Mjuk pepparkaka is another Swedish Christmas recipe that I like to share with you. The literal translation of mjuk pepparkaka is soft gingerbread cake and this cake is eaten during Christmas season. In my family we eat this cake with freshly whipped cream and pickled cherries (this is not a Swedish tradition). 
This gingerbread cake is one of my favorite Christmas cakes. The cake is incredibly moist and when the cake is in the oven your entire house is beginning to smell like Christmas. On top of that the cake very easy and quick to prepare. My mom calls this efficient Swedish baking. 
Oh and there is no mistake in the ingredients list: you need only one egg and two tablespoons of butter. There are many mjuk pepparkaka recipes which call for more eggs  (three to four) and much more butter which I tried out in the past but in the end  I returned to my mom's recipe and it is the very best.
Makes one Bundt Cake (20 cm diameter / 9 cm height / or 1 liter volume)

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 egg
  • 225 g granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon of ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon of ground cardamom
  • 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened
  • 100 ml whole milk
  • 100 g yoghurt, full fat
  • 240 g all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon of lingonberry jam* or substitute with orange marmalade
  • Confectioners' sugar
* Lingonberry is a staple food in Sweden. You eat lingonberry jam in all different kinds of combination such as a relish to meatballs, black pudding or on pancakes. Maybe you can find lingonberry jam at IKEA. :-) 

DIRECTIONS

  • Preheat the oven to 175°C.
  • Grease and flour a bundt cake pan.
  • Place egg, sugar, species and butter in a bowl. Whisk all ingredients until creamy with a mixer. 
  • Mix flour with baking soda.
  • Add flour mixture, milk, yogurt and lingonberry jam to the egg-butter mixture. Mix all ingredients until well combined.
  • Pour batter into the cake pan.
  • Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. If you insert a toothpick and it comes out clear the cake is done.
  • Let the cake cool completely. Remove the cake pan and dust the cake with confectioners’ sugar. 
  • If you want to be fancy serve the cake with freshly whipped cream and pickled cherries. 
  • You can also make the pepparkaka cake in advance and freeze the cake. Just take the cake out of the freezer the night before or a couple of hours before serving.