Happy Belated Birthday, Dad. I swear I didn’t forget, but to make up for it, I made this really awesome cake. Toscakaka, a Swedish almond cake. An almond sponge with an almond praline topping. I know you’d have loved it.
For those of you that might follow me on the ‘gram, the latest installment of my fake cooking show #CookinginPajamas had me making this cake in honor of my dad’s birthday, which was actually last week on the 15th. He passed away just over 9 years ago, and it would have been his 80th birthday.
I usually make a cake to mark the occasion. One that fits his particular tastes and propensities and something that I know that he’d have loved if he was still with us. Last year I made this mandarin ginger tea cake, which I remade a few weeks ago just because, and if you haven’t had a chance to make it, please do, because it’d just be the best cake for brunch this winter when mandarins are at their very best. The year before I made a cereal milk cinnamon toast crunch cake because one of his tried and true dessert favorites was vanilla ice cream with the beloved crunchy sugary cereal on top to give it some oomph. This year, this caramelly, crunchy, cardamom spiced, praline topped toscakaka (aka, tosca) cake was so just up his alley and as soon as I saw it, I knew this was the one for this year.
The idea for it came from my friend Ham, who tagged me in a NYT post talking about fika, the Swedish twice-daily tradition of popping by and stopping to pause for coffee and cake. No wonder the Swedes are generally so happy, if they’re giving themselves permission to have coffee and cake twice a day.
This ritual reminds me so much of the English’s afternoon tea, something that my dad loved. His daily cuppa served with a side of something sweet was totally his thing, and I spent many an afternoon in the kitchen making and remaking tea until it achieved the perfect color and sweetness. I’m a pro and it’s because of all the practice that I still to this day prefer my tea very much the English way. Milk and sugar please, keep your herbals to yourself.
Anyway, back to fika. This ritual of stopping what you’re doing to socialize with other humans over some sweet pastry seems like it’d be good for all of humanity to follow suit. In fact, after I made this cake, Ham stopped by on Sunday for fika himself, and we enjoyed a casual cup of coffee and cake before we got on with our days. It was carefree and enjoyable and something that absolutely can become a thing. I mean, I’m pretty sure such behavior WAS a thing, before we all became too busy and consumed with our own lives and skeptical of our neighbors (because stranger danger!) to stop and say hi to our fellow man.
However, in Sweden, from businessmen to school kids, it’s the thing to do and I think it’s something that we can certainly do more on this side of the sea.
A few recipe notes:
I hodgepodged this recipe together from 3-4 other ones I found online, but for the cardamom, we have Recipes from a Pantry to thank. Brilliant addition!
When you go to pour the caramel on top of the cake, remember that the cake is not fully baked. Pour it slowly, smoothly and evenly. I could have done better in this respect. Do as I say, not as I do, anyway.
Toscaka
Toscakaka (Swedish almond cake) is a traditional cake served at fika, with an almond sponge cake topped with an almond praline caramel.
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 5 TB salted butter
- 3 large eggs
- 5 TB buttermilk
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
- 1 tsp cardamom powder
- For the praline:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 TB heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Whipped cream, to serve
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and sugar a 9″ springform pan. Set aside.
- Step 2 In small bowl, sift the flour and baking powder. Add the salt, almond flour and cardamom powder. Set aside.
- Step 3 In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla until pale yellow and thicker. Alternate the buttermilk and melted butter with the flour mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Fold the dry ingredients in gently to ensure that the eggs retain as much lift as possible. Add the sliced almonds. Pour into the prepared pan and bake 25 minutes.
- Step 4 When there is approximately 10 minutes left of the cake, make the praline topping. In a small saucepan, add the butter and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the butter has melted and the sugar has melted into it and it is no longer separated. Reduce heat and let bubble about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the cream, vanilla, salt and almonds.
- Step 5 When the cake buzzer goes off, gently pour the praline topping over the cake as evenly as possible. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from the oven.
- Step 6 After about 4 minutes, use a knife to separate the cake away from the pan. Remove the springform (if you wait until the sugar cools you will have trouble getting it off). Let the cake cool, and serve warm or cool.
