Day 3 - 12 Days of Baking - Scandinavian Festival & Culture of Junction City, Oregon

Gingerbread cake with lingonberries

Recipe Translated and photo from:

https://www.juligen.se/mjuk-pepparkaka-med-lingon-ultimata-receptet/

Called mjuk pepparkaka med lingon in Swedish, the tasty spiced cake is traditionally topped with lingonberries and powdered sugar, though we think it would be great with other berries, also!

Ingredients:

For Berry Topping:

2-3 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup frozen lingonberries or other berries, or jam

For Cake Batter:

1/4 cup butter (melted)
2 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup sour cream (or yogurt)
1 1/2 cups flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ginger (ground)
1 1/2 tsp cardamom (ground)
1 tsp cloves (ground)
powered sugar for garnish

Instructions:

Set the oven to 350˚F

For Berry Topping

Mix frozen lingonberries (or other berries) with approx. 2-3 tablespoons of sugar and set aside. Alternatively, you can add frozen berries to the batter at the end for a slightly more sour element.

For the Cake Batter:

Grease and flour a baking tin. Or melt some butter and brush into the mold. Mix some flour, powdered sugar and/or granulated sugar and pour into the mold, rotating the mixture so that it covers the entire surface. Tap off excess flour/sugar.
Melt the butter and let it cool.
Mix flour, baking powder, and spices well in a small bowl.
Beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Mix in sour cream.
Gently fold in (do not beat) flour and spice mixture.
Fold in berries at this time if you want them in the cake.
Finally fold in the butter. It is important to try to keep the batter airy.
Pour the gingerbread batter into the greased tin and bake in the middle of the oven for about 35-40 minutes. Do not open the oven door during the first 20 minutes, otherwise the cake will deflate.
Test with a toothpick to see if the cake is ready! It will come out clean, with dry cake crumbs, not wet batter. Alternatively with a thermometer, at 205˚F the cake is ready.
Take out and let the soft gingerbread, cool a little in the tin. Then it holds together better when it is turned upside down. Serve and garnish with a few lingonberries and/or a dollop of lingonberry cream (cream whipped with a little lingonberry jam), and powdered sugar.