Nordic Lingonberry Pie with Cardamom
A seasonal lingonberry pie with the nuttiness of almond flakes and the Nordic notes with cardamom, you will love this flavor combination! Bake with the berry bounty from the autumn forest, or use frozen lingonberries year-round.
When autumn frost paints the forest in red, this time calls for seasonal treats. Tart lingonberries will make you grimace, if not paired with other flavours to get the autumn vibes going! In this recipe, the yogurt softens the flavour, and fariinisokeri, a light brown sugar, enhances the flavours of lingonberry with slight caramel notes.
Lingonberry and caramel are like best friends.
Some pair lingonberry with marangue or custards, but I think they slightly drown the lingonberries’ original flavor (if you don’t taste it, you could use any berries, not just lingonberries, right?)
You can make a salty caramel sauce to accompany this pie, too!
Unlike my soft apple pie and crumbly blueberry pie, this Nordic lingonberry pie has a more muffin-like texture, and you can also bake it separately in muffin tins.
In this pie dough, almond flakes are mixed into the dough with the lingonberries.
If you are a friend of almonds, you will love my Swedish Tosca cake too! It has a yummy, crispy, caramelized almond topping!
Short on time?
Pin it for later!
Ingredients you’ll need for the lingonberry pie
There are a handful of ingredients that are the key to the structure and the flavour of the lingonberry pie.
The key ingredients
The lingonberries (of course) are the main ingredient of this bake, almond flakes create the structure, light brown sugar gives caramel notes, and it wouldn’t be a Nordic bake without the fragrant cardamom. So let’s dive a bit deeper.
Lingonberries
Tart in flavour and are the queen of this dish for sure! You can use both freshly picked and frozen ones.
I have not tested this recipe with lingonberry jam, but if you want to try it out, don’t mix it with the dough like the berries. If you poke some small holes into the dough in the pie tin to dollop the jam inside, you’ll get sweet jam pockets. It will be sweeter than the original recipe for sure! Let me know in the comments if you have tried!
Almond flakes
Almond flakes create texture and nuttiness and visually beautifull toppings if you want to sprinkle on the top of the pie after oven too! Make sure that you use fresh flakes to obtain the best flavor.
Light brown sugar
We Nordics use fariinisokeri (in Finnish, or farinsocker in Swedish), which is a moist, soft sugar with molasses flavor. The closest substitute is light brown sugar. If you want to have a stronger molasses flavour, you can swap to dark brown sugar too.
Cardamom
The simple, yet so fragrant flavor of cardamom makes all the difference in this pie. In Nordic Countries, it is traditionally used in baking, and it is a dream when paired with lingonberries.
I use cardamom so often and so much that I buy crushed cardamom seeds, but if you use it more seldom or want a truly fresh cardamom aroma, use cardamom pods. Just open the pods by crushing them a little, scrape all dark seeds from them, and use a mortar and pestle to grind out the flavours.
More recipes using cardamom
If cardamom is new to your pantry and you are figuring out, like, where I’m gonna use it later, if I need it just for this recipe?
Well, don’t worry, I have plenty of recipes where you can use the cardamom!
My favourite baked goods with cardamom
- Finnish Cinnamon rolls
- Orange gingerbread cookies
- Swedish oven baked pancake
- Butter eye buns
- Soft sweet buns with cardamom (Finnish pulla dough)
My favourite drink recipes with cardamom
Other ingredients and substitutions
- Butter: Can be substituted with margarine too.
- Eggs: Use medium sized eggs.
- Wheat flour: Cake flour and all purpose flour are also good options.
- Baking powder
- Yoghurt: I use runny Greek yoghurt, but you can substitute with milk kefir or buttermilk.
You can find the exact measurements on the recipe card.
How to tweak this recipe
- Swap the almond flakes for coconut flakes.
- Use blueberries instead of lingonberries for a sweeter pie.
