This delicious Hjónabandssaela - Icelandic Happy Marriage Cake recipe features an easy rolled oats and cardamom crust and streusel topping, pressed into a cake tin that is filled with sweet and tart rhubarb for a slice of spring at it's finest!
Table of Contents
Icelandic cuisine isn't widely known, but a dish beyond this cake are to whip up a batch of these Chocolate Cornflake Cookies or even this Chocolate Sheet Cake that happily serves a bunch of people.
History of Icelandic Happy Marriage Cake
In Icelandic this is called Hjónabandssaela, which translates to a variety of names from Happy Marriage Cake to Wedded Bliss. The exact origins of the dish are not clear, however, as the ingredients can be found easily and it requires little effort to whip up it's likely that even someone with no baking experience can impress their loved one with this cake.
Ingredients and substitutions for Icelandic Happy Marriage Cake
- Rhubarb: Five medium fresh rhubarb stems will suffice to give you the amount you need here. If you can't source pink stems, that is totally fine! The color of your rhubarb does not define it's sweetness when baked.
- Sugar: Superfine or caster sugar works best with the rhubarb to draw out the moisture and will sweeten the cake, without adding too much flavor. The brown sugar helps add a light complimentary flavor to the cardamom and helps activate the baking soda.
- Oats: Simple rolled oats are used, no quick oats or steel oats which might result in a different texture within the cake.
- Flour: Plain or all purpose flour is best to create a nice light crumb to our crust and crumble.
- Baking soda: This is the key to the our cake lightly rising thanks to the brown sugar (the acid that baking soda needs to work with to rise) so don't leave it out, unless you are using self raising flour. You cannot sub baking powder like for like for this recipe as baking soda is 3-4 times stronger, so you would need plenty more which would leave an after taste!
- Butter: Unsalted butter was used here, though salted butter would also work if that’s what you have on hand and softened will help you create that crumble texture.
- Eggs: As well as adding structure to the cake crust, the egg binds everything together so is essential.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Icelandic Happy Marriage Cake:
Step 1: Cook the rhubarb: Place the rhubarb, sugar vanilla extract in a medium saucepan over medium heat with a lid on.
Step 2: Cook until soft: Stir intermittently, but still has some shape, approximately 15 minutes.
Step 3: Blend oats: Place into a blender or food processor and pulse to make a little finer, but not completely fine like flour.
Step 4: Dry ingredients: Pour into a medium bowl and stir to combine.
Step 5: Wet crumble: Cut until it resembles a rough crumble. Add the egg and combine on low until the mixture resembles a wet crumble.
Step 6: Spoon: Two thirds of the dough into your cake tin and press firmly into the base and sides of the tin.
Step 7: Fill: Spoon the rhubarb compote over the crust and top with clumps of the remaining crust unevenly.
Step 8: Bake: Until golden.
Step 9: Slice and serve: Serve up with a little whipped cream and enjoy!
More rhubarb recipes you’ll love
Icelandic Happy Marriage Cake (Hjónabandssaela)
Ingredients
Rhubarb compote
- 500 grams / 1 pound fresh rhubarb sliced into ½ inch thick pieces
- 50 grams / ¼ cup superfine/caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cake crumb
- 135 grams / 1 ½ cups rolled oats
- 240 grams / 1 ½ cups plain flour
- 100 grams / ½ cup superfine/caster sugar
- 50 grams / ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 4 grams / ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 225 grams / 7.93 ounces butter softened and cubed
- 45 grams / 1 medium egg room temperature
Instructions
Rhubarb compote
- Line a 20 cm or 8 inch round cake tin with parchment paper and set aside.
- Place rhubarb, sugar vanilla extract in a medium saucepan over medium heat with a lid on.
- Stirring intermittently, to ensure it cooks evenly until the rhubarb is soft, but still has some shape approximately 15 minutes.
- Remove and set aside to cool fully.
Cake crumb
- Preheat your oven to 200C/400F.
- Place the oats into a blender or food processor and pulse to make the oats a little finer, but not completely fine like flour.
- Pour the oats, flour, sugars, ground cardamon and baking soda into a medium bowl, stirring to combine.
- Toss in the butter and cut into your mixture until it resembles a crumble mixture, it will be quite clumpy.
- Add the egg and combine on low with until the mixture resembles a wet crumble and no dry portions remain in the base of your bowl.
- Spoon two thirds of the dough into your cake tin and press to cover the base and sides of the tin.
- Spoon the rhubarb compote over the crust and top with clumps of the remaining crust unevenly.
- Place in the oven and bake until golden, approximately 25 minutes.
- Remove and set aside to cool before removing from the tin.
- Slice and serve with a little whipped cream.
- Dig in!
Video
Notes
- Rhubarb: Five medium fresh rhubarb stems will suffice to give you the amount you need here. If you can't source pink stems, that is totally fine! The color of your rhubarb does not define it's sweetness when baked.
- Baking soda: This is the key to the our cake lightly rising thanks to the brown sugar (the acid that baking soda needs to work with to rise) so don't leave it out, unless you are using self raising flour. You cannot sub baking powder like for like for this recipe as baking soda is 3-4 times stronger so you would need plenty more which would leave an after taste!
- Oats: Simple rolled oats are used, no quick oats or steel oats which might result in a different texture within the cake.
- Cake tin: A round spring form tin was used to get the cake out of the tin easily, however, a standard cake tin of similar size would also work well.
Nutrition
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Made it and loved it?
If you have made this recipe, it would mean so much to leave a review below to help more people find this.
Jill
Can you use frozen rhubarb if you don't have fresh?
Sylvie Taylor
Hi Jill,
Absolutely! I would recommend cooking the rhubarb on a low setting in your saucepan to defrost it but not loose too much of it's texture. Hope you enjoy the cake!
Lisa
Tried this cake when I was in Iceland last year and finally saw rhubarb in the supermarket for the first time since my visit. Well, needless to say this turned out exactly as I remembered eating it on that gray day in that incredible country. Love this and thanks
Sylvie Taylor
Great to hear this brought back memories for you Lisa. Thanks so much
Riley
Heard about this whilst in Iceland but it wasn't rhubarb season yet so had to give this a go once home and wow, this did not disappoint!!
Sylvie Taylor
Thanks so much Riley
Hannah R
This was awesome!! I traveled to Iceland a couple of years ago and haven’t been able to put this dessert from my mind. This recipe came out just as delicious as I remembered it in a Reykjavik cafe!
Sylvie Taylor
This is so great to hear Hannah as unfortunately I didn't get to try it when I went. So glad to hear this turned out exactly as you remembered!
Alan
No salt?
Sylvie Taylor
Hi Alan, Salt isn't essential in this recipe that was adapted from a traditional source, so has been left out. Thanks and enjoy your baking!
Daria
It was very nice and tasty and also quite easy.
I did use less sugar tho, but that is just personal preference.
It was a bit too oaty for me, but I should have expected that hahah.
Sylvie Taylor
Hi Daria,
Thanks so much for your review! Sorry it was a bit too oaty for you, but hope you enjoyed the cake nonetheless. Thanks,