Tosca cake (Toskakku)

On the weekend I baked a cake, called Tosca cake (Toskakakku). It’s very popular cake in this part of the world. I’m not exactly sure whether this cake is originally Finnish or Swedish, so let’s assume that it’s Nordic. This wonderful cake has a soft base with a crusty and sweet almond topping. Like all the recipes in this blog, it’s not complicated to make at all, yet it looks very interesting and tastes delicious.    

Ingredients:

Base:

2/3 cup white granulated sugar

2 large eggs

3 1/2 tbsp (1.8 oz or 50 g) butter or margarine, melted

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp cup milk, at room temperature

2-3 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp vanilla sugar (or vanilla extract)*

2/3 cup + 3 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 1/2 baking powder

Topping:

5 1/3 tbsp (2.6 oz or 75 g) butter

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 syrup or runny honey

2 tbsp milk

3.5 oz (100 g) almond flakes

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 340 degrees F (170 degrees C).
   
2. Butter a 9.4 inch (24 cm) in diameter springform pan and sprinkle some flour on top. You can also line the springform pan with parchment paper instead.
3. In a large bowl, beat eggs, and sugar. Add butter, milk, and lemon zest. *Add vanilla extract (if you’re not using vanilla sugar).
   
4. In a separate medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and vanilla sugar. Add the flour mixture (don't forget to sift it) into the egg-sugar-butter-milk mixture. Mix well, but carefully.
5. Pour the dough into a springform pan and bake for 20 minutes. 
   
6. While the base is in the oven you can make the topping. In a saucepan, melt butter. Add flour, sugar, syrup or honey, and milk, and stir. Cook the mixture stirring constantly, until it thickens. Take off the flame, add almond flakes and mix well.
   
7. Preheat the oven to 395 degrees F (200 degrees C).
8. Spread the almond mixture onto the freshly baked cake base and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until the top turns to a nice golden color.

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