Dienstag, 13. April 2010

TWD: Swedish Visiting Cake

When I was at university I took a swedish class for a year. I was interested in the language because I generally think of Sweden as a very interesting country. I mostly like how things are run there, and always thought that we can learn a lot from them. I like that politicians and top-managers are never seen as irreplaceable and VIPs. You can bump into them on Friday evening when they are at the movies with their friends and family. (Unfortunately, this also leeds to unwanted consequences, as things like this or that would not be possible in most other countries, due to big security entourages.)  like their way dealing with female participation in the workforce and the involvement of fathers in child-raising and homework-duties. And I am convinced that their open-mindness towards income and wealth transparency is a role-model.

And I think that it sounds funny when Swedish people speak. :o]

So I learned Swedish, but by chance, after the summer-holidays that year I went to Strasbourg, France, for an exchange semester, that ultimately became an exchange year and the basis of my love of France (which was the complete opposite before - my mother's a french teacher. You can imagine all the rest about teenage rebellion against parents...).

But the topic here is Sweden. So, to make it short, I forgot all my Swedish (read: the little bit Swedish I lernt in this one year), and almost all I can say is "min mor är en kassörska", what means "my mother is a till girl" - what is not even true (I seriously have  no idea why I did remind that!), and the most simple things like hello, good bye and thanks.


Nevertheless, I still have very positive feelings towards Sweden, and plan to go there since ages. I love the food corner at Ikea, half of my furniture comes from there, and H&M is, despite my advanced age, a place I often shop.

The Swedish Visiting Cake is very swedish. It is clear and sophisticated at the same time, as a swedish designer lamp; easy and quick to put together as an Ikea cupboard; and tasty, tasty, tasty, like Kalles, the caviar-spread, and Marabou chocolate.

I made the whole recipe, but used only half the batter for the original recipe, that can be found in Dorie's book on p. 197. For the other half, I made the recipe with apples that Dorie proposes here. Thanks to Nancy of The dog eats the crumbs, who has chosen this wonderful recipe for us and also linked to the apple-variant! (the recipe can also be found at her page)

The procedure is so easy, not even I could go wrong. I made a test piece with both, almonds and apples, and can't decide which one I like better. The cake tastes as if almond paste or marzipan would be included. I LOVE marzipan! The lemons make a great supplement for that it doesn't become too sweet. As often, the edges were already dark brown despite the batter was still very humid. I put aluminium foil over the cake after about 20 mins, and at least the cake didn't get darker.
 The other problem I had was that, well... have a look yourself:
I have no idea what happened. I used a tiny little bit of baking poweder, because the apple-recipe forsees some. But even if you use rasing agent, I do not think that the idea is, that the cake builds a mountain...
o:]
Maybe the apples are heavy enough to hold the batter down, but the almonds aren't.
But in the end, I do not think that it disturbs the delight when eating. This is definitely a do-it-again recipe!

19 Kommentare:

  1. AS long as it tastes good, who cares, right? The apple version sounds delicious.

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  2. I almost made the apple version, as I had apples, but everyone raved about the non-apple version so I didn't.

    Now I wish I had.

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  3. The taste is really all that matters, right? Nice job.

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  4. It looks great with apples! I'l have to try that variation next time. Oh, I got a little mountain in the middle of my cake too, but it flattened out when it cooled.

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  5. You were so smart to make one batter but two cakes (and your little test cake is adorable, too!) - I wish I'd thought of that. I'll have to try the apple version because yours looks so good. I'll bet my age is more advanced than yours, but all of my favorite jeans come from H&M. Thanks for baking along with e this week!

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  6. Love the changes you made, looks yummy!

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  7. I like that you tried the apple version. I'll have to try it sometime!

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  8. I LOLed at the Swedish line that you remember. Can you spell it out phonetically for me? I wanna learn this line too! Love all the fun changes you made with the recipe. The apples sounds amazing. Great job!
    -CB
    http://iheartfood4thought.com

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  9. ohh..you made the apple version, too--yum! great post-- i would like to visit sweden...someday!

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  10. I must learn to say your remembered swedish line so I can show off ;) My mother IS in fact tall, so I wouldn't be lying :D

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  11. The apple version looks really good!!

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  12. Your story is great. How fun that you got to be an exchange student in Sweden! I love your cakes and Im really digging the apple version! I loved this recipe too!

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  13. Ciao ! I love your appled raised version ! I studied a bit of dutch and I remember well het is een pruik (that is a wig) !!!???

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  14. Good for you for trying the apple variation! It looks really good, even with that "mountain."

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  15. Love that you split the batter and made two variations! I definitely need to try the apple version next time. We loved this one - glad you did too!

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  16. Lovely cake! I agree. The cake does has that frangipane taste to it. Good job!

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  17. I love your post - especially the part about how Swedish sounds funny being a reason you wanted to learn the language! =)
    Your cakes look wonderful!

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  18. I think your cake came out great! I want to try the apple version...yours looks so good!

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