Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Scandinavian Spice Cake


Scandinavian food is usually mild and spiceless, but not this cake. The aroma of this cake is intoxicating. This traditional spice cake is great treat with the coffee and it's so easy to make. You need only one bowl to mix.

Dry ingredients: 

2 dl Dark Farin sugar (Brown sugar)
0.5 dl White sugar
(Or just 1.5 dl white sugar with 1 dl brown syrup. Mix syrup with liquids)
4.5 dl Flour 
1 ts baking soda
1 ts baking powder
(ground spices into a fine powder)
2 ts Cardamom
2 ts Cinnamom
2 ts Ginger
2 ts Clove
1 ts Allspice (Pimenta dioica)
1 ts Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans)
2 tbls Dark cacao powder
1/2 ts salt
                              (*ts = teaspoon, tbls. dl = deciliter)

Liquids: 

2 dl Buttermilk or yoghurt 
2 eggs
1 dl Coconut Oil (Good quality.)

 Other veggie oils are ok too, and definitely more "scandinavian style", but I love cold pressed coconut oil. Even if you hate coconut smell and taste, from these flavors it won't pop up. 

Mix all dry ingredients well in big bowl with the wooden fork or spoon. And then, add all room temperature "liquids" once, and mix them well with the dry ingredients, but don't whip them too much. You just need to get smooth dough. Room temperature is really important with the coconut oil. If the dough is too cold, it solidifies. If that happen, don't worry. This cake is pretty much impossible to ruin. Just place your bowl over hot water bath and mix even. 
Pour into oiled cake mold and bake in the oven 175° (celsius, it's about 350° in fahrenheit) 45 minutes.

And here comes the hardest part: Turn mold over and let the cake settle . I know, I know, you would love to eat it right away, but it's better when it's cooled down. 


The plate is lovely Finnish design:
Iittala - Taika



Tip for measure conversions: 

American
1 cup = 8 fl oz = 2.4 dl = 24 cl = 240 ml

British
1 cup = 10 fl oz = 2.8 dl = 280 ml

dl 
1 deciliter = 6 (scant) tablespoons


I hope you steal this recipe and enjoy! :)


37 comments:

  1. oh, just what I like. Simple and yummy!) Need to try it)

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  2. i'll make a this weekend for my family!

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  3. Looks fabulous...off to the kitchen to try it out...

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  4. I am sure the aroma will be intoxicating.

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  5. Yes, I know this kind of cake. I love it! My mum used to make it in the dark danish winter. Thanks for reminding me :-)

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  6. I'm pregnant again, and I'm going through a more salty phase, but this cake definitely is worth a try. Certainly since all the other cakes I have tried to bake end up ruined, and don't know yet why.
    Thanks for the idea ;-)

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  7. I just can't wait to go home and bake this delicious cake!!!

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  8. Where do you find coconut oil in Finland? I'm not sure I've ever seen it in the stores here but would love to try it out in this recipe!

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  9. Cool! Bake more cakes..so I don't feel so quilty that I just finished one cake and plan baking another one... :P

    Lydia: I used to be really bad with baking but then I realised that it's not my fault! All the recipes were just wrong ones. I'm too impatient for "whipping sugar and egg yolks to white foam, whip separated egg whites into strong foam and gently mix foams together and walk on your tip toes and fingers crossed that your cake won't end up to be a pancake." -recipes. And I don't like too sugary fancy cakes. Spice cake, carrot cake and simple strawberry cream gateau are my favourites.

    Anna, I buy it from those health food and natural products-stores (luontaistuotekauppa) or order from web. From the regular stores you'll find only that cocoa-butter and it's not good. :) Hey, sunflower oil is ok too.

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  10. sounds amazingly delicious! must try!

    www.lunabaking.blogspot.com

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  11. I'm going to make this sometime this holiday season! Thanks for the amazing recipe.

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  12. You just made my day! I love all things Scandinavian and I love cakes! Thank you thank you!

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  13. My mom used to make this cake when I was young. It's so simple and so good :)

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  14. Wonderful, never heard of a spice cake, need to try.

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  15. I cannot wait to give this a try! I love spice cakes. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
    Oh and I just love your beautiful lullaby.

    Linda

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  16. The cake looks wonderful. In my mind, I can smell it already! But gee, I do miss litterary pictures of little Mila. ("The Little Prince" cover was my favorite.)

    - David

    Top 10 Aloe Vera Juice Benefits
    Holistic Nutrition and Health

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  17. I can smell it now. Yumm. Can't wait to make this cake. Thanks for sharing.

    SewCalGal
    www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

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  18. I thought I'd visited the wrong blog for a moment. As all the other posts in my reader are foodie I wasn't disappointed though! Lovely recipe.

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  19. Wow....I'm hungry. You're blog is pretty much evrything! ikinda missed the pictures tho...

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  20. I made it this saturday! SO delicious! nam nam!Thank you for recipe. The smell was SOOOOOOO GOOOOOD!!!!
    Will make again and again!

    Irina

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  21. This sounds simply divine...I will be trying it! Need to find coconut oil , though, I can find coconut milk and water but haven't seen oil.

    Cheers!

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  22. Hello from Istanbul, Turkiye.

    Today, I'll try to make this cake. I'm sure will be very tasty.

    Thanks a lot. Take care

    Sedef

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  24. Yummy! As far as I can tell from the ingredients, it seems to be a soft gingerbread cake, am I right? At least a Swedish soft gingerbread cake :-)

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  25. Awwww, scandinavian spice cakes is one of my favourite cakes!! I simply love it and I should ask my mother, if we could bake it this year for christmas. One of my highlights as a child was to taste the pastry. Okay, it is still my highlight. :)

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  26. What a great treat to make as the temperatures head down. A perfect antidote to approaching winter, wouldn't you say?

    Thanks so much for sharing this. Now I'm hungry :)

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  27. Oh my, this looks yummy! Thanks for sharing!

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  28. You give me hope in saying it's impossible to ruin. We'll see...

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  29. humm, this cake so delicious .. very very good..
    I loved this cake ..
    visit my web site , please .. but this is a portuguese blog, because I`m brazilian .. so any problems about translation tell me please ..
    Your web site is fantastic and your baby is a sweet princess . I`m sorry but I not espeak and write very well this language..
    Kisses
    Bye ..

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  30. Thanks! I enjoy your pictures, your art, your blog, and I'm sure I'll enjoy this cake!
    love and happiness to you. Your creativity is wonderful.

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  31. As a Swedish foodie and blogger I have to beg to differ on the statement above: we othen use ginger, dill, cinnamon, allspice, citrus, fennel seeds, cummin and St John's wort for example, all very strong spices. Scandinavia is full of it, as I see it! :D
    (on the china we agree though, and this cake recepie seems absolutley lovely!)

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  32. Terve and kiitos! Very nice blog you have.. and a little princess.. and talanted husband who supports you! Best wishes to your family from Venajan Karjala-Petroskoi! :)
    Yum-yum! I made a cake! ;)

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  33. This comment has been removed by the author.

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