Kladdkaka

Ingredients

• 3½ ozbuttermelted; a little extra for greasing the tin
• 3egg
• 3⅛ ozsugargranulated sugar
• 5⅔ ozwheat flour
• cocoa powderunsweetened; no source states an amount
• 2 tspvanilla sugar
• 1 pinchsaltmix with the dry ingredients (optional)
• ½ cupcreamlightly whipped, for serving (optional)
• icing sugarfor dusting (optional)

Method

1. Heat the oven to 175–390 °F (conventional, top and bottom heat). Line a springform tin of about 20–24 cm with baking paper, or grease it with a little butter.
2. Melt the butter gently over low heat without letting it brown.
3. Stir the eggs and sugar together briefly; there is no need to whisk them until fluffy. Stir in the melted butter.
4. In a bowl, mix the plain flour, cocoa powder, vanilla sugar and, if you like, a pinch of salt.
5. Stir the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until you have a smooth, thick batter.
6. Pour the batter into the tin and smooth the top. Bake for 12–20 minutes, until the top and edges are firm but the middle is still soft.
7. Let the cake cool briefly, then carefully release it from the tin.
8. Serve warm or cold, with lightly whipped cream, ice cream or a dusting of icing sugar.

Tips and variations

Instead of cocoa, you can melt ruby or white chocolate together with the butter and add a little baking powder. For a lemon version, the juice and zest of one lemon replace the cocoa. With gingerbread spice, fold in the eggs last and dust the tin with breadcrumbs. A vegan version made in a blender from puréed black beans, oats, coconut oil, agave syrup, oat cream and Brazil nuts is cut into bars and suggested for afternoon fika. As a topping, try cream with strawberries and chocolate pieces, or lemon quark whipped with cream. When in doubt, take the cake out of the oven a little early: it keeps setting as it cools.