must be pulled, says the chef Risto Mikkola.

According to Mikkola, the traditional runeberg tart is perfect, but you can bring new delicacies alongside it. Inspired by the runeberg tart, he developed a new kind of delicacy that may be a little confusing.

Mikkola took a risk, because the most strict runeberg cake lovers might be nervous about this variation.

– Now I’ve gone in a different direction. I made a cookie that remains gooey and juicy on the inside. It’s not about a dry, crunchy cookie, but a soft cake-like delicacy, Mikkola clarifies.

The cookies have the same ingredients as the tart itself: almonds, breadcrumbs and raspberries can be found in the recipe. Raspberries are both dried and pureed between cookies. If you don’t want to dry the raspberries, you can leave them out or buy pre-dried berries from the store.

Runeberg biscuit

250 g of butter

2 dl brown sugar

1.5 dl of sugar

1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 dl wheat flour

2 dl almond powder

1 dl breadcrumbs

1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees. Line baking sheets with baking paper. Measure the butter and sugars into a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until you get a light foam.

2. Mix the rest of the dry ingredients together, pour into the butter-sugar mixture and quickly beat into a smooth dough.

3. Divide the dough into about 30 pieces and place loosely on the baking sheet. The cookies spread out in the oven, so there is no need to flatten them at all. Leave plenty of space between the dough balls.

4. Bake on the middle level of the oven for about 10-12 minutes until the cookies are golden brown. Let the cookies cool.

Raspberry gel

2.5 dl of raspberry puree

0.5 tsp agar agar (gelling powder)

1. Put the raspberry puree in a pot and mix in the agar agar powder. Heat to almost boiling.

2. Refrigerate until the puree has solidified. Scoop the solidified puree into a blender and puree until smooth. Put the finished raspberry gel into a piping bag.

White chocolate

100 g of white chocolate

1. melt the white chocolate in a water bath or microwave, in 20-second cycles, stirring occasionally.

Dried raspberry

200 g of raspberries

1. Put the raspberries in a 70-degree oven overnight to dry. Leave the oven door ajar.

Stacking cookies

1. Squeeze the raspberry gel over the cooled cookie and place the cookies opposite each other.

2. Dip one edge of the cookie into the white chocolate.

3. Place on baking paper to cool, sprinkle dried raspberries on top.