Æblekage

Name: Æblekage
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Denmark
Ingredients: 1 kg sharp apples, peeled and chopped; 80 g sugar, for the compote; 1 tbsp lemon juice; 200 g stale rye bread, blitzed to coarse crumbs; 60 g butter; 60 g soft brown sugar; 300 ml double cream, well chilled; 1 tbsp icing sugar; 2 tbsp redcurrant jelly

Layered Danish dessert of apple compote alternating with buttered rye crumbs, finished with whipped cream and redcurrant jelly.

Published on 11 May 2026·Updated on 10 September 2026

#apples#rye#cream#denmark#dessert

AI-generated image, not a photograph of the dish

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 25 min
Total: 50 min
Serves: 6
Difficulty: Easy

Method

Cook the apples with the sugar, lemon juice and 3 tbsp water, covered, for 20 minutes. Crush with a fork and cool.
Melt the butter in a wide frying pan, then add the rye crumbs and brown sugar.
Stir over medium heat for 8 minutes, until the crumbs darken and separate from each other. Spread them on a cold plate.
Whip the cold cream with the icing sugar until it holds on the whisk.
Build the dessert in a glass bowl, a layer of crumbs, then apple, and on until you finish with crumbs.
Cover with the whipped cream and dot small spoonfuls of redcurrant jelly over the top.
Chill for 2 hours before serving, and no more than three, so the crumbs keep their crunch.

Danish rye bread, dense and sour, gives this pudding its toasted grain flavour. There is no pastry at all here, only yesterday’s loaf put to use, which points to the dish’s farmhouse origin. Oats toasted in butter stand in for the rye when you want to skip wheat and rye.

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Nutrition per serving

Calories: 510 kcal
Protein: 4.8 g
Fat: 26.7 g
Carbohydrate: 67.3 g
Fibre: 3.6 g

An estimate computed from the recipe quantities and the USDA food composition database. Real values vary with the products used.

Frequently asked questions

Why are my rye crumbs not crunchy?

Either the bread was not dry enough to start with, or the crumbs cooled in the pan. Keep cooking until they clearly separate from one another, then spread them straight onto a cold plate: left in the hot pan, their own steam softens them again.

Which apples work best here?

Sharp varieties that break down as they cook, such as Bramley or Granny Smith. A sweet, firm apple stays in lumps and gives a flat purée that no longer balances the sugared crumbs and the cream. Taste before adding the full 80 g of sugar, since it depends on how sharp the fruit is.

Can any of it be made ahead?

Yes, as long as the parts stay separate. The apple purée keeps for two days in the fridge and the buttered crumbs for two days in an airtight box at room temperature. Assemble only at the last moment, because contact with the purée softens the crumbs within a few hours.

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