kladdkaka: sticky chocolate cake

This simple chocolate cake is apparently ubiquitous across Sweden.

I haven't visited Sweden yet, so I think I should probably do a serious research trip soon to confirm that.

But in the meantime, I can make kladdkaka at home in approximately two seconds. (Or half an hour, which is the equivalent of two seconds in the cake-baking world.)

Kladkakka is the original Swedish word and it's pretty fun to say. Kladdkaka is sticky and dense with ground hazelnuts and practically breathes chocolate. It also has a fudgy centre. In other words, it's just what I want in a quick weekend dessert.

The original recipe in the lovely Fika calls for unroasted almonds ... but hazelnuts are my very favourite nut, so I went with them. I also roasted them first because a roasted hazelnut is the ultimate hazelnut.

This cake seems pretty forgiving, though – I think you couldn't go wrong with roasted or unroasted almonds, hazels or walnuts, or even a combination of all three.

Kladdkakka also has the fun option of sprinkling poppy seeds on top! How unexpected is that? That's why I love these recipes from other parts of the world. I didn't have any poppy seeds in the house, but I'll definitely put them on next time.

So, if you have some nuts and cocoa, go ahead – make kladdkaka!

one year ago: ginger meringues
two years ago: hazelnut cacao nib granola
three years ago: japan in pictures


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sticky chocolate cake (kladdkaka)
slightly adapted from fika by anna brones and johanna kindvall
note that this recipe halves beautifully

1/2 c. (71 g., 2.5 oz) hazelnuts, if possible roasted and rubbed in a tea towel until their skins come off*
1/2 c. (113 g., 4 oz) butter
2 eggs
1 c. (198 g., 7 oz) sugar
1/3 c. + 1 tbsp. (28 g., 1 oz) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3 – 4 tsp. poppy seeds (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 Celsius). Grease a 9-inch (23-centimetre) springform pan.

Put the nuts in a food processor and grind until almost fine.

Melt the butter. Set aside to cool.

Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a bowl. Stir in the cocoa powder and salt. Then add the almonds, then the slightly-cooled butter. Stir until smooth.

Pour into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the top evenly with poppy seeds. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until it's set on top but still a bit sticky inside. To check this, carefully lift one side of the pan. It's done if it doesn't move. If it still looks runny, let it bake a little longer.

Cool before serving – either alone or with a dollop of whipped cream.

*The original recipe calls for unroasted almonds. I think walnuts would be good too.

hazelnut cacao nib granola

I am an unabashed breakfast eater.

Sometimes, I hear stories about how people get up in a rush and go to work without eating breakfast. I can't even imagine it.

I mean, how could those people breathe on an empty stomach, let alone sit up straight and speak in full sentences?

I used to eat peanut butter toast and fruit for breakfast, along with some strong black tea, of course. Scott added eggs and coffee to his breakfast and he was a happy camper.

About two months ago, everything changed. After seven blissful years of married breakfasts, Scott decided it was all too much work and took too much time in the morning.

Now, I make granola or oatmeal on Sunday, and then we dish it out or heat it up throughout the week. I still insist upon the fresh fruit, but actually Scott was right: it is much easier to just dish up some granola instead of toasting toast and fussing with eggs.

This is our favourite granola so far. I'm not surprised, considering that hazelnut and chocolate is one of my all-time favourite flavour combinations. (My German heritage means that I am incapable of thinking about chocolate without hazelnuts.)

When I first made it, I wondered if the cacao nibs would make it too sweet for breakfast. But no: cacao nibs are just cacao beans that have been roasted – no sweetener added. They actually kind of remind me of little pieces of coffee beans, in a good way.

In any case, the granola is golden and lightly crunchy and completely the right thing to eat for (a quicker) breakfast. My thanks go out to Megan Gordon, who wrote the lovely Whole-Grain Mornings.

Megan is based in Seattle and she runs the popular Marge Granola. She gives a couple granola recipes in her cook book – I also tried apricot pistachio – and they're both revelations. They taste just exactly like I always knew granola could: not too sweet and nicely toasty, with lots of nuggets to get excited about. Megan, you have helped save breakfast.

one year ago: japan in pictures and japan in food
two years ago: quince jellies
three years ago: applesauce spice cake
four years ago: west african peanut soup via winnipeg and butter tarts

hazelnut cacao nib granola
very slightly adapted from whole-grain mornings by megan gordan
bakes 6 – 7 cups

300 g. (3 c.) rolled oats
60 g. (1/2 c.) sesame seeds, raw or lightly-toasted*
50 g. (1/2 c. raw walnuts or pecans, chopped
1 tsp. kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp. regular salt)
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
120 ml. (1/2 c.) maple syrup
120 ml. (1/2 c.) olive oil or melted coconut oil**
35 g. (3/4 c.) coconut flakes or 1/3 c. toasted sunflower seeds
60 g. (1/2 c.) raw hazelnuts, chopped
25 g. (1/4 c.) cacao nibs

Get out your biggest cookie pan. If you don't have a sheet pan, use two regular-sized cookie pans. Line with parchment paper or a Silpat. Preheat the oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.

