Swedish Kladdkaka

This one has a story before the recipe. After I baked the Finnish blueberry pie in February, I asked my AI agent for similar recipes. The agent is my personal assistant with access to all my posts, training logs, and notes, so it knows what I have already cooked and what fits my taste. It suggested Swedish kladdkaka. I watched a few videos, liked how simple it looked, then ended up watching Why This Swedish Bakery Is a Local Favorite! on how a Swedish bakery opens in the morning and preps the cardamom buns. Sweden looked cool, so I booked a trip to Stockholm for end of May.

In the meantime I went to Waitrose and bought the ingredients, then sat on them for weeks because I did not want to eat the whole cake by myself. Today, 2 May 2026, I left Notting Hill Farmers Market with my usual 30 eggs, spinach, and kale, and as I was carrying everything home I saw a group of cute girls. Asked where they were from. Sweden. 🇸🇪

Tomorrow morning, Sunday 3 May, I am baking my first ever kladdkaka for them. Third thing I have ever baked. Potato bun, blueberry pie, kladdkaka.

---

Why Kladdkaka

Kladdkaka means sticky cake in Swedish. The whole point is the gooey, fudgy middle. No baking powder, no rising agent, nothing to make it puff up. It is supposed to be set at the edges and barely cooked in the centre. Underbake it and it is right. Overbake it and you have made a chocolate sponge, which is not the same thing.

It is one of the most baked cakes in Sweden. Every household has a version. The recipe is short. Butter, sugar, eggs, flour, cocoa, vanilla, salt. The technique is unforgiving in one direction only. Bake time is everything.

How It Comes Together

flowchart TD
    A[Melt butter] --> B[Cool 5 min]
    C[Whisk eggs and sugar until pale] --> D[Add vanilla]
    D --> E[Stream in cooled butter while whisking]
    B --> E
    F[Sift flour, cocoa, salt] --> G[Fold into wet mix]
    E --> G
    G --> H[Pour into 24cm tin]
    H --> I{Bake 18 to 22 min}
    I -->|Edges set, centre wobbly| J[Pull out]
    I -->|Skewer comes out clean| K[Overbaked, sponge territory]
    J --> L[Rest 30 min]
    L --> M[Dust icing sugar]
    M --> N[Serve with cream and strawberries]

Why It Works

Element	Role
No leavening	Keeps the cake dense and fudgy, not cakey
High butter to flour ratio	Rich, almost brownie-like texture
Short bake time	Centre stays gooey, edges set
Cocoa powder, not melted chocolate	Cleaner chocolate flavour, more traditional
Rest before serving	Lets the centre firm up just enough to slice

---

Ingredients (8 slices)

Ingredient	Brand / Source	Amount
Unsalted butter	Yeo Valley	200g
Caster sugar	Tate & Lyle Pure Cane	300g
Large eggs	Haywood Farm, Somerset (Notting Hill Farmers Market)	2
Plain flour	Waitrose Organic	150g
Cocoa powder	Menier 100% (Dutch processed)	25g (~4 tbsp)
Vanilla extract	Nielsen-Massey	2 tsp
Salt	Any	1 pinch
Icing sugar, for dusting	Tate & Lyle	1 tbsp

For serving

Ingredient	Brand / Source	Amount
Double cream	Duchy Organic	300ml
Caster sugar (for cream)	Tate & Lyle	1 tbsp
Strawberries	Waitrose Organic	300g

Two things that matter for the ingredients
Use plain flour, not self-raising. Self-raising has baking powder in it and will make the cake rise and set in the middle, which is the opposite of kladdkaka. For the cocoa, Dutch processed (alkalised) is what Swedish recipes use. Menier has potassium carbonate listed in the ingredients, which is the alkalising agent. Gives a darker, mellower, more authentic flavour than natural cocoa.

---

Method

Step 1, Preheat and prep

Preheat the oven to 175°C fan or 195°C conventional. Grease a 24cm round metal tin with butter and dust the inside with cocoa powder. Tap out the excess. The cocoa stops the cake sticking and looks better than flour against a dark cake.

Step 2, Melt the butter

Melt 200g of unsalted butter in a saucepan over low heat. Pull it off the heat as soon as it is fully melted. You do not want it browning or hot enough to cook the eggs in the next step. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

Step 3, Mix the dry ingredients

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt together into a bowl. Sifting matters here. Cocoa clumps and you do not want pockets of dry powder in a gooey cake.

