Tuesday, April 13, 2010

TWD: Swedish Visiting Cake (aka Gimme Gimme Gimme a Cake After Midnight)



And here I thought ABBA was the best thing to come from Sweden!!

Thank you, Nancy, from The Dogs Eat the Crumbs who chose Dorie's Swedish Visiting Cake as this week's recipe! I'd like to think I would have baked along this week no matter what, but the fact that one of my very very fave TWD bloggers chose it led me to know there was NO WAY I was skipping this week! Nancy/n.o.e I was SO happy to bake along with you this week! :) I always love visiting your site-even though unfortunately I've not visited m/any TWD sites lately due to time working mommy constraints...but look at this face...HERE'S why I don't post or read so much anymore..forgive me, fellow bakers??)


but truly, I always find myself relating to Nancy's posts and thinking "I think she and I would get along so well!" :)

Back to the Swedes: This cake is amazing. It's perfect in its simplicity. It is supposed to be made in a cast iron skillet--and I bought a dark blue/white glazed one not to long ago (it's so much nicer than the terrible photo shows...) But I realized that mine is a bit over the 9" called for in the recipe, so you'll see my edges were well done...but the texture in the middle? Spongy without being soggy...perfectly moist (thanks to a melted stick o' butter!)..the almond flavors are so full, yet not overpowering (gotta love anything with almond extract!...Or I do anyways!) Perfect for tea/coffee in the morning...or in the afternoon, or over after dinner conversation!
The story here is you can start it when you see folks coming up the street, and the cake will be ready by the time you get around to having dessert. Love that kind of story behind a traditional recipe!

You start with a great little tactic that Dorie uses in one of my other fave recipes, the French Yogurt Cake, wherein you blend the lemon zest with your hands into the sugar to make the sugar fragrant prior to adding in other ingredients (oh, and by the way, this was a one-bowl, no electric mixer needed recipe--another reason to love this!!) Once you do that you've done the "heavy lifting" of this recipe--all else you have to do is add the eggs, extracts, flour and melted butter.

Nancy, you are the reason I have another top Dorie recipe! I know that when I go visiting, or expect visitors, this will be one of those things I can whip up (I already know the recipe by heart, which is even better!) THANK YOU THANK YOU! I needed another "French Yogurt Cake" type dessert and found it!

Dear Husband thought it was fabulous--but asked "so I don't suppose this is good for me in any way?" Once I shared there is a cup of sugar and stick of butter his fears were confirmed...so we may have to freeze half of it to prevent the 2 of us from eating this whole thing in record time!


I can't wait to make this and impress folks with it! I will try different pans next time--or adjust recipe to fit properly into a 10" skillet...

I have awful photo this week...it was either snap and post, or no post at all...and considering 2 weeks ago I took extra time to snap photos in the daylight, and then did not get my act together to write the post on the coconut cake we all baked--ugh..meant I missed a Tuesday posting...So even though it does not count, just for the record, here is my dandy coconut cake from a couple of weeks ago! Anytime I can take out the Kugelhopf pan is a good time!

For more on the Swedish Visiting Cake, including recipe, visit Nancy's blog...and for more takes on the cake, visit the sites listed in the blogroll of us Dorie Greenspan faithfuls!

10 comments:

Swine said...

I ain't no baker, but I'm always easily lured by simple recipes and cast iron cooking. I'll have to get this recipe from you. And of course I'll listen to Abba when cooking.

Tia said...

great job - i like the pan you used.

Jeannette said...

Great, now I have this urge to download ABBA and sing to my heart's content while baking this cake.

Oh your kugelhopf pan is awesome! And that face... oh that face!! All is forgiven ;)

Nancy/n.o.e said...

First of all, that baby is TOO precious. How do you get anything done besides look at his pretty eyes all day?

Your cake looks nearly as wonderful, and given that it's one of those disappearing type baked goods, I think your freezing plan is quite sound. Ours was gone in record time. The combination of easy + delicious makes it a perfect cake for when you're a visitor or a visitee, imo. Thanks for the truly kind words and thanks for baking along with me this week.

Flourchild said...

Your cake looks great! Im glad you enjoyed this recipe. I thought it was amazing! YOur little one is a cutie pie!

CB said...

I'm pretty sure your baby's blue eyes could get you out of anything. He's precious! I do believe he just made me realize I may have a smidgen of maternal instinct after all ;) Our husbands must be twins b/c mine asked me the same thing. But that didn't deter him from eating his serving and 1/2 of mine! HA HA!
-CB
http://iheartfood4thought.com

Monica said...

I have to agree with everyone the cake was so good and so simple. 10 minutes top, in the oven and 30 minutes later - BAMG! Heaven!

And Yes, how do you do anything with that babyliciousnes around you?

Susan said...

I almost didn't make this one, but the simplicity of it convinced me to try it. Yours looks great!

Pamela said...

I'm swooning over your baby! Man, I miss that age! Your coconut cake looked stunning, too. I really enjoyed this cake, it was so yummy!

The Food Librarian said...

Just lovely baked goods, and just ADORABLE baby! :) - mary the food librarian