Showing posts with label kladdkaka. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kladdkaka. Show all posts

Thursday, September 08, 2016

First Day of School Party



It's a strange feeling when all of the sudden you have a kid in school. My little 'baby' now picks out his own clothes when we're out shopping, loves to eat 'fancy' cheese and smoked salmon, makes up his own jokes (they never make sense), and watches family game night shows. It's been a joy to have him home with me for the past five years, and to see him grow up to be this funny, little person with a heart of gold.

Needless to say, there were some watery eyes on first day of school. Mommy's eyes, that is. Thankfully, I kept myself busy by putting together a First Day of School Party for the kids and parents from the playground. The kids got to play and have fun, while we parents celebrated that we survived the first day!




I made two cakes, one vanilla cake with a chocolate buttercream and fresh strawberry filling, covered with a vanilla buttercream and chocolate ganache. The second was the traditional Swedish gooey chocolate cake, topped with a chocolate buttercream and an Italian meringue, that I garnished with white raspberries.






This was such a fun party, I think it needs to become a tradition! That is, until it's not "cool" any more...

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Swedish Citronkladdkaka with Blackberry Syrup



Happy snow day! I hope my East coast friends are all snuggled up cozy and warm with a hot cop of coffee or tea. This little snow-inspired cake is delicious and so easy to whip up. Perfect for a day like this!




This was the first time I tasted a kladdkaka made with anything but the traditional chocolate, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The lemon version was gooey, but light, and not too heavy like flourless cakes sometimes can be. Besides, anything sweet made with lemon is a thumbs up in my book.




The original recipe doesn't call for syrup, but I had some blackberries at home and thought it would be a nice touch to the lemon flavor. And it was delicious! I also used some graham crackers as a crumb coating for the spring form pan. Because, why not?





Stay warm, and have fun baking!


Citronkladdkaka
from Hembakat

1 lemon 
150 g butter
3 eggs 
270 g sugar (1 heaping cup)
2 tsp vanilla sugar*
150 g flour
powdered sugar for garnish

*you can substitute with 1 tsp of vanilla extract


Blackberry syrup

1/2 cup blackberries
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cornstarch and  1 tsp of water


Directions:

For the blackberry syrup:

  1. Put the rinsed blackberries and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and mush the berries with a fork. Mix the cornstarch with 1 tsp of water, then add to the berries and stir. Let simmer for a couple of minutes.
  2. Take out a clean bowl and put a fine mesh strainer on top. Pour the syrup into the strainer and press the mushed berries. Let cool.

For the kladdkaka:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash the lemon and pat dry. Zest the lemon and squeeze out 2 tbps of juice.
  2. Melt the butter. Add all the ingredients and stir until smooth.
  3. Pour the batter into a greased and floured spring form pan. (I used graham cracker crumbs as coating instead)
  4. Put the blackberry syrup in a zip lock bag and cut a small hole in one corner. Gently squeeze thin horizontal lines across the batter. Take a toothpick or a small pairing knife and run vertically trough the lines. First downwards, then do the next one upwards and continue until you have created a pattern over the whole batter.
  5. Bake for 25 minutes, and then let cool. Remove from pan and dust with powdered sugar along the edges. It's delicious when served with whipped cream!


Friday, November 06, 2015

Swedish Kladdkaka



Tomorrow is National Kladdkaka Day in Sweden. Okay, so it's not like every Swede stops whatever they're doing to celebrate, but they should! Apart from IKEA, ABBA and kanelbullar, this chocolate cake is as Swedish as it gets. And it's delicious.




I have posted two recipes for kladdkaka on the blog earlier, one is a cardamom version with Baileys Cream Truffle and one is made with mint chocolate. This time I used my favorite recipe for traditional kladdkaka and topped it with Baileys Cream Truffle.




To decorate, I made some chocolate swirls by melting chocolate and piping onto parchment paper. Let the swirls cool in the freezer for a few minutes to harden, then put them upright in a little piped whipped cream.





Since it was just hubby and I eating it, I made sure I cut the rest of the cake in portion pieces and put in an airtight container in the freezer. I can't keep it in the fridge, because I know I would talk myself into having it for breakfast the next morning! It's great when you have guests coming over, just remove from the freezer and let sit in room temperature for ten minutes, and it's ready to be enjoyed.




If you haven't tried kladdkaka before, you're definitely missing out. Good thing there's an easy recipe for you to try here below!


Kladdkaka
from the magazine Hembakat

150 g butter
100 g chocolate
270 g sugar
3 eggs
3 tbsp. cacao
105 g flour
1 pinch salt
2 tsp vanilla sugar*


*If you can't get your hands on vanilla sugar, just substitute with confectioners sugar and add a 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract.

Instructions:
  1. Preheat the oven to 355 degrees. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Remove from stove, and add the chocolate to the butter and stir.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until smooth. 
  3. Line the bottom of a 9" spring form pan with parchment paper, then butter and flour it. (I used a 6 inch pan and let it be in the oven for a little longer) Pour the batter into the pan.
  4. Bake in on the center rack for about 25-30 minutes. Make sure it's not too wobbly when you take it out. Let cool in the pan.
You will find the recipe for the Baileys Cream Truffle here.



