Recipe
🍰 DESSERT
Vínarterta
A striped layer cake of thin cardamom shortbread and spiced prune filling, an Icelandic Christmas heirloom.
Icelandic · medium · serves 12
prep 40 min · cook 30 min
~334 cal · 5g protein · 41g carbs · 17g fat · 1g fiber · 17g sugars · 10g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Vínarterta, Vienna cake, is an Icelandic Christmas cake with a curious history: it faded in Iceland itself but was preserved almost unchanged by Icelandic emigrants to Canada and the United States, who kept baking it as a link to home for over a century.
It is built from many thin layers of firm, -scented shortbread cake stacked with a spiced prune filling, creating dramatic stripes when sliced. Made well ahead so the layers soften and the flavours meld, it is dense, not too sweet, and deeply tied to Icelandic heritage and the holidays.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 12
3 cups flour
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tsp ground
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups pitted prunes
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
1
Cream the butter and sugar, beat in the eggs and almond extract, then work in the flour, baking powder, and cardamom to a firm dough.
2
Divide, roll into thin rounds, and bake each at 350F (180C) until pale gold, about 10 minutes.
3
Simmer the prunes with a little water, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla and mash into a thick filling.
4
Stack the layers with the prune filling, then wrap and rest a few days before slicing.
✎ Chef’s note
The rest is essential. Freshly made, the layers are hard; after a few days wrapped up, they soften into the right dense, sliceable texture.
Icelandic-Canadian heritage tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Reykjavík. Reykjavik's harbour kitchens turn the day's catch into comfort: cod and haddock, salted, dried, and stewed into plokkfiskur with potato and butter. Lamb grazed on wild herbs, skyr, and dense dark rye baked slowly in the ground complete the Icelandic table.
🗺️
Iceland. Iceland's cuisine is forged by a harsh North Atlantic, lamb, skyr (thick cultured dairy), and abundant fish, historically preserved by drying, smoking, and fermenting. Rye bread baked in geothermal heat is a local marvel.
🌍
Europe. Europe has written a great deal of its food into law. A regulation of 1992 created the protected designation of origin and the protected geographical indication, tying a name to a place and a method, and an EU evaluation published in 2021 counted more than three thousand registered names across those schemes, from cheeses and hams down to particular shapes of bread.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Iceland
PlokkfiskurIceland’s "plucked fish": cod and potatoes folded into a warm, oniony white sauce, served with dark rye and butter.
Hafragrautur (Icelandic Oat Porridge)Creamy stovetop oat porridge simmered with a pinch of salt, served the Icelandic way with a spoon of skyr, brown sugar, and butter.
PylsurIceland's lamb-based hot dog with crispy and raw onions, remoulade, and a sweet-brown mustard, a Reykjavik institution.
Browse all Iceland recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven, Rolling pin.
Storing it: Store in an airtight container. Most keep 2 to 3 days at room temperature, and longer refrigerated.
Make it a Iceland meal
HangikjötDinner
Similar dishes from around the world
Bermuda Rum CakeBermuda
PavlovaNew Zealand
Bolo PretuCuraçao
SheqerpareKosovo
Kalb el LouzAlgeria
Apple PieUnited States
Frequently asked questions
What is Vínarterta?
A striped layer cake of thin cardamom shortbread and spiced prune filling, an Icelandic Christmas heirloom.
Where does Vínarterta come from?
Vínarterta is a Icelandic dish from Reykjavík, Iceland.
Can Vínarterta be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Vínarterta recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Vínarterta safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Vínarterta take to make?
About 70 minutes total (40 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking), serving 12.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.