Mjukpepparkaka: Gingerbread Cake
Mjukpepparkaka: Gingerbread Cake features the same spices as pepparkaka, Swedish gingerbread cookies. This cake is packed with cinnamon, cloves, and orange zest. It truly tastes like Christmas!
My Great Aunt’s Recipe
The recipe comes from my Great Aunt Kristina. It has been her specialty since high school, although it’s unclear where she got the original recipe from. For decades, she made it every Christmas. However, there was a about 10-year period when something went wrong, and the cake turned out dry. We never figured out the exact cause, but we suspect it had something to do with the type of flour she used. Using All-Purpose flour should work fine, whereas cake flour and bread flour won’t yield the same results.
Tips and Tricks
This cake is incredibly rich and moist, but the tricky part lies in not overbaking it. There’s a fine line between achieving the perfect level of moisture and ending up with a dry cake. Think of it as similar to a brownie. When inserting a toothpick, it shouldn’t come out completely clean; it should have some crumbs clinging to it while not having any batter.
The amount of cloves in this recipe is quite strong. It’s the way I grew up with it and how I prefer it, but feel free to reduce the amount of spice if desired.
This cake bakes beautifully in decorative cake tins and bundt pans, although a plain cake tin works just as well if you prefer. If using a decorative pan make sure you really oil every nook and cranny then flour well and tap out all the excess. When the cake comes out of the oven let it cool for 5 minutes and then tap the sides and bottom against the counter top. Turn out while still warm.
Although there may be a bit of trial and error when it comes to baking this cake perfectly, the effort is well worth it. Mjukpepparkaka: Gingerbread Cake really embodies the flavors of Christmas. With its warm spices, orange zest, and rich moistness, it’s a recipe that has been beloved by my family and I’m sure your family will love it too.
Mjukpepparkaka: Gingerbread Cake
Ingredients
- 150 g all-purpose flour
- 170 g brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cloves
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 egg
- Zest of 2 oranges
- 150 g milk
- 115 g melted butter
Instructions
- Prepare your cake pan by coating it with oil. If you don’t have spray fat, you can brush the oil on. Make sure the pan is well-coated without any pooling. Coat the pan with flour, ensuring every nook and cranny is covered. Tap out the excess flour. You can save the leftover flour for other uses.
- In a bowl, combine 150g of flour, 170g brown sugar, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cloves, 1 tsp cinnamon, and the zest of 2 oranges. Mix them together and set aside.
- In another bowl, mix 150g milk and 1 egg together.
- Add the milk and egg mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir until you have a smooth batter with no lumps of sugar or flour.
- Pour in 115g of melted butter and mix it in thoroughly. Make sure there are no streaks or lumps in the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread it evenly.
- Bake at 200°C/400°F for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the cake.