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Kladdkaka
Swedish sticky chocolate cake with a gooey middle
Kladdkaka, literally 'sticky cake', is the chocolate cake Swedish teenagers learn to make first, because it needs one pan, no mixer and no raising agent. The outside bakes to a thin, crackly crust while the centre stays fudgy and almost molten, somewhere between a brownie and a chocolate pudding. In Sweden it turns up at birthday parties, after Friday tacos and at summer cottages, cut into wedges and served with lightly whipped cream and a few raspberries or lingonberries. Cocoa, not bar chocolate, gives it its classic flavour. Chef's tip: take it out when the middle still wobbles like set jelly; it firms up as it cools and a fully set kladdkaka is just a dry chocolate cake.
- Total time
- 28 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
To serve
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Heat the oven to 350°F (300°F fan). Butter a 22 cm round tin, ideally springform, and dust the inside with 1 tbsp fine dry breadcrumbs; this is the Swedish way of making sure the sticky cake lifts out cleanly.
Step 2: Melt 3 ½ oz unsalted butter in a medium pan over a low heat, then take it off the heat and let it cool for a couple of minutes.
3 minStep 3: Whisk 2 eggs and 7 oz caster sugar into the butter by hand until glossy. You are not trying to beat air in; a dense, sticky crumb is the point.
Step 4: Sift in 3 ⅛ oz plain flour, 1 oz unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 tsp vanilla sugar and 1 pinch salt and stir with a spatula just until no streaks of flour remain.
Step 5: Scrape into the tin and bake on the middle shelf for 15–18 minutes. It is ready when the edge has set and cracked like a brownie top but the centre still trembles when you nudge the tin; a skewer pushed into the middle should come out thickly coated. Over-baking is the usual mistake: even two extra minutes turns the middle cakey.
18 minStep 6: Leave in the tin for at least 30 minutes; it sinks a little and becomes fudgier. For the cleanest slices, chill it for an hour.
Step 7: Dust with 1 tsp icing sugar and serve with ¾ cup double cream and 3 ½ oz raspberries.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 38 g
- Fat
- 18 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does kladdkaka take?
- About 28 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 18 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of unsalted butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
- What can I use instead of eggs?
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp water per egg, left for 5 minutes (baking only; vegan).
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