Tosca Cake

I am salivating as I write this, in memory of this delicious cake that I first made for a family BBQ last weekend (and because I am starving and waiting for my Chinese food to be delivered)!

Anyway, it is the “Tattie” holidays in Aberdeen (so called as it is traditionally when everyone helps with the potato (tattie) harvest in this part of the world).  As I am still on maternity leave and my eldest is off nursery for two weeks, we thought we’d visit Granny and Pampa – some extra hands while my husband is off in Ljubljana interviewing for his current research project.  A fun-filled two weeks planned visiting family and friends a little further south in Scotland, in Lanarkshire.

I have always loved northern European cakes and when I spotted this recipe in my strange (but fabulous) little cookbook, a charity compilation put together by the International Women’s Club of Moscow, it invoked memories of ones eaten as a child.  I just had to make it.   It is really simple, light and absolutely delicious and great as a cake or desert – Mmm!

I believe this cake to be of Swedish origin but attributed to a lady called Mette Iversen of Denmark in the book – thank you Mette, whoever you may be - I will be making this again and again!

Ingredients

Cake

125g Caster Sugar

2 Large Eggs

100g Self Raising Flour

1 ½ Teaspoons Baking Powder

Pinch Salt

50g melted Butter or Margarine

Topping

100g Softened Butter

125g Lightly Toasted Almonds (I used sliced almonds)

100g Caster Sugar

2 Tablespoons Plain Flour

2 Tablespoons Milk or Cream

Method

Prepare a 20cm (8 inch) round cake tin (I used a deep sandwich tin) & preheat your oven to 160 ^oC (140^oC Fan).

In a roomy bowl beat the eggs until they are thick and pale and then gradually beat in the sugar until it falls in thick ribbons.

Fold in the sifted flour, baking powder and salt. Mix in the melted butter (this should be quite cool). 

Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 30 minutes.

(If you have a double oven put your grill on quite a high heat just prior to the 30 minute mark).

While the cake is baking, prepare the topping by simply adding all the ingredients to a pan, stirring constantly and heating until it just boils – do this just before the cake is ready to take out of the oven.

(If you have a single oven, put the grill on quite a high heat as soon as you remove the cake from the oven)

Remove the cake from the oven and carefully spread the topping over the cake. Put the cake under the grill until nicely brown.  It is important to cool the cake before removing from the tin – 2 hours!

(My brother took what was left home to include in his pack lunch – I think this one will keep well in a tin for a good few days!)