Now, get out a big bowl. Stir the oats, sesame seeds, walnuts or pecans, salt, cinnamon and cardamom together. Pour the vanilla, maple syrup and coconut oil on top and stir it in. Pour the mixture onto your prepared pan and spread it evenly.

Bake for 15 minutes. Stir the coconut or sunflower seeds and hazelnuts in. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, stirring once halfway through. It should be fragrant and golden but not too dark – it will keep cooking a bit as it cools. Once it's cool, stir the cacao nibs in.

Store in an airtight container on the counter for 3 to 4 weeks – although I bet it'll be gone in a few days. You may also freeze it up to 3 months.

*I buy lightly-toasted sesame seeds at the grocery store for everything. I find they don't burn here, so it saves me the pain of buying raw on top of the sesame seeds I already have.

**Megan calls for coconut oil, but I haven't had it in the house. I've been using olive oil (which Megan uses in her other granola recipes) and it's great.

three-nuts chocolate torte

Dear readers, I fly to Japan tomorrow!

I am going for two weeks with my mother, as part of a cultural exchange between my home town of Kelowna and Kasugai in Japan. Even though I have now checked into my flight and my bags are packed, I can still hardly believe it.

I will tell you all about it when I get back. But in the meantime, I wanted to share this heavenly new cake recipe with you. My co-worker Portia shared it with me after everyone at work raved about it.

They were right to rave. It's originally from Jamie Oliver, and it's kind of like a flourless chocolate cake with lots of nuts in it. His original recipe calls for just almonds and walnuts, but I find it difficult not to add hazelnuts to chocolate – it's the German in me – so in they went.

(I do believe you could stick with his original version of 150 g. walnuts and 150 g. almonds and also be quite happy).

You whiz everything together in the food processor and end up with a thick but light batter from all those whipped egg whites.

The batter bakes into a substantial cake that's moist and dense with nuts and rich with chocolate. And, of course, lovely with a dollop of hazelnut-scented whip cream on the side.

I might note that if you don't like pumpkin pie, it also makes a fine Thanksgiving dessert. (Which I tested for you yesterday, just to make sure.)

Sayonara!

one year ago: 27 hours in saskatoon and homemade ricotta cheese
two years ago: quince almond cake and roasted beet risotto
three years ago: pear ginger jam

three-nuts chocolate torte
slightly adapted from Jamie Oliver

100 g. peeled almonds
100 g. walnuts
100 g. mostly-peeled hazelnuts*
300 g. dark chocolate (70% cocoa or higher), broken into rough pieces
1 tsp. cocoa powder, heaped + cocoa for dusting the pan
255 g. butter, at room temperature
100 g. fine sugar or caster sugar
6 large egss, separated
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Choose an 8 or 10-inch cake pan (preferably spring-form) and line the bottom with parchment paper. Then butter the bottom and sides, and dust with cocoa. Set it on a cookie sheet, in case a little bit of butter weeps out while it's baking.

Put the nuts in a food processor and whiz until finely ground. Add the chocolate and cocoa, and whiz another 30 seconds to break the chocolate up. Spoon it out of the food processor and set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar in the food processor until pale and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, then mix in the chocolate and nut mixture. Set aside in a separate, large bowl.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the big bowl of chocolate-nut-butter mixture. Pour it all into the prepared pan.

Bake about 40 – 45 minutes for an 8-inch pan, possibly 35 – 40 for a 10-inch pan. You want this cake to be moist, so trust your nose! You should also stick a cake pin tester into the cake for 5 seconds and have it come out clean when it's ready.

Let cool before serving.


hazelnut whip cream

500 ml. whipping cream
3 tbsp. fine or caster sugar
3 tbsp. Frangelico or hazelnut liqueur

Beat the cream with the sugar and liqueur until it's puffy. Serve a big dollop with each slice of cake.


* You might need to roast the hazelnuts to get much of their peels off if you can't buy them peeled.