Swedish Visiting Cake (TWD)

I'm a week late in publishing last week's Tuesdays With Dorie selection, Swedish Visiting Cake. No excuses this time around - I just suffered from a case of chronic procrastination.

I definitely didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to rave about this ridiculously simple and totally yummy cake, so am doubling up with this week's TWD post for Sweet Cream Biscuits.

In essense, this is a one bowl cake that can can be prepped in popped in the oven in a matter of minutes. There is no leavener in this recipe, so the cake bakes up thin yet with a light, moist crumb.

I halved the recipe (which is for a 9 inch cast iron pan or cake pan), and it gave me enough batter for a 6 inch mini cast iron pan AND a 6 inch cake pan. In the cast iron pan, I topped the cake batter with sliced almonds and a sprinkling of sugar. The mini-cake only took 18 minutes to bake, and came out of the oven smelling heavenly!

For the cake pan version, I wanted to try a variation of the recipe that Dorie Greenspan shares in Serious Eats, which calls for the addition of sliced apples.

With the fruit addition, I should have known to bake the cake a bit longer. I took this cake out of the oven at the same time as the cast iron version, and as you can see I was a little premature. This cake needed 5-10 more minutes in the oven.

I definitely loved the almond topped version for it's simplicity and flavor. The use of a cast iron pan gave the cake a nice crunchy exterior crust, which was a nice contrast to the soft, moist interior.

I also enjoyed the apple version, but would omit the almond extract next time as the flavor was a bit overwhelming. I didn't get the crunchy crust using the cake pan, and would have loved to have a little texture contrast to the moist cake and cooked apples.

I am so glad that Nancy of The Dog Eats The Crumbs made this exceptional selection. This recipe is a gem, and I would have never considered making this cake on my own. Thanks Nancy --- this cake recipe is a keeper! Please visit Nancy's blog for this wonderful recipe, and check out Serious Eats for the apple version.