The Tosca Cake (Toskakka) is very popular in Scandinavian countries like Denmark and Sweden. Typically served to go with coffee, it’s very easy to make with ingredients probably already in your fridge and pantry. Exactly my type of cake, easy and delicious. Tosca Cake is essentially a butter cake with a crunchy Caramel Almond topping. I specially like the crispy toffee like edges.
When I first started baking, I tended to go with over the top creations. I like bold flavours and colours you see. But as I’ve grown older, I’m finding that I love unfussy things more and more. I’ve slowly turned into my mother who loved the simple things in life, including food. For some reason, this Tosca Cake reminds me of her. It’s probably for it’s simplicity, but don’t let that simplicity fool you, because it’s utterly delicious!
It is not clear whether it’s named after Tuscany or Puccini’s Opera called Tosca but regardless of it’s origin, Tosca cake has a wonderful buttery almond flavour and a crunchy nutty caramelised topping. Who can resist the combination of a sponge cake and caramel almonds? Not me, for sure. I’d even go for seconds! It is perfect to serve with tea or do as the Scandinavians do, a sweet treat for fikka.
What you need to make Tosca Cake
- Fridge and Pantry Ingredients -Butter,Self Raising Flour,Almond Flour,Eggs, Sliced Almonds snd Light Brown Sugar
- Optional – Whipped Cream and Strawberries to serve
- A loose bottomed pan 23cm diameter. I actually like to cook this in a slightly larger pan so there’s more topping to cake ratio. Just adjust the baking time.
Easy does it…
- Preheat oven to 160°C fan forced or 180°C regular. Spray a 23cm round loose bottomed pan with cooking oil and line bottom of the pan with a round of baking paper.
- Beat sugar and butter together until pale and fluffy, then add eggs one at a time beating well after addition. Stir in almond essence and vanilla extract.
- Sift the self raising flour and almond flour over the butter mix. Use a spatula to fold the mixture gently.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and level the top with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Place the pan in another baking tin, like a sheet pan or something similar to catch drips. Believe me you don’t want to be scraping off caramel from your oven- learn from my mistake.
- Bake in a preheated oven for about 40 minutes. You want the edges of the cake set with the middle slightly underdone. Meanwhile make the caramel almond topping.
- Remove the cake from the oven and carefully spread the caramel almond topping on top of the cake.
- Return cake to the oven and cook for a further 10 minutes or until the almonds are crunchy and golden, about 10 minutes.
- Cool cake in the tin, and un mould to a serving platter.
To serve:
- Cut and slice into portions using a sharp serrated knife and serve at room temperature.
- Pair with whipped cream and some berries like strawberries or raspberries.
- Best on the the day that it was baked but will keep for a few days in covered container.
I hope you give this easy recipe a try, you won’t be disappointed. And while you’re here check out my recipe for another Swedish deliciousness, the Kladkakka Swedish Chocolate Cake.
