Denmark · 70 min hands-on · 2,3 h waiting · Vegetarian · Baking · For confident cooks
Smørkage
In German: Dänischer Butterkuchen · In English: Danish butter cake
For 8 servings · US units
Danish butter cake: yeasted buns with remonce and vanilla cream
Smørkage comes from the Danish island of Funen and is also known as Dagmar torte. A soft yeasted base holds a tight ring of buns, each filled with remonce, a paste of butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, and with vanilla cream. It suits a coffee break, or fika, any time of year.
Ingredients
- ⅔ cupmilkfor the dough, warmed to about 37 °C
- 1 ozor dry yeastFresh baker's yeast pressed into a moist block, used to leaven doughs such as bread, cinnamon buns or braided loaves.Substitute: Dried yeast is a good substitute at about one third of the weight, roughly 7 g dried yeast for 21 g fresh. The flavour and the result barely change.Read more
- 14⅛ ozflourfor the dough, plus extra for rolling
- 2⅛ ozbuttersoftened, for the dough
- 1 ozsugarfor the dough
- 2eggfor the dough
- ½ tspfor the doughDried green seed pods of a plant in the ginger family; the small black seeds inside taste floral, resinous and faintly lemony.Substitute: Ground cardamom can stand in for freshly crushed seeds, but it tastes flatter and gives no texture, so use a little more. No other spice matches the flavour; cinnamon or nutmeg turn it into a different bake.Read more
- ½ tspsaltfor the dough
- 3½ ozbuttersoftened, for the cinnamon filling (remonce)
- 4¼ ozbrown sugarfor the cinnamon filling
- 1 tbspcinnamonfor the cinnamon filling
- 1⅔ cupshomemade or from custard powder, cooledA thick, sliceable vanilla custard of milk, egg yolks, sugar and starch, the kind found inside Danish pastries.Substitute: Vanilla custard powder works well if cooked with somewhat less milk than directed, so the cream holds its shape in the oven; it will taste a little less of egg.Read more
- 1eggbeaten, for brushing
- 3½ ozicing sugarfor the icing
- 2 tbspwaterfor the icing
- 1 tspcocoa powderfor a second, brown icing (optional)
- sprinkled on before baking instead of icing (optional)Hard, opaque white sugar nuggets that hold their shape in the oven and stay on top of baked goods as a crunchy topping.Substitute: Roughly crushed sugar cubes come closest, though the pieces are more irregular and soften slightly at the edges. Belgian pearl sugar, made for Liège waffles, is much larger and does not work as a topping.Read more
Method
- Make the vanilla creamMake the vanilla cream from scratch or with custard powder, then let it cool completely.
- Knead and prove the doughWarm the milk to about 100 °F and dissolve the yeast in it. Add the flour, sugar, salt, cardamom, eggs and softened butter, and knead into a smooth, elastic dough. Cover and leave in a warm place to rise for 30 to 60 minutes.
- Mix remonce, prepare the tinFor the remonce, beat the softened butter, brown sugar and cinnamon into a spreadable paste. Grease a springform tin or line it with baking paper.
- Line and spread the baseOn a lightly floured surface, roll a third of the dough into a round, line the tin with it and bring the edge 1 to 2 cm up the sides. Spread the base with a little remonce and some vanilla cream.
- Roll and cut the bunsRoll out the rest of the dough into a rectangle of about 30 × 40 cm and spread it with the remaining remonce and vanilla cream. Roll it up and cut it into 8 to 12 buns.
- Arrange buns and prove againSet the buns on the base with a little space between them and press them down lightly. Leave to rise again for 20 to 45 minutes, and meanwhile heat the oven to 175–390 °F.
- Glaze with egg and bakeBrush the top with beaten egg and bake for 25 to 45 minutes. If it browns too quickly, cover it loosely with foil.
- Cool and drizzle with icingLet the cake cool. Stir the icing sugar with the water until smooth and drizzle the icing over the buns.
Tips and variations
Instead of remonce and vanilla cream, you can fill the cake with ground almonds, sugar and melted butter, brushing the base with butter only. A simpler version spreads the vanilla cream on the base only and fills the buns with butter and cinnamon sugar in place of the remonce. In that version the buns are scattered with pearl sugar before baking instead of being iced, and any leftover dough is baked as separate cinnamon buns. For two-colour decoration, stir cocoa powder into part of the icing to make it brown. Another version rolls the dough up from the short side and bakes the cake longer at a lower heat, 45 to 50 minutes at 175 °C. Serve slightly cooled, so the buns can be pulled apart one by one.
Allergens
Contains: Eggs, Cereals containing gluten, Milk (including lactose)
These notes follow from this recipe's ingredient list. Ready-made products and brands may contain further allergens — please check the packaging yourself.
Something not right?
This recipe was put together from independent sources and checked before publishing. Even so, a mistake can slip through — an amount that does not add up, a step that does not work as written. If you spot something, write to us: we will look into it and put it right.