Step 4, Whisk eggs and sugar

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the 2 eggs and 300g caster sugar together until pale and slightly thickened. About 30 to 45 seconds on medium speed with an electric whisk (I am using a ProCook). The sugar should start to dissolve into the eggs and the mixture should look paler and a bit foamy.

Why this step matters
Whisking eggs and sugar together creates the only structure the cake has. There is no leavening, so this aeration plus the egg proteins is what holds it up. Do not skip it, but do not overdo it either. You are not making a sponge, so stop when it is pale and foamy, not when it is fully whipped to ribbons.

Step 5, Add the vanilla and butter

Add 2 tsp vanilla extract to the egg and sugar mixture. Drop the electric whisk to low speed, then pour the cooled melted butter in a slow stream while whisking. Bump back up to medium for 10 to 15 seconds until fully combined and glossy. Do not blast it on high or you will deflate the eggs you just whisked up.

Step 6, Fold in the dry ingredients

Switch to a spatula. Add the sifted flour and cocoa to the wet mixture and fold gently until no dry streaks remain. Do not overmix and do not use the electric whisk here. The batter will be thick and glossy.

Step 7, Pour into the tin

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the top with the back of a spoon. The batter should sit about 2cm deep.

Step 8, Bake

Bake for 18 to 22 minutes. This is the critical part. The edges should look set and slightly cracked. The middle should still look soft and slightly wobbly when you tap the side of the tin. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out with wet, fudgy batter on it. Not raw runny mix, but not clean either.

Underbake on purpose
If you wait until the skewer comes out clean, you have gone too far. Pull it when the centre still looks underdone. The cake firms up considerably as it cools.

Step 9, Rest

Rest the cake in the tin for at least 30 minutes before slicing. An hour is better. The gooey middle needs time to settle. Cut too early and the centre runs out and the cake collapses.

Step 10, Dust and serve

Just before serving, dust the top with icing sugar through a sieve. Whip the double cream with 1 tbsp of caster sugar to soft peaks. Serve a slice with cream and a small handful of strawberries on the side.

---

Transport Notes

Kladdkaka travels well if you do it right.

Element	What to do
The cake	Leave it in the tin. Cover loosely with foil. Do not slice in advance
Icing sugar	Bring the bag and a small sieve. Dust at the table. Dusting in advance just absorbs into the cake
Cream	Bring it unwhipped in the bottle, plus a whisk and a bowl. Whip on arrival. Takes 90 seconds and looks intentional
Strawberries	Wash and dry at home, bring in the punnet

Do not try to plate it before you leave. Kladdkaka is fragile when fresh and the centre will collapse if moved around too much. Serve from the tin, slice at the table.

---

Nutrition, Per Slice (8 slices, cake only)

Macro	Amount
Calories	~360 kcal
Protein	~4g
Carbohydrates	~45g
Fat	~21g
Fibre	~1.5g
Sugar	~38g

With Accompaniments

Serving option	Additional kcal	Additional fat
+ 50g whipped cream	~225 kcal	~24g
+ 50g strawberries	~16 kcal	~0g

This is a treat. High sugar, high fat, low protein. Kladdkaka is not pretending to be anything else.

---

What to Expect

Attribute	Result
Texture	Set crust on top and edges, fudgy gooey centre
Moisture	Wet middle by design, almost like brownie batter that is just held together
Flavour	Rich chocolate, butter forward, balanced by the cream and berries
Structure	Holds shape after a 30 minute rest, slightly wobbly when moved
Difficulty	Low. One saucepan, one bowl, fold and bake

---

Notes for First Bake

This is my third bake ever and the first one where the bake time is the whole game. The blueberry pie was forgiving. 25 minutes and a skewer test. Kladdkaka punishes you for over trusting the skewer. The whole point is that the skewer never comes out clean.

The Swedish move is to pull the cake when the edges look done and the centre still looks like it needs another five minutes. That is where it lives. If in doubt, pull it earlier rather than later. A slightly raw kladdkaka is closer to authentic than a fully baked one.

---

Summary

Detail	Value
Source	Classic Swedish home recipe
Adapted for	UK ingredients (Waitrose + Notting Hill Farmers Market)
Tin size	24cm round metal
Bake time	18 to 22 minutes at 175°C fan
Yield	8 slices
Calories per slice	~360 kcal
Best served with	Whipped cream and fresh strawberries

Two bowls, one saucepan, fold together, underbake on purpose. The hardest part is trusting that the wobbly centre is correct.

---

Documented May 2026. Stockholm trip end of May.