Another suggestion for a cake came from my sister in Canada. She had seen a recipe for Swedish Visiting Cake. This cake is great for when you have unexpected visitors, or to take as a gift when visiting friends.
I checked quite a few recipes and some videos. Most of them seemed to be based on one by Dorie Greenspan. A couple recipes differed though. Instead of just topping the cake with flaked almonds they beat some egg white and sugar and mixed in flaked almonds to spread over the top.
I did quite a bit of searching but could not find a Swedish name for such a cake. So, if this is truly a Swedish cake I would be interested to know the name.
For my cake I based mine on Dorie Greenspan’s. As implied earlier this is a very simple recipe. It takes very little time to prepare and is ready to eat in little more than an hour.
The ingredients list is not exhaustive either. Just the basic ingredients with lemon zest and almond and vanilla extracts for flavour and then some flaked almonds to top the cake. For my cake I sprinkled sugar over the top before adding the flaked almonds to help them adhere to the top.
The baking time is important. If the cake is baked for too long it will quickly become quite dry. So, although I specify baking for 25 to 30 minutes in is important to check by 25 minutes. If the edge seems to be crisping it is ready. Some ovens run hotter than others, hence the spread of baking time.
There is no raising agent, such as baking powder, in the cake. So it relies just on the eggs to rise, hence it is quite a thin cake.
My Bake
My cake baked for 30 minutes and was very good indeed. I think perhaps, for my oven, it could have been 28 minutes. The almonds adhered well to the sugar-crisped top.
I let the cake cool in the pan for a couple of minutes. Then I ran a thin offset spatula around the inside edge of the pan. Then I transferred the cake to a wire rack until cooled.
The cake had a good texture and lots of flavour from the zest and almond extract, with perhaps just a hint of the vanilla. It was perfect with a cup of tea. However I think it would also be great served as a dessert with cream or ice-cream, or even with some custard.
Another lovely, and very easy Swedish cake is Kladdkaka.
Swedish Visiting Cake
Course: Cakes, DessertsDifficulty: Easy10
servings10
minutes30
minutesIngredients
140g(1 cup minus 1 tbsp, based on scooping packed flour into a 250ml cup)plain flour
200g(1 cup) caster sugar
25g(2 tbps) caster sugar for the top
2 medium eggs(large in USA)
113g(8 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
5ml(1 tsp) vanilla extract
2.5 ml(1/2 tsp) almond extract
1.5g(1/4 tsp) salt
grated zest of one lemon
25g(1/4 cup) flaked(shaved, slivered, sliced) almonds
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F.
- Grease and flour a 9 inch round cake pan( I also lined the base with parchment paper).
- Place the sugar and lemon zest into a large bowl and rub between your fingers to release the oils from the zest into the sugar.
- Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, until they have thickened a little.
- Add in the almond extract, vanilla extract and the salt and whisk to combine.
- Fold in the flour until fully combined.
- Add the melted butter, which should be cooled, and fold that in as well until fully combined.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan and level it off.
- Sprinkle the sugar over the top of the batter.
- Cover the top with the flaked almonds.
- Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Until the top, when pressed feels firm and the edge has just begun to crisp. Check by 25 minutes so as to not over-bake the cake.
- Allow the cake to cool for a couple of minutes before loosening the edge with a knife or spatula and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.