Another Tosca

I made another Tosca cake for my dad a while ago - he had an operation and had to stay overnight in the hospital, so I made this for him when he got home. It's different from the regular tosca in that it has oats instead of chopped nuts or almonds. It still has the flaked almonds though, and about 100 g of oats. Definitely a delicious topping, and one that I'll certainly make again.

Tosca Cake Extra Delux

A Tosca cake is basically a pound cake with a nut-caramel topping. My dad's favorite, and I make sure to bake him one every now and then. I like to vary the toppings, and this one had sliced almonds, chopped almonds, pecans and coconut which was a particularly successful combination! I hope you'll give it a try!

Tosca Cake Extra Delux

2 eggs
125 g sugar
100 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
100 g butter
2 tbsp cream

Topping:
50 g butter
100 g sugar
2 tbsp cream
2 tbsp flour
50 g flaked almonds
50 g chopped almonds
50 g pecans, chopped
50 g coconut flakes

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Butter and flour a springform pan, about 24 cm in diameter.

Beat eggs and sugar until very fluffy. Melt the butter. Stir in flour and baking powder with the eggs, and then fold in butter and cream. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes.

Meanwile, prepare the topping. Just mix all ingredients in saucepan and bring to a boil. Spread it on top of the cake, and bake for another 15 minutes. Let it cool more or less completely before taking it out of the pan.

Tosca!

Today is Sugar High Friday again, the fourth edition. This time, it's hosted by Viv of Seattle Bon Vivant, and the theme: nuts!

I was thrilled to hear that. I love nuts. Off a dessert menu, I always go for the nuts. In baking, I love to include them. Nuts. Yum. All kinds of nuts, please!

I have a special recipe that I want to share with you today. It's one that I make a lot, as it's my dad's favorite. The recipe comes from my grandmother's old cookbook (aptly named "the big cookbook". It's indeed, big.) that she got for christmas 1953. It's called a Tosca cake, and it's basically a fairly heavy sponge with a caramel nut topping. I make this for my dad on many occasions - for Father's Day, for christmas, for his birthday, to take out on the boat... It's his fave. Last time I made it was in November, to celebrate that he had had his teeth re-done. He had a very long and involved procedure, and was unable to chew hard things - like nuts - for half a year. What better than a nut-filled cake to celebrate, then?

I was going to make one today, too. And I was going to take a picture. That didn't quite work out the way I had planned. Instead, I went off to friends for dinner, and had a wonderfully delicious dessert that I must get the recipe for. But it didn't involve nuts, so enough about that for now. Here's MY recipe - which is not exactly the same as in grandmother's cookbook, as I like a lot more topping than the original recipe called for. Also, the original just uses flaked almonds on the top. I like a mix of flaked almonds, chopped almonds and hazelnuts.

Tosca cake
Sponge base:
2 eggs
125 g sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
100 g flour
2 Tbsp heavy cream
100-125 g butter

Topping:
50 g butter
50 g flaked almonds
100 g coarsely chopped almonds
100 g coarsely chopped hazelnuts
100 g sugar
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp heavy cream or milk

Start with the base. Heat an oven to 175 degrees. (350F) Butter and flour a suitable baking form, I use a normal 9-inch springform. Melt the butter. Beat the eggs and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the baking powder and the flour. (Preferrably, use a sieve.) Add the cream, and the slightly cooled melted butter, and mix carefully but gently. Pour in the prepared pan, and bake for about 30 minutes. It should have some color, but still be a bit wobbly.

Meanwhile, make the topping. It's easy. Melt the butter. Add all the nuts, the cream (or milk - that works too), the flour and the sugar. Bring to a boil, and remove from heat. Spread the topping over the cake while still in its pan, and put back in the oven until the topping has turned a gorgeous light golden color. This takes 15 minutes or so. Also check that the cake is done, by inserting a cake tester, it should come out clean.

Let cool on a rack, remove from pan, enjoy with coffee or a glass of fresh lemonade.

Tosca Cake for Dad, and a movie recommendation

This week has really rushed by for me! I can hardly believe it's Friday already, but hey, it is! And Friday means you get something sweet - so today: my dad's favorite recipe.

And, with a weekend coming up and all - I really want to recommend a movie: No Reservations (Kärlek på Menyn) with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart. I saw this a while ago, and loved it! Really, really loved it! It's a simple feel-good romantic comedy, but with a foodie twist. And Aaron Eckhart is just irrisistably charming. (I also loved him in Thank you for smoking which is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen.) I heartily recommend this one. Although fair warning is in order - you might feel like cooking afterwards. Pizza. Or saffron sauce. I know I did. And I also felt the strangest need to make some aprons. I've come as far as buying some fabric and finding a pattern, so we'll see how that goes...

