If you haven’t tried a Toscakaka cake before, you’re in for a TREAT!
This is a Swedish almond caramel cake with a moist, feather-light sponge and a sticky, nutty, caramel topping.
Don’t be intimidated to make a Swedish Tosca cake yourself though. With easy step-by-step instructions provided below, anyone can make this cake in less than an hour!
For more easy, yet delicious cake recipes, also check out this to-die-for Chocolate orange cake!
What’s to love about this recipe
- This Swedish almond cake is a mighty impressive cake, a bit unique and quite luxurious.
- It may look intimidating to a novice baker, but it really isn’t. Just follow the steps and you’ll be surprised at how easy it really is.
- Ready in less than an hour.
- The sponge is feather-light and moist, perfectly complimented by a delicious crunchy almond caramel topping.
- Single-layer cake with no decorating needed.
Why is it called Toscakaka cake?
The origin of the name is somewhat unclear and there doesn’t seem to be anything definitive, but the most popular belief is that it was named after Puccini’s opera, Tosca, which was hugely popular at the Swedish Royal Opera house at the time. ‘Kaka’ is the Swedish word for cake.
Wherever the name came from, this traditional Swedish cake is a classic and hugely popular in the Scandi countries.
Key ingredient notes and substitutions
**Please see the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full list of ingredients.
Butter
We use unsalted butter in this recipe, allowing you to control how much salt you’d like to add.
You can replace this with salted butter and just omit the salt from the recipe.
Eggs
Allow the eggs to come up to room temperature before using.
Top tip! To speed up the process, put the eggs in a bowl with warm water for about 5 minutes.
Caster sugar
The fine texture of caster sugar will give you a slightly lighter cake than normal granulated sugar. You can use granulated sugar if no caster sugar isn’t available to you.
Top tip! Make your own caster sugar by simply whizzing granulated sugar in a food processor until you have a consistency of somewhere between granulated and icing sugar.
Buttermilk
Even though it’s a liquid, we’ve given the measurements for the buttermilk in grams. It’s so much easier to weigh it into the bowl than trying to measure it in a measuring jug.
Top tip! Make your own buttermilk by adding a tablespoon of lemon juice (fresh) or white vinegar to 250ml of full cream milk. Leave it to stand for about 10 minutes.
Light brown sugar
Don’t substitute this for granulated white sugar or dark brown sugar. You need the caramel flavour of light brown sugar.
Dark brown sugar will make your topping too dark.
How to make Toscakaka cake – Step-by-step
Prepping
- Line the bottom of a 23cm/9″ round springform pan with parchment paper.
- Over medium heat, toast the flaked almonds in two batches in a large frying pan until a very light golden brown.
Remove the almonds from the pan and keep aside in a small bowl.
- Set the pan aside to make the caramel topping in later.
- Melt the 100g unsalted butter for the cake in the microwave. Set aside to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 170℃/338℉/gas mark 3
To make the sponge
- Add the eggs, caster sugar and vanilla extract to a large bowl.
- Beat at a high speed until light, creamy and thick. This will take about 5 minutes with an electric hand mixer and slightly less time in a stand mixer.
- In a separate bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Give it a stir to combine.
- Using a silicone spatula or large spoon, add a third of the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and lightly fold it in, taking care not to knock out the air.
- Add all the buttermilk and fold it in.
- Add the second third of the flour and fold in.
- Add in all the melted butter and fold it in.
- Add the final third of the flour and again, fold it in. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure all the ingredients are incorporated.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared tin. Knock it on the counter three times to get rid of any large air bubbles in the batter.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the top is a light golden brown, the centre feels firm and a cake tester comes out clean.
- Temporarily remove the cake from the oven and turn the oven up to 200℃/392℉/gas mark 6.
Make the almond caramel topping
- Slice the 125g of butter into smaller pieces. It will help it melt faster.
- Using the same frying pan as earlier, add the butter, light brown sugar, salt and milk.
- Over medium-low heat, melt the butter and keep stirring, combining it with the rest of the ingredients.
- Turn up the heat to medium-high and bring the butter mixture up to a bubble.
- Let it cook undisturbed for about 2 minutes. It should get thicker and become a rich caramel colour.
Test it by giving it a stir. If it looks like it’s ‘pulling’ away from the sides as you scrape it, it should be ready.
- Important – Take care not to overcook the caramel. Err on the side of undercooked rather than overcooked, which will instead result in a sticky, unusable caramel. In a large frying pan, this really won’t take much longer than 2 minutes at medium-high heat.
- Remove the caramel from the heat and stir in the flaked, toasted almonds from earlier.
- Spoon the almond mixture over the top of the cake in an even layer. Make sure to cover the entire surface, right up to the edges.
- When the oven’s preheated up to 200℃/392℉/gas mark 6, put the cake back in the oven and bake for a further 7-8 minutes until the top is a rich, golden brown.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool inside its tin for 15 minutes.
- Using a knife or offset spatula, run it alongside the edge of the cake to release it from the tin.
- Unbuckle the springform tin and remove the collar. Allow the cake to cool down to room temperature on a wire rack before slicing.
Top Tips
Lining the cake tin
We don’t line the entire cake pan, only the bottom. We also don’t treat the sides of the tin with a non-stick substance.
A wise baker once said to me that a cake needs something to ‘cling’ to when it rises. If the cake tin is coated with non-stick spray or butter, it becomes slippery, and the cake lacks something to cling to, resulting in limited rising.
If your pans tend to stick, the best option is to spread it with a very thin layer of butter and then flouring over it.
Don’t over-toast the flaked almonds
When toasting the almonds, avoid browning them too much, as additional browning will occur when the almonds are baked with the caramel topping.
Beat the eggs and sugar well
Beating the eggs and the sugar until it’s light, fluffy and creamy is a really important step. Don’t stop until you reach that consistency.
Do your best to fold in the remaining ingredients very gently, preserving the air you’ve beaten into the egg mixture.
Use a large, non-stick frying pan for the caramel
Using a large