I haven’t been to Sweden, but I’m pretty sure I’d love the food (then again you’d be hard pressed to find a country where I wouldn’t love the food).   This cake has a subtle sweetness that highlights the sweet apples.  It’s moist and spiced with cardamom and is the perfect tea-time cake.  This was a big hit at Carroll Cafe, and will definitely be something I make again and again.  It’s a great fall treat without being too fussy that you can’t make it just because it’s fall.

Swedish Apple Almond Cake

Serves 8

Adapted from Donal Skehan

• 1/2 cup (1 stick or 110g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup (150g) brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups (210g) all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 large apple (300g) peeled, cored, diced apple
• 1/2 cup (50g) sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease a 24cm/9 1/2″ cake pan with removable base with cooking spray and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom.  Stir the dry ingredients into the wet, reserving about 2 Tbsp of the flour mixture.

Toss the reserved flour with the diced apples, then fold the apples into the batter.

Scoop the batter into the prepared baking pan, smoothing out the top.  Sprinkle the almonds on top.

Bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until the cake is beginning to brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  If the cake begins to brown too quickly, cover with foil.