My parents are coming over for dinner tonight. My dad has just spent two weeks touring Spain on motorbike, and it's nice to have him back home again. I've told you briefly about his favorite cake, but not with a picture, and besides, it was a long time ago. I've changed the recipe a bit too, to make the nut layer thicker and thus, better.

Tosca Cake for Dad

2 eggs
125 g sugar
100 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
100 g butter
2 tbsp cream

Topping:
50 g butter
100 g sugar
2 tbsp cream
2 tbsp flour
50 g flaked almonds
75 g hazelnuts, chopped
75 g almonds, chopped

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Butter and flour a springform pan, about 24 cm in diameter.

Beat eggs and sugar until very fluffy. Melt the butter. Stir in flour and baking powder with the eggs, and then fold in butter and cream. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes.

Meanwile, prepare the topping. Just mix all ingredients in saucepan and bring to a obil. Spread it on top of the cake, and bake for another 15 minutes. Let it cool more or less completely before taking it out of the pan.

Recipe in Swedish:
Toscakaka

Tosca!

I made my dad's favorite cake, a Swedish Tosca Cake, sine Father's Day is this Sunday. This time, I used all blanched almonds, about 150 g in total. Turned out quite lovely - I'm especially pleased with the caramel topping.

Cinnamon Tosca Squares

This is a very yummy treat that I first encountered when I was studying at university. My dear friend Kristin made this for, I think, a birthday party, and it was love at first bite. I begged her for the recipe, and I've had that hidden away in my "make-soon"-stash ever since. Embarrassingly enough, I recently found it and made it myself - for the first time. What kept me so long? These are great!

I modified her recipe just a bit - I made half of the bottom (so feel free to double my measurements) but all of the topping, as I really like the chewy, crispy coconot crunch. And I added cinnamon to the topping, very yummy! These freeze very well, and are indeed great to munch on straight from the freezer. Dangerous!

Cinnamon Tosca Squares

Bottom:
2 eggs
3 dl sugar (1 cup + 3 tbsp)
1,5 dl flour (1/2 cup + rougly 2 tbsp)
1 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla sugar
pinch of salt
90 g butter, melted

Topping:

75 g butter
2 dl sugar
150 ml cream (low-fat is fine)
100 ml golden syrup
200 g shredded coconut
1 tbsp cinnamon

Start with the bottom. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (~400F). Beat eggs and sugar until fluffy. Add all the other ingredients - I sift everything to avoid lumps - and stir until smooth. Pour into a lined roasting pan, and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the topping. It's very easy - mix everything in a saucepan, let the butter melt and stir. Bring to a boil. Then, when the cake is done, just smear this over the top, and bake for another 10 minutes. It might look a little liquid when you take it out, don't worry - it will firm up.

Let it cool, and cut into squares.

Tesse's Carrot Cake

Thank god for an extra fridge.

Ok, sorry for not posting yesterday. I have good reason though - I was busy baking. A lot. Today is my brother's birthday party, and I had volunteered to make dessert for his 100-or-so guests. (What was I thinking?!) Anyway. So I did. I quickly scrapped my original plan of making cupcakes, and instead asked my friend Tesse for her awesome carrot cake recipe. I made a double batch of that, and then double batches of Earl Grey Cookies (recipe to come), Chocolate Chip Cookies and Cardamom Biscotti. I tried to make a double batch of Cinnamon Tosca Squares, but something went horribly wrong and most of it ended up on my oven floor. And eventually in the wastebin.



Anyway. I have to share the carrot cake recipe. It's really awesome, and I think part of the reason is that it uses butter rather than oil. Tesse always uses normal salted butter, but I used unsalted and instead added a small pinch of salt. You can do it either way.

I made twice this recipe (and three times the frosting) for the batch I made, but this is enough for a thick normal sized cake. (Use a 9-inch springform tin.)



Tesse's Carrot Cake

4 eggs
400 ml sugar
400 ml flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla sugar
1 tsp baking soda
200 g butter, melted
600 ml (about 500 g) carrots, finely grated
cinnamon

Beat eggs and sugar until very fluffy. Stir in flour, baking powder, vanilla sugar and baking soda. Then add the butter, and finally the carrots.

Pour into a buttered and floured baking pan, and sprinkle over cinnamon.

Bake at 175°C until the cake is baked through. Count on about 35-45 minutes, but depending on your pan it can take longer so keep checking it.

