Swedish Almond Coconut Cake (Kokos Toscatårta) Recipe

Swedish almond coconut cake

This is the coconut version of the toscatårta or Swedish almond cake that I made earlier. In case you haven’t tried toscatårta it is a delicious cake with an almond sugar topping.  

To make the crunchy topping, half way through the baking process a buttery sugary almond coconut mixture is spread over the cake. The cake is baked until the top turns golden, crunchy and delicious. After you spread the topping and the cake goes back in the oven take a look when the mixture starts to bubble. It is a beautiful sight!  You don't see cakes bubbling very often.

Cranberry Almond Bar / Blondie Recipe

Cranberry Almond Blondie

Cranberries and almonds are great together. This was my first time trying it, and I had some doubts. I thought the sweet slightly tart cranberries could overpower the mild almonds. But I was wrong, thankfully. Not only did the cranberries behave when in the almonds company but they made the bar look nicer. Baked goods dotted with red cranberries is appealing to the eye. 

Cranberry Almond Blondie

Dulce de Leche Polenta Fudge Recipe

Dulce de Leche Polenta Fudge

This is a really low fat or light fudge. 

There are many different types of fudge but usually the ingredients include butter, milk and sugar. This dulce de leche polenta fudge has no butter. Perhaps it should not even be called fudge. Maybe dulce de leche polenta sweet or square is a more accurate name. But that’s another issue.

Pinto Bean (or Chickpea) Ketchup Curry Recipe

Pinto bean ketchup curry

When I saw a recipe for chickpea ketchup curry, it got my attention. In addition to perhaps my eccentric taste, I was already familiar with curried baked beans. This culinary delight was introduced to me by a roommate at university. Curried baked beans is quick, cheap, delicious and nutritious. But not everyone may feel that way. I won’t be surprised if you don’t start jumping up and down with excitement at the prospect of eating pinto bean ketchup curry.  If you are feeling brave, creative or simply want to get rid of some friends, perhaps this will do the trick.

I am being unfair. Pinto bean ketchup curry is a delicious combination of sweetness, tanginess and spiciness. It is really simple to make, using basic ingredients. The original recipe uses chickpeas but pinto beans worked well as an alternative. I think just about any bean will work, except human being. What kind of beans does a cannibal like? Human beings.  Bad joke.

Back to the curry. Other than being simple, delicious and nutritious there is nothing more to say.

Hasselback Potatoes (Hasselbackspotatis) Recipe

Hasselback Potatoes

These hasselback potatoes are named after a Stockholm restaurant that first introduced them. They are crispy on the outside, tender on the inside and incredibly easy to make. Those in the photo above don’t look golden and crispy, that’s because I left the skin on and went easy on the butter and oil. But you don't have to.

Chocolate Spekkoek (Thousand Layer Chocolate Cake) Recipe

Chocolate Spekkoek

The name of my recipe site is Easily Good Eats. I like easy recipes, and this is no exception, seriously. The chocolate spekkoek may look complicated but its not. It is quite easy to prepare, requiring little effort. And you don’t even have to bake it. Spekkoek has more of a pancake like texture, it is slightly dense. 

Spekkoek is a Dutch-Indonesian layered cake developed during colonial times in the Dutch East Indies. Spekkoek means bacon cake because it looks like bacon with the dark and light stripes. Spekkoek is also called lapis legit in Indonesia. Lapis legit means (very) rich layer-cake. If you see the list of ingredients, you will understand why. 

Hot Mocha Fudge Cake Recipe

Hot Mocha Fudge Cake

Even though the recipe for this cake comes from the Cooking Light magazine, it is certainly not light on flavor.  On the contrary, the cake is quite rich with a very deep flavor. The flavors linger in your taste buds well after the cake is gone. Coffee does help in intensifying the chocolate flavour.