Sweet • Sour • Savory

Food blog on scandinavian style food done right.

Brunsviger cake

Cake, Brunch, DessertsTove Balle-Pedersen3 Comments

Brunsviger

Happy 1 year Sweet•Sour•Savory

 

It has been a year already, it went by so fast. Looking back, I felt very exposed when I posted my very first post, like all eyes in the world would be on me. The fear dissipated, when reality set in. Nobody knew I was here, I had to work on getting people to find my blog.

I am very grateful to all the people that stops by, I'm really happy that you like my blog, and I hope you get inspiration for cooking and baking. I try to keep to my Danish roots in my cooking style, while learning and trying a lot of different cuisines.

Thank you for stopping by on my 1 year anniversary with Sweet•Sour•Savory

- o -

This cake is a traditional cake known from the island of Funen, or Fyn. I was once told that people from Funen eat this cake on top of a morning roll with butter - whereas the rest of the country eat this cake as a pastry or as a regular cake. 

During my lifetime, I've seen many different takes on the Brunsviger. Some think it's a cinnamon cake, some cakes lack filling and taste. This cake is all about the filling, otherwise it's just some brioche bread.

This recipe is not the old original from way back when. It's adapted from the different recipes I made through the years. A friend of mine told me that the secret to the best brunsviger is to add syrup to the filling. And I have to agree with her. This is by far the best brunsviger I have had in my life. 

Ingredients:

Dough: 

  • 500 g all-purose flour
  • 200 g butter (salted and room temperature)
  • 50 g live yeast (or 4 teaspoons dry Yeast)
  • 2 dl non-fat milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 50 g sugar
  • a pinch of salt

Filling: 

  • 200 g butter (salted)
  • 450 g dark brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons thick syrup

Directions: 

    Dough:

    Heat the milk till finger warm and combine it with the yeast and half of the sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. 

    In the meantime mix the flour and butter in a stand mixer, until the butter is fully mixed in. Add the sugar, milk/yeast mixture, salt and eggs to the flour. Mix until the dough is shiny and not to sticky. Add a little more flour if its necessary.

    Place the dough in a buttered springform, I would use a bigger pan next time. The brunsviger came out to high for my taste. Let dough rise for 20 - 25 minutes. 

    The dough

    The dough

    Ready for the oven.

    Ready for the oven.

    Poke your fingers into the dough, to make holes for the filling to rest in. Make sure to make a lot of holes.

    Filling:

    Melt the butter in a saucepan add ⅔ of the brown sugar and the syrup, mix it well. Spread the filling over the dough, carefully not to get in between the dough and the pan. Sprinkle the rest of the brown sugar over the cake. 

    Bake the cake for 20-25 minutes at 400°F.

    Let the cake cool in the pan. 

    Notes:

    The brunsviger can be made in advance. It freezes well after adding the filling. Defrost in the counter and let it rise before baking.

    If you like more filling make 1½ time the amount, for a more sticky cake.