Kladdkaka
från Hembakat

150 g smör
100 g choklad
3 dl strösocker
3 ägg

3 msk kakao
1 ¾ dl vetemjöl
1 nypa salt
2 tsk vaniljsocker

Gör så här:

1. Sätt ugnen på 180 grader. Smält smöret i en kastrull. Tillsätt chokladen och när den smält, tillsätt resten av ingredienserna och blanda snabbt ihop allt till en slät smet.
2. Häll smeten i en smord och mjölad springform, 23–24 cm i diameter. Jag lägger alltid smörpapper i botten för att lättare kunna ta bort kakan från formen.
3. Grädda kakan mitt i ugnen i 25–30 min beroende på hur kladdig du vill ha den. Låt den svalna i formen.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

A Gooey Mint Chocolate Birthday Surprise



My hubby's birthday was a few weeks ago, and the boys and I had a special surprise waiting for him when he came home from work - his favorite chocolate dessert! It's a Swedish cake called kladdkaka, which translates to "gooey cake", and is a version of a molten chocolate cake. I grew up with this chocolaty goodness, and we would make it for birthday parties, whenever we had guests over, or just on a regular Friday night. As a matter of fact, I would even dare to say that there's a 90% chance that this is one of the things you will be served at any Swedish birthday party. And since we're a chocolate loving family, this easy recipe has become a staple at our house.


 
 
My oldest son, Jacob, loves to help out in the kitchen, and William, my youngest, loves to get messy, so this was a great baking adventure for them. I love finding recipes that are kid friendly, that only uses a handful of ingredients, and doesn't take too much time to make. The best part was seeing how excited they were to make something for daddy!


 
 
A good thing about this specific recipe, is that it doesn't use any active ingredient such as baking powder or baking soda, so you can stir until the cows come home without it having affect on how it turns out! And as you can imagine, there was a whole lot of stirring going on.




I've made a lot of kladdkakas over the years, and I've tried different versions of it; traditional, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, mint chocolate, chocolate raspberry, a dulce de leche version etc. Sometimes I'll stick with the traditional recipe and serve it with vanilla sugar whipped cream and a raspberry sauce, just to make it a little more fun. The bottom line is, you can't go wrong with this one if you love chocolate.


 
 
This time we made a mint chocolate version, because it's one of Matt's favorites. The recipe calls for After Eight, but you can also use Andes Mints or something similar. Just don't be intimidated by the amount of mint used, it's not going to be overpowering! Even the kids loved every bite of it.




 
 
The boys made sure we quality tested the chocolate. Because, I mean, we wouldn't want to use bad chocolate. I just had to make sure there was still some left to use in the cake. Luckily, there was!






The boys where so proud to present the cake to daddy, and of course he was so impressed and loved the surprise!


 
 
Personally, I think kladdkaka is best served with vanilla bean ice cream or with whipped cream, but some like it plain Jane. I usually go with ice cream, especially in the winter time, when I like to bake the cake in small ramekins and serve the chocolate cake warm.
 
 
 
 
Look at that fudgey goodness! Now you have something to bake Friday night to celebrate that another work week is over!
 

 
After Eight Gooey Chocolate Cake
from the magazine Hembakat

150 g butter
270 g sugar
3 eggs
3 tbsp. cacao
105 g flour
1 pinch salt
2 tsp vanilla sugar*

8 After Eight pieces

Mint chocolate glaze
25 After Eight pieces
powdered sugar


*If you can't get your hands on vanilla sugar, just substitute with confectioners sugar and add a 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract.

Instructions:
  1. Preheat the oven to 355 degrees. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until smooth. 
  2. Pour the batter into a buttered 9" spring form pan.
  3. Chop up 8 After Eights and put them in the batter.
  4. Bake in on the center rack for about 25-30 minutes. Make sure it's not too wobbly when you take it out. Let cool in the pan.
  5. For the mint chocolate glaze: Melt 25 pieces of After Eights over a water bath.
  6. Pour the chocolate over the cooled cake and let harden in the fridge. Dust with powdered sugar before serving. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream. 



Lyxig After Eightkladdkaka
från tidningen Hembakat

150 g smör
3 dl strösocker
3 ägg
3 msk kakao
1 ¾ dl vetemjöl
1 nypa salt
2 tsk vaniljsocker

ca 8 plattor After Eight

Mintchokladglasyr
ca 25 plattor After Eight
florsocker



Gör så här

1. Sätt ugnen på 180 grader. Smält smöret i en kastrull. Tillsätt resten av ingredienserna och blanda snabbt ihop allt till en slät smet.
2. Häll smeten i en smord och bröad springform, 23–24 cm i diameter (bröa gärna formen med kokos i stället för ströbröd).
3. Skär ca 8 After Eight-plattor på mitten och stick ner dem i smeten.
4. Grädda kakan mitt i ugnen i 25–30 min beroende på hur kladdig du vill ha den. Låt den svalna i formen.
5. Mintchokladglasyr: Smält ca 25 After Eight-plattor över vattenbad.
6. Bred ut mintchokladkrämen över kakan och låt den stelna i kylen. Pudra över lite florsocker före servering. Servera gärna med vispgrädde eller glass.