Hjónabandssæla — 'wedding bliss' — is Iceland's most-loved cake: a base of buttery oatmeal shortbread topped with a thick layer of tart rhubarb jam, then a lattice of the oatmeal dough baked golden. The name comes from a 19th-century saying that eating it brought marital harmony. It is the cake of every Icelandic summer, when rhubarb grows wild in every garden.
Hjónabandssæla (literally 'wedding bliss' or 'marital happiness') is the most beloved cake in Iceland. The name comes from a 19th-century belief that eating it would ensure a happy marriage — perhaps because its simple, generous nature represented domestic contentment. The cake is a base of oatmeal-butter shortbread, a thick layer of rhubarb jam (rhubarb grows abundantly in every Icelandic garden through the long summer days), and a lattice top of the same oatmeal dough. It is the cake of summer — every café in Iceland serves a slice from June to September, often with whipped cream.
A square of golden oatmeal shortbread, with a deep-red layer of tart rhubarb jam, the lattice top golden and crackly. The base is buttery and crumbly; the jam is bright and tangy; the oatmeal gives it a rustic, wholesome flavor. Eat it with whipped cream and a cup of coffee, in summer, by a window with the sun still up at midnight.
The oatmeal shortbread is a simple butter-flour-oats-sugar dough — half pressed into the tin as the base, half rolled and cut into strips for the lattice. The rhubarb jam is the Icelandic garden preserve (rhubarb is one of the few fruits that thrives in the cold climate); it can be homemade or store-bought. The baking (35 minutes) sets the shortbread and bubbles the jam through the lattice, sealing it. The cake cuts cleanest when cool.
Variations
Some use blueberry or crowberry jam instead of rhubarb; some add cinnamon to the oatmeal dough; some serve it warm with ice cream.
On the Palate
Where Hjónabandssæla sits in the Icelandic flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
8 steps · 20 min active + 55 min waiting
- 18 min
Make oatmeal dough: rub 300 g oats, 250 g flour, 200 g butter, 150 g sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, and a pinch of salt to a crumbly texture; bind with 1 egg.
Watch outRub the fat in until the mix looks like coarse crumbs — over-rubbed to a paste, the shortbread bakes hard instead of tender.
- 25 min
Press two-thirds of the dough into the base of a lined 20x30-cm tin.
- 33 min
Spread 400 g rhubarb jam evenly over the base.
- 45 min
Roll the remaining dough; cut into 2-cm strips; lay a lattice over the jam.
- 535 min
Bake at 180°C for 35 minutes until golden.
Watch outIt's baked when the shortbread is golden and the jam bubbles up through the lattice — pale means the base is still doughy.
- 630 min
Cool fully in the tin.
Watch outCool it fully in the tin before cutting — slice it warm and the soft shortbread crumbles apart.
- 73 min
Cut into squares.
- 81 min
Serve with whipped cream and coffee.
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