Swedish Sockerkaka

It’s September. WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN. I feel like I say that every time a new month comes along, but seriously. When. Did. That. Happen. It feels like yesterday that August was starting and it feels like July started the day before that. Not multiple days. So crazy.

With September comes back to school time, which now that I’m not a student anymore and instead a “real person” (which sucks), doesn’t change too much in my life except for the addition of school traffic in the morning. It kind of sucks. I miss the excitement of back to school. I was totally the girl who would go back-to-school shopping with my mom in the weeks leading up to school starting and then sit in the living room and color coordinate my folders and notebooks, set up binders with paper, and just over organize everything. I loved how new and crisp things were. Oh, and getting to decorate my locker? Let’s just say that in middle school, pictures of Orlando Bloom ripped out of Teen Vogue were plastered all over it.

While I don’t really have any back-to-school time other than freaking out over Labor Day already being over and the fact it’s September and that OMG I graduated college over a year ago, a lot of people in my life are either teachers (from Ryan teaching preschool to Emily who teaches high school english). Sidebar – she and I have known each other for about 9 years. WHAT THE WHAT. Where does time go. Seriously.

So this cake. I have years and years of memories of this cake. It’s a Swedish sponge cake, which is the best way I can translate it. It’s light, just sweet enough, and a perfect snack or dessert. My mom used to bake this cake for me and my brother as an after-school treat surprise, and it was honestly the best surprise ever. We could always smell the cake from outside and would race each other to the front door to see who would get there first.

This was actually my first time baking it. My mom was always the one who baked it and then eventually my brother started baking this. But in the week after my mom left LA, I was missing her and decided that I needed to bake this. And besides, I was visiting Ryan and he had meetings at school all day so I thought that baking this cake as an after school/after work surprise would be appreciated. And considering this cake only lasted about an hour, I think it was a success.

Now that this week is back-to-school (see, the post comes full circle!), you should make this delicious Swedish cake for an after-school or after-work treat! They’ll love you, trust me.

Swedish Sockerkaka

makes 1 9-inch cake

2 eggs
3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
1 cup + 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons butter, melted
scant 1/2 cup milk or cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 inch baking pan. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together egg and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla sugar, mixing to combine. Add flour, baking powder, butter, and milk and whisk until combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean. Let cool in pan and then transfer to a plate. Serve plain or with whipped cream and berries.

[source: from my Mom from a Swedish cookbook]