I often dream about cake, so when I found this recipe for an actual dream cake, I just had to make it, and thought it would be a great addition to your baking repertoire.
Drommekage is Danish for dream cake and was made famous back in the 1960’s, after a young girl won a Danish baking competition with her grandmother’s recipe and it has since become Denmark's most famous cake.
It’s a simple thing to make, being a moist, light sponge, topped with caramelised coconut, but it’s that topping, both chewy and crispy, that makes it unusual and a bit special.
If you have a sweet tooth, use normal desiccated coconut for the topping, but like me, if your sweetness tolerance levels aren’t that high, use the unsweetened kind.
You often hear these days about Hygge and the Danish concept of cozy, convivial and contented living.
Curl up in front of a roaring fire with a steaming mug of coffee and a piece of Drommenkage and trust me, you will have entered the world of Hygge.
INGREDIENTS
For the cake…
50g salted butter, melted
4 large eggs, beaten
250g caster sugar
200g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
100ml whole milk
For the topping…
100g salted butter
125g unsweetened desiccated coconut
220g light brown sugar
50ml single cream
METHOD
Prepare your cake tin.
Lightly brush a 12 hole individual cake tin with removable bases with butter, (I bought mine from Lakeland). You could also use a square tin, about 22cm, greased and lined with baking parchment.
Beat the eggs and sugar together with a whisk until pale and fluffy. This might take 10 minutes or more.
The batter is done when it reaches the ‘ribbon’ stage, that is, when it will leave a distinct trail on the surface of the mixture when you lift up the whisk.
Fold in the flour and baking powder until combined, then add the cooled melted butter and milk.
Gently stir everything together to get a smooth lump - free batter.
Pour into the prepared cake tin (I transferred the batter to a jug to make it easier to pour into the holes) and bake at 200℃/180℃ fan for 10-12 minutes. If you are using a square tin, you will probably need longer in the oven (about 20-25 minutes). Meanwhile, make the coconut caramel topping by putting all the topping ingredients into a saucepan and heating until they are bubbling. Turn the heat down, and cook for another 5 minutes or until thicker, stirring all the time.
Take off the heat and leave to one side.
When the cakes are just done and starting to brown at the edges (after about 10-12 minutes), take them out of the oven, and spoon some topping onto the surface of each one (or all over a square cake).
Carefully level out with a palette knife but be gentle, the cake will still be soft and hot.
Return to the oven and bake for a further 9-10 minutes until the coconut caramel topping is golden brown.