Tools you might need
- Large bowl
- Medium-sized bowl for mixing the dry ingredients
- Electric whisk
- Pie tin
- Parchment paper
How to make lingonberry pie from scratch
Start with gathering all the ingredients and lining one pie tin with parchment paper. Turn on the oven to 200°C (392°F).
Step one: Cream sugar and butter
Cream the light brown sugar and the soft butter for about five minutes.
Step two: Add eggs
Add eggs one by one, mixing well in between.
Step three: Mix the dry
In a separate bowl, mix together wheat flour, baking powder, almond flakes and cardamom.
Step four: Add yogurt and dry ingredients
Add into the dough yogurt and the dry ingredients alternating.
Step five: Mix in lingonberries
Lastly, save about 50 grams of lingonberries to sprinkle on the top, and add the rest into the dough, mixing until just barely combined.
Step six: Pour into pie tin and bake
Pour the dough into a parchment paper lined pie tin, sprinkle the rest of the lingonberries on the top and bake in the oven for about 30minutes. When it turns golden – cover with an aluminium foil to let it cook completely without burning.
Enjoying the lingonberry pie
As any baked good the lingonberry pie is the most delicious to be enjoyed straight from the oven.
Simple salty caramel sauce
You can eat it plain or whip a salty caramel sauce with 100 ml cream and 80grams of light brown sugar, and two pinches of sea salt. Boil for 10 minutes stirring and let cool down. It will get thicker when it is completely cooled. You can make it even a day ahead and store in the fridge.
Show your pie!
Tag me on Instagram with @blue.tea.tile to show your baking, or let me know in the comments. I would love to know how you liked the recipe!
You can find the recipe card below!
Short on time?
Pin it for later!
Nordic Lingonberry Pie with Cardamom
A seasonal lingonberry pie with the nuttiness of almond flakes and the Nordic notes with cardamom, you will love this flavor combination! Bake with the berry bounty from the autumn forest, or use frozen lingonberries year-round.
Ingredients
- 200 g butter
- 190 g light brown sugar (or *fariinisokeri*)
- 2 eggs
- 300 g wheat flour
- 80 g almond flakes
- 2 tsp cardamom
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 200 g yogurt
- 250 g lingonberries (save 50 g for the top)
Instructions
Start by gathering all the ingredients and lining one pie tin with parchment paper. Turn on the oven to 200°C (392°F).
1. Step one: Cream sugar and butter
Cream the light brown sugar and the soft butter for about five minutes.
2. Step two: Add eggs
Add eggs one by one, mixing well in between.
3. Step three: Mix the dry
In a separate bowl, mix wheat flour, baking powder, almond flakes, and cardamom.
4. Step four: Add yogurt and dry ingredients
Add the dough, yogurt, and the dry ingredients alternating.
5. Step five: Mix in lingonberries
Lastly, save about 50 grams of lingonberries to sprinkle on the top and add the rest into the dough and until just barely combined.
6. Step six: Pour into a pie tin and bake
Pour the dough into a parchment paper-lined pie tin, sprinkle the rest of the lingonberries on the top, and bake in the oven for about 30minutes. When it turns golden, cover with an aluminium foil to let it cook completely without burning.
Enjoy the lingonberry pie as it is or with a homemade salty caramel sauce.
Notes
- Step-by-step photos you can find in the post under the header How to make a lingonberry pie.
- More inspiration under the header How to tweak this recipe to adjust the recipe to your liking.
- See the ingredient list for more information and the substitutions.
- If you love cardamom, check my favourite cardamom recipes for sweets and drinks!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 346Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 68mgSodium: 250mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 2gSugar: 19gProtein: 6g
These calculations are generated automatically by Nutritionix based on the ingredients shown in the recipe. The nutrition information is an estimation and may include errors. All nutritional information presented and written within this site (blueteatile.com) is intended for informational purposes only. The writer is not a certified nutritionist or registered dietitian and any nutritional information should be used as a general guideline only.
