January is always such a bleak month but I’ve had such a wonderful time meeting new friends and old, getting out and about in London and enjoying lots of baking, both celebration cakes and everyday cakes and cookies for the family. School life has been busy and we’re fast approaching half term where my little boy will turn 10 years old. 10 YEARS OLD!!! Where did that come from?! Whilst I'm still in denial about this, it's always an opportunity for cake :)
Just before Christmas, I went to a wonderful workshop held by Cook & Baker in the fabulous House Curious just down the road from where I live. Not only was Sommer’s house the most beautiful setting for the Fika workshop, but Katie and Safia cooked the most amazing lunch for us all and showed us how to make delicious cinnamon rolls and overnight oats. It was such a welcoming atmosphere and the setting was perfect for our gathering that I really embraced the whole essence of Lagom, the Swedish way of living. Whilst last year we were all lighting candles and throwing large knitted blankets over ourselves and embracing the whole hygge movement, it moved seamlessly into Lagom where living is simple and unpretentious and for me a completely lovely idea where we all come together and enjoy good company and hearty food.
Chocolate cake is always a winning combination in our house. All three of my boys (big and small) love chocolate and one of the delicious cakes made by Katie and Safia for our lunch back in December was Kladdkaka which is a Swedish chocolate cake. It is very simple and delicious and I make this one gluten free so that it can be enjoyed guilt-free in our house. January is not a month that’s associated with fresh berries here in London, but this is the one thing I crave most of the warmer months and so I do find myself heaping up my basket with plenty of them at this time of year whilst longing for the months when they’re sweeter and home-grown. The berries also give this a sense of height as it’s quite a flat cake and I love the additional colour, especially when it’s liberally showered with icing sugar.
This is a wonderful addition to any lunch table with family and friends and I promise you is quite simple to make but delicious to eat. This year I'd love to inspire some wonderfully comforting dishes for my family and friends and this is easy enough to whip up for a simple weeknight supper or dress up to befit any dinner table.
I hope you've also had a wonderful start to the year. Now we're well and truly into February, spring is a mere hop, skip and jump away and I'm already enjoying the sunshine that's brightening up our days, even if it still is a little chilly! xo
Swedish Kladdkaka (gluten free chocolate cake)
makes a 7-inch cake, serves 8 people
Ingredients
- 100g unsalted butter
- 2 eggs
- 200g caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 150g gluten-free plain flour
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- a mix of your favourite berries for the top of the cake
- icing sugar, to dust
- whipped cream, to serve
Equipment
- a 7-inch cake tin
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees (fan)
- Grease and line a 7 inch cake tin (you can use a different sized cake tin but will need to increase the cooking time for a smaller tin or decrease it for a larger tin)
- Melt the butter in a small bowl and put to one side to cool
- Place the eggs, sugar and vanilla together in a mixer and whisk until pale and light in colour, around 5 minutes
- Sift the flour and cocoa powder over the mixture and gently combine
- Gently add the melted butter and fold it in until just combined
- Pour the batter into your prepared tin and bake for around 20-25 minutes - you want the cake to rise a little and when you press down lightly on the surface it will crack slightly - it will be runnier than a regular cake batter in the middle but will set more as it cools
- Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool before releasing it from its tin
- Top it with fresh berries, dust it with icing sugar and serve it with cream