Mjuk Pepparkaka - Swedish Spice Cake

Imagine my surprise, to do a little search on my little food diary blog and find all sorts of data about it through Google and some other blog research sites ... hmmm. I don't know how I feel about someone doing analytics on my little food diary.

Oh well, I suppose one should get used to being scrutinized if one puts oneself  'out there into the ether'. I guess I won't worry excessively. If people come occasionally to my little bit of Internet space and find some good food or commentary worth reading, so be it. On to other things !

Merry Christmas ! I thought I'd post a lovely little Swedish recipe for a spice cake that is worthy of a tea time treat or a light dessert after a special meal. My family shared it after our Christmas dinner last evening.



I found a lovely old tin cake pan several weeks ago when my eldest daughter came for a visit to our grey cottage in the woods. We stopped at a small antique shop near home and there it was! It was just waiting for me to snap it up for holiday baking... the perfect size to make this easy cake... a perfect dessert for a Christmas feast. It joins some other tin cake forms that I've collected over the years.

I like this little cake made as the small Bundt. Dusted with fine confectioner's sugar, and poked with a sprig of holly, it would look a proper Dickensian treat!  We had a snowstorm on Christmas morning, so the holly was buried under several inches of white stuff. No holly sprig this year, but a nice dusting of sugar and a drizzle of lingonberry sauce. If you can't find lingonberry sauce, try it with blueberry jam (warmed to a drizzly consistency) or peach preserves.

Mjuk Pepparkaka

Ingredients:

1 1/4 c. sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2/3 c. whole milk or light cream

1 1/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. cardamom

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 stick butter, melted and cooled slightly

powdered sugar, for dusting 

Making the Cake:

1. Generously grease and flour a mid-sized Bundt pan or an oblong loaf pan.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

3. mix the flour, baking powder, and spices in a small bowl. Whisk together and set aside.

4. Melt the butter and set it aside to cool slightly.

5. Mix the sugar, egg, and vanilla in a deep mixing bowl. Whip until the mixture is creamy and light.

6. Add the milk and continue whipping to a smooth light mixture.

7. Add the dry ingredients and whip until smooth.

8. With the mixer running, drizzle the butter into the batter, whipping until frothy.

9. Pour into the prepared an and bake about 40 to 50 minutes or until the cake is golden around the edges and a cake tester comes clean when the cake is poked at its center.

10. Remove from the oven and cool for ten minutes on a rack.

11. Rap the edges of the pan and tip the cake onto a pretty platter. let it cool completely and then dust with confectioner's sugar.

12. Slice and serve with a drizzle of fruit compote, warmed jam, or spiced apples. Sprinkle each serving with a bit more confectioner's sugar to make a pretty presentation.

However, you make this little cake, I hope you enjoy it with a hot cup of tea or coffee and good company ! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you !