Welcome to the fourth and last episode for December  of Linnea Lund’s Food Fridays. For those of you who are new, for the month of December we introduced Food Fridays! Every Friday we will share one of our favorite Swedish dishes for you and your loved ones to try out at home. We believed the holidays to be the time for sharing and exchanging recipes and traditions with family, friends and colleagues. This is why originally we wanted to share a little of our Swedish culture with you for the Holidays! But now we believe everyday should be a time to share therefore Food Fridays is here for good!

Today’s recipe is for the Kladdkaka: a warm and gooey Swedish chocolate cake. This one sure is a treat!

Ingredients: 

Batter

▢ 150 g all-purpose flour

▢ 6 tablespoons cocoa powder plus 2 tablespoons for the pan

▢ 113 g unsalted butter plus ½  tablespoons for the pan

▢  2 large eggs

▢ 301 g sugar

▢ ⅛  teaspoon salt

▢ 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Topping

▢ Powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 176ºC.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Remove from heat to cool a bit.
3. While butter is melting and then cooling: Prepare an 8" round cake pan by first buttering the bottom and sides. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper, and then butter top of parchment paper. Add extra cocoa powder to the pan, and then tilt it about, allowing cocoa to distribute over the butter and cover the entire interior of the pan. Invert pan over the sink and tap it gently with your hand to remove any excess cocoa. Set pan aside.
4. Sift flour, cocoa, and salt into a medium bowl and then whisk in the sugar.
5. Add cocoa mixture to melted butter in saucepan. With a spatula, stir gently until halfway incorporated. Add whisked eggs and vanilla. Stir gently to bring all ingredients together. Transfer mixture to prepared cake pan.
6. Bake on lower oven rack for about 25 minutes, until the top is set but the center is still gooey. The top should be firm, but crack under light pressure from your finger. We bake this cake exactly 24 minutes for it to be perfectly set with a sticky/gooey interior. 
7. Remove pan from oven and let cool on a rack for 1 hour. Run a butter knife between the pan and the cake to loosen it. Invert onto cake plate. (See note below.)
8. Dust cake top with powdered sugar, if desired. Serve cold for a more firm and fudgy texture. Or serve slightly warm or at room temperature for a sticky/gooey texture. 

ENJOY!