Let the cake cool completely before frosting it.

Cream cheese frosting
150 gram cream cheese
60 gram butter, at room temperature
250 ml powdered sugar

Beat all ingredients until it's really light and fluffy. Spread over the cake and place in the fridge to set.

Decorate, if you wish, with caramelized carrot strips.

Recipe in English:
Tesses morotskaka

Sweet, sweet Swedish Cookbooks!

There has really been a storm of Swedish cookbooks this fall - especially about sweets. Let me tell you about four of them that I like very much - even though I'm sorry to say that they're only available in Swedish.



First out, Bara Bullar ("Just Buns") by Åsa Swanberg (Forum förlag). I made her recipe for cinnamon buns on National Cinnamon Bun Day, and that was a huge hit. I really enjoyed it - it was a very easy recipe to work with and the buns were fantastic. This whole book has nothing but buns - buns in all shapes, sizes and flavors. Not sure what to try first! Maybe her Custard-filled buns? Or Tosca-buns - topped with caramelly almond slivers! Blueberry buns? Maybe traditional Lucia buns with saffron? This book has recipes for all of that and much more. A definitey must for the avid bun-baker!



Passion för desserter ("Passion for desserts") by Jan Hedh. (Prisma förlag.)
Jan Hedh is legendary - he's a wonderful pastry chef and has written several brilliant books already, about chocolate, desserts in general, bread and marmalade. In fact, his book about bread was recently published in English so if you enjoy baking bread, try to find that! His first chocolate book is also available in English.

His recipes are always quite fiddly and involved so it's nothing for the beginner, but the results are always well worth the trouble. This book is a new book about desserts, sort of an updated version of his older one. All the desserts are new, but some of the basic recipes and the techniques described are obviously the same. I like this one better, it has a much clearer layout and it's easier to find what you're looking for.

And the desserts.. well. Klas Andersson is the photograher on this as well as all of Hedh's books, and he's absolutely amazing. Everything looks so good it makes me want to lick the pages! Or at least get in the kitchen myself - but honestly, daring baker or not, making something from this is quite a project, and I need to build up confidence a bit first! But when I do, I think I'll try his Hazelnut Praliné Cake. It's incredibly beautiful - one of those where you put layers in circles, to make the whole cake sort of striped when you cut into it. (Did that make sense at all? I guess I'll just have to make it and show you... eventually.)



Lakrits, Mint & Choklad ("Licorice, Mint & Chocolate") by Elisabeth Johansson. (Natur & Kultur förlag). Elisabeth Johansson is also a pastry chef, one who's been working on the Nobel Prize dinners and won a lot of awards for her outstanding work. She's recently started writing cookbooks, and this one is her latest. It's divided into candy, baked goods, dessert, drinks and additions, and it has so many unique and interesting combinations I'm swooning as I read through this. I'm especially excited to see so many licorice recipes - that's not very usual at all. The licorice caramels covered with chocolate and dipped in crushed candied violets caught my attention right away (they're on the back of the cover!) and so did licorice ice cream with cherries cooked in Port.

Then there's chocolate cream with whisky and lemon curd. Or Lemon Mint Martini? Really, I could write down every single name in this book, because everything sounds amazing. It has more licorice recipes than mint though, and the chocolate desserts are usually quite exciting - not your standard recipes at all. This is for those who feel that they've gotten a bit bored with the classics, and are ready to try something new.



Vinterns Söta ("Sweets for the winter") by Lisa & Monica Eisenman. (Forum förlag)
Finally, a new book by Lisa & Monica Eisenman, the owners of the Cookbook Café! They've done two books before, another one about sweets, and one about soups and bread that I didn't like half as much as the first one. In this one, they go back to sweets, and I personally think that that's what they do best. This has loads of recipes - lots of candy, many variations on truffles and fudge, and also a lot of baked goods. There's a frozen candy cane cake that I'm dying to make! They also say that there's another book in the works - Sweets for the Summer - and I personally can't wait!

Tosca pastries from Gateau

What's this? Oh, only one of the most heavenly pastries ever thought up. It's a danish (wienerbröd in Swedish), topped with vanilla custard and caramelized almonds, pistachios, walnuts and hazelnuts. And who makes this? Not me - sorry to say - but Gateau Bakery does. They were, not surprisingly, chosen as "pastry bakery of the year". Well deserved, in my opinion.

If you're in Stockholm, pay them a visit - they have a couple of locations, and I usually go to the one right here in Nacka, which is their main bakery nowadays. (Although just a very tiny serving area, so if you want to eat there, choose the one in Sturegallerian instead.)