Tuesday, April 13, 2010

TWD: Swedish Visiting Cake

Welcome to the fabulous cake with the slightly odd name. This one is a definite keeper.

It is perfect for when you have a cake emergency. You know, all of a sudden the book group is at your house tonight. Or it's your morning to bring the treat for the meeting. Or you just need something delicious and easy. This is the cake.

It came together in a snap. Butter is melted, so there's no pesky softening time needed. It all came together for me in about three minutes. The recipe calls for a 9" cast iron skillet. I have an 8" and a 10 1/2" skillet. I know I could have looked around for the conversions, but I skipped authenticity and went with a cake pan. The only substitution I made was to use orange zest instead of lemon. I really like orange and almond together. Also, I didn't have a lemon. I did add the optional vanilla and almond extract.

Here it is just waiting to be taken out of the pan. Sadly, no skillet.

It baked up in about 30 minutes. It smelled divine, and the rustic look is very charming. This tasted wonderful. I think it could even almost be a little less sweet and still be very good. The texture was so moist on the inside. The crunch of the almonds was a terrific counterpoint. I think that this cake could be adapted very easily to other flavors. This one will absolutely be in rotation from here on out.

The edges had a wonderful chewy texture that worked so well with the moist inside. Now that I think about it, this sort of reminds me of an almond macaroon. This cake got a big thumb's up from everyone in the house. The girl thinks I should make a coconut version.

Thank you Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs for picking this recipe. I am sure to revisit this one. A lot.

33 comments:

alvarosa said...

Almond macaroons - you're right! I asked myself the whole time when I was eating the cake, what it did me remind on!

Paula said...

I agree with the girl. Coconut would be fabulous!

Cristine said...

Looks great!

chocolatechic said...

I almost went with a cake pan, but I used my 10" skillet anyway.

I heart my cast iron.

Pamela said...

I think the edges were my favorite part! Great cake.

Mary said...

It was very almondy, but I loved it. Yours looks great, and I am already wishing I had made a full recipe!

Nancy/n.o.e said...

I love your orange version, and I'll bet a coconut one would be FABULOUS! I'm so impressed that you turned your cake out of the pan - who cares about skillets when your cake is that pretty? Thanks for baking with me this week.

Cindy said...

Orange and almond sound delish! Looks yummy.

Beth said...

Great job!! And great blog name
;-)

CB said...

I don't have a cast iron skillet period. I really need to fix that! Now that I know there's an 8, 9, 10.5" I might have to get all 3! HA HA! Your cake looks great skillet or no skillet.
-CB
http://iheartfood4thought.com

Jeannette said...

Yum! Your cake looks great!

steph- whisk/spoon said...

a little coconut would be fabulous in this! great looking cake!

Hindy said...

I'd love to try this with orange. Great variation. Also coconut would be popular here.
If you ate only 1/20 then you're a much better woman than I am. Congrats!

Marthe said...

You're absolutely right: it was like almond macaroons!! We really loved it! I had to use a pan as I don't own a skillet....

Charli said...

I just used my 9" cake pan too. It worked wonderfully--just like yours looks!

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

We loved this as well at our house! :) mmmm almond macaroons!

April said...

An absolute keeper & I bet the coconut would be a nice addition!

Susan said...

That's it! I couldn't recall what the texture reminded me of, but macaroons is it! Your cake looks great!

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

Great cake, isn't it? Love those almonds.

Flourchild said...

Yipeee for Swedish cake..I loved it. The only thing I have had Swedish is the candy Swedish fish! Your cake looks so good!

The Mortensens said...

Yep, I have to agree. This one is definitely a winner!

Katrina said...

Such a simple cake and so wonderful. I haven't heard one single person who didn't like it or that just thought it was okay. Lots of love for this one!

Jessica said...

oooh, I think a coconut version sounds amazing! I need to try that sometime, thanks for the idea. I'm glad that you all enjoyed this cake. It looks wonderful!

mike said...

Hey - I used a cake pan too and it came out great! Yours looks equally as wonderful! Skillet or no skillet! I'll have to try the coconut variation - what a great idea!

Anonymous said...

Your cake looks delicious! I think this cake will be fabulous in a cake pan or the cast iron. It's good to know that you can sub the lemon for orange and still come out with a fantastic tasting cake! =)

Carol Peterman/TableFare said...

We are all ready for any cake emergency now! love it.

TeaLady said...

This was great wasn't it. Definitely a keeper.

looks perfect.

Cathy said...

This was a huge hit around here too. Yours looks wonderful!

Liz said...

Man, this cake makes me wish every day was a cake emergency sort of day. And you're right--it was sort of like an almond macaroon. Yum.

Nickki said...

This cake also reminded me of almond macaroons! This recipe is a real winner.

Kayte said...

Yep, I'm planning on using this one for all cake emergencies in the future. It was so good! Like the girl's idea of coconut version. Yours looks beautifully delicious!

Leslie said...

Mm, this looks delicious! I just loved how easy it was for how yummy it tasted.

Kaitlin said...

I have to admit, this recipe didn't appeal to me when I saw it in the cookbook - but your description makes it sound so delicious. Yum.