SWEDISH CHOCOLATE CAKE

Mild, light, long days and fresh air, Sweden is a beautiful country, especially in the summer, in many ways it reminds me of Northern Ontario although there is something just a tiny bit prettier about it. Maybe it's the position of the sun which never gets intense but shines a warm light on the landscape or maybe because there are wildflowers everywhere, there is just something magical about it.

Last weekend I was in Copenhagen and Southern Sweden, Skåne. I was there for a wedding and a jaunt around Copenhagen. Unfortunately it rained while in Denmark and after a day and a half of walking around under an umbrella a beeline was made to take the train over the Øresund Bridge and into Sweden. A very relaxed 4 days was then spent eating well, walking around forests and visting the most beautiful northern beach for a wedding.


Some people gripe about Northern cuisine as being boring and a bit bland, yes the food can be beige (tasty though!) but one thing they definitely know how to do is bake. This chocolate cake is a testament to that, it is so easy, so good and most likely you'll have the ingredients at the ready in your pantry. With a bit of whipped cream and berries it actually gets to looking quite fancy.

Swedish Chocolate Cake
Serves 8

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 pinch salt
2 eggs
1 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and prepare a cake tin with butter and flour.

Stir the eggs into the sugar until smooth. Add the flour, cocoa powder, and salt, stir just until combined. Pour in the vanilla extract and melted butter; stir until well combined. Pour into prepared tin.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until the center has slightly set. Allow cake to cool for 1 hour in the tin.

This delicious cake can be served warm or refrigerated overnight and served cold.