Grandma's Design

STRIPED COFFEE CAKE

GRANDMA

COUNTRY

Finland

ORIGIN

Miehikkala

INGREDIENTS

4 eggs3 dl sugar250 g melted butter/margarine4 dl wheat flour3 tsp baking powder3/4 dl milk/cream1 tbsp vanilla sugarhalf a citron (grated lemon skin)2 tbsp cocoa powder½ dl milk/cream

HISTORY

The first Finnish cakes were coffee cakes, baked for festive occasions in 17th and 18th century mansions. At the time, raising ingredients such as baking soda and baking powder were unknown. People started baking more coffee cakes in the 1930s, as invitations to coffee became more common. Such cakes traditionally accompany coffee on festive occasions, alongside buns, cookies and filled cakes. Coffee cakes are made of leavened sponge or shortcrust pastry. All types of coffee cakes are baked in a ring-shaped baking tin. The result is an easily sliced cake which takes its distinctive flavour from spices.Tiikerikakku is seasoned with cocoa. Some of the ready dough is separated, and cocoa powder is added. The light and dark doughs are layered in the tin to achieve a striped end result. For greater effect, the layers can be mixed with a stick.

More Minus

HOW TO

Grease a ring-shaped cake mould and dust it with breadcrumbs.Whisk the eggs and sugar until creamy. Stir in the melted fat. Mix the baking powder with the flour and add to the sugar-egg mixture, a little at a time, with milk. Put 1/3 of the dough into another bowl and sift in the cocoa powder and about ½ dl milk, and mix well. Add the vanilla sugar and grated lemon skin to the rest of the dough, and mix. Place the light and dark doughs in the cake mould in layers, starting with half of the light dough, then pour all of the dark over it and finish with the rest of the light dough.Bake for about one hour in a preheated oven (175°C).