Danish Coffee Cake - Drømmekage fra Brovst

Danish Coffee Cake

Danish coffee cake or "Drømmekage from Brovst" is one of the most well known cakes in Denmark. We might be known for the danish, aka “wienerbrød," but most danes has had this cake at school, work or at family gatherings. In the 70's and 80's this coffee cake was the go-to cake for the danish at home-bakers, and rightfully so. The soft, moist and not overly sweet vanilla spongecake, topped with a coconut-caramel is so yummy and the cake will evaporate in any home.

The cake has it's roots in the 1950s in Northern Jutland, but became known all over the country in the early 1960s when the big flour-company published the recipe in a pamphlet. 

It's not only the taste that made this cake popular, it's so easy to make, so it's a good starting cake for non-bakers.

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 4 eggs
• 300 g sugar
• 250 g all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
• 200 g milk
• 50 g butter

Topping:

• 150 g butter
• 225 g shredded unsweetened coconut
• 340 g brown sugar
• 75 g milk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425℉ (220℃).

Melt the butter in the milk in a little saucepan, set aside to cool until finger warm.

In a stand mixer whisk eggs with sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Incorporate the vanilla paste.

Sift the dry ingredients and fold them gently into the egg mixture. Fold the milk/butter into the batter. 

Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Pour the batter into the baking pan. 

Bake cake for about 20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. 

Make the topping, while the cake is in the oven. 

Heat milk, butter, sugar and coconut in a saucepan while stirring. 

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, add the topping, being careful to distribute it in an even layer. Put the cake in the oven for another 4-6 minutes.

Let cake cool on a rack.

Enjoy with friends or family.

Lemon Scones

Lemon Scone

It's really hard to find really good scones. They have to be flaky and soft. One of the only places you can get these in Copenhagen is at Reinh van Haun bakery. Well you can probably get real scones in the UK.

Recently I had a really god and flakey scone at Tartine Bakery & Cafe in San Francisco, but it's not just around the corner from here, so I won't be hanging out there a lot. But if you're ever in San Francisco stop by Tartine, even if you have to wait in line, It's worth the wait.

I got this recipe at a cooking class in Sur La Table from Chef Nikki B. Frias. I'm sad to see that she's no longer at the Los Gatos Store - I miss you Nikki! 

Makes 10-15.

Ingredients: 

• 450 g all-purpose flour
• 85 g sugar
• 30 g baking powder
• 7 g  salt
• 115 g  cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 475 ml heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest

Topping:

• heavy wipping cream
• demerara sugar (raw cane sugar)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F  (205°C) For a convection oven. Non-convection preheat oven to 425°F  (220°C) 

Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl, by hand. Add the butter. I used a pastry cutter to incorporate the butter in the flour mixture. Mix until the the butter resembles small pebbles.

Getting ready for the oven.

Add in your cream and lemon zest and mix until it just comes together and resembles biscuit dough. This step is very important because if you over mix, the dough will become dense. If you use berries in the scones, add them now

Using an ice cream scoop, take the scones dough and place the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Brush the top with heavy whipping cream and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown in the mottle of the oven.

Note: 

You can make the dough and set them on a baking sheet and then freeze them in advance. When you want fresh baked scones - just take the frozen scones out and brush the top with heavy whipping cream and sprinkle with sugar, and bake. No need for defrosting.

You can add fruit to the batter. Use about 115 g, but don't use strawberries, they contain to much water. 

Danish Hindbærsnitter

Hindbærsnitte.

Hindbærsnitter or 'raspberry bars' is a cake made of a shortcrust pastry, like the one you will use for a pie crust. Between the two layers of pastry there's a filling of a good raspberry jam. The cake is topped with an icing and colorful sprinkles.

You'll find hindbærsnitter in almost every bakery shop in Denmark. The quality may varies greatly, mostly because the bakeries doesn't make hindbærsnitter daily.

Hindbærsnitter has been one of my favourite cakes growing up. Even though that I, as an adult, don't like cakes to sweet, these hindbærsnitter will always be have a special place in my cake loving heart.<3

When you make these you'll find out that they won't keep, they will evaporate! 

Ingredients:

Pastry:

• 2 teaspoon vanilla paste

• 75 g confectionery sugar

• 150 g butter, room temperature

• 250 g All-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 50 g water (1/2 dl)

Filling:

• 200 g raspberry jam, in a good quality

glaze:

• 225 g confectionary sugar

• a little bit water

Topping:

• colorful sprinkles

Directions: 

Pastry:

Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment, mix together sugar, flour, butter, vanilla paste and baking powder. When the butter is mixed in well add the water, a little at a time, you might not need all of it. Be careful not to over mix the dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate dough for about 30 minutes.  

Rolling out the dough and when it's baked.

 Generously flour your counter, then place the chilled, unwrapped dough on the flour and flour the top of the dough. Roll you dough into a 8x12-inch (20x30 cm) rectangle. Re-flour your surface as needed, continually lifting and rotating your dough to make sure no parts are sticking. Lift the dough on to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Cut the dough to a perfect rectangle and down the middle, so you get two 4x12-inch pieces.  Bake them at 400°F (200°C) for 10-12 minutes. They should be very light browned and look a bit undercooked. Cool the cakes completely. My rectangles were a bit to brown, an cracked a bit when I sliced them.

Spread an even layer of raspberry jam on one of the rectangles, put the other one on top to make a sandwich.  

Put the confectionary sugar in a pot over low heat. Slowly heat the sugar and add water until it becomes a thick paste. The icing should not be hot, just a bit warm, so it will dry quicker. Spread a thin layer of the icing on the sandwiched cake, and put sprinkles on top. Slice the cake into the desired size with a sharp knife. The cake tends to break a bit in this process if the cake is baked too much.

Serve the cake with a cup of the or coffee.

Pumpkin Tea Cake

Pumpkin Tea Cake

Fall is here, and that mean pumpkins everywhere. Denmark does not have a big pumpkin tradition. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving or Halloween in Denmark. Well we are embracing Halloween more and more. And nowadays Tivoli Gardens is open a week in the fall with displays of pumpkins and Halloween decorations.  

For me, pumpkins had been something my mom pickled with sugar - and I wasn't fond of it. Living in the US I learned to love Pumpkin spice Latte and Pumpkin bread. So When I got the cookbook 'Tartine', I had to try their pumpkin tea cake. 

I added some walnuts to give this moist cake some texture, and it turned out great. It won't be the last time I'll make this.. 

Makes 1 large loaf 6-8 servings. 

Ingredients: 

• 225 g All-purpose flour
• 1,5 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 17 g ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 255 g pumpkin purée
• 1 cup (250 ml) vegetable oil
• 270 g sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons sugar for topping
• a handful walnuts for texture. 

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan

This recipe is easily mixed by stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment or by hand with a whisk. sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves into a mixing bowl and set aside.

In another mixing bowl, beat  together the pumpkin purée, oil, sugar and salt on medium sleet until well mixed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well before adding the next egg. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. On low speed, add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat on medium speed for 5-10 seconds to make a smooth batter. The batter should have at consistency of a thick purée. Fold in the nuts.

Transfer the batter to loaf pan and smooth the surface. Sprinkle evenly with sugar. Bake  until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, for about 1 hour. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, and them invert onto the rack, turn right side up, and let cool completely. serve the cake at room temperature.  

It keeps, well wrapped, at room temperature for 4 days or in refrigerator for about a week. 

Det Danish version: 

Græskarkage

Ingredienser: 

• 225 g hvedemel
• 1,5 tsk  bagepulver
• 1/2 tsk natron
• 17 g stødt kanel 
• 2 tsk  muskatnød (frisk revet)
• 1/4 tsk stødt nellike 
• 255 g grækarpuré
• 2,5 dl olie
• 270 g sukker
• 3/4 tsk salt
• 3 store æg
• 2 spsk sukker til drys på toppen
• 1 håndfuld valnødder

Tænd for ovnen på 165°C. Smør en sandkageform med smør. 

Denne dej laves lettest på en røremaskine med piskeris. Sigt mel, bagepulver, natron , kanel, muskatnød og nelliker sammen i en skål og sæt det til side . 

I en anden skål, pisk græskarpuré, olie, sukker og salt sammen på medium hastighed, indtil godt blandet . Tilsæt æggene et ad gangen, bland godt imellem æggene. Skrab siderne af skålen med en dejskraber. Tilsæt melblandingen og rør kun indtil lige indtil dejen er sammenhængende. Skrab siderne af skålen og rør i yderligere 5-10 sekunder for at få en glat dej. Dejen skal have konsistens som en tyk puré. Fold forsigtigt nødderne i. 

Kom dejen i formen og glat overfladen. Drys sukker. Kage bages i omkring en time, indtil en nål kommer ren ud, når den stikkes i kagen. Afkøl kagen i formen de første 20 minutter, hvorefter den vendes ud på en bagerist.

Server kagen ved stuetemperatur. Kagen holder sig godt ved stuetemperatur i 4 dage eller i en uge i køleskabet. 

Old-fashioned Danish Apple Cake with a twist.

Old-Fashioned Danish Apple cake.

This is not a pie, its a no-bake cake.

This is the kind of cake or dessert, you’ll get at your grandmother after a heavy dinner with potatoes and gravy. Or you’ll get it at afternoon coffee, just a couple of hours before dinner.

Normally it’s made with applesauce and caramelized breadcrumbs and whipped cream on top. 

In my family, my dad wanted the “cake” to sit a while before serving, but I loved the heat and crispyness of the caramelizating. My poor mom couldn’t please us both.

I had this cake made with with French praline, at my friends house. The cake get the crunch and texture I longed for in my moms soaky cake. I have to accredit the danish Pastry Chef Mette Blomsterberg for this lovely cake.

Serves 5-6 people. 

Ingredients:

Apple Sauce:

• 6-8 apples (Pink Lady)
• 100 g sugar (depending on how sweet you want the Apple Sauce)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
• 1 dl water

French Praline:

• 50 g sugar
• 100 g almonds/hazelnuts 

Topping:

• heavy whipping cream

Directions:

Apple Sauce:

Peel and core the apples and cut them in small pieces. Cook the apples with the sugar, water and vanilla paste, until they are very soft. Cool the Apple sauce in the refrigerator.

Praline:

Using Almonds you have to blanch them. Boil the almonds for a minute or two. Strain the almonds and rinse with cold water. Rub the skin of the almonds and the are ready for use.

Using Hazelnuts: roast the nuts in the oven for about 10 minutes at 400°F (200°C). Cool the nuts. Rub the nuts in your hand or with a clean towel to release the skin from the nuts.

Melt the sugar in a sauté pan until it's golden brown. Add the nuts to the melted sugar and roast them for a few minutes.

Hazelnut Praline.

Pour the caramel into some parchment paper and let it cool. Try not to taste it - it's sooooo goooood. 

Blend the cold and roughly chopped caramel/praline in a food processor, or chop it really fine by hand. 

Whip the heavy whipping cream (do not ad any sugar)

Assembly:

Layer the apple sauce and the praline in small martini glass. Put in several layers. Put whipped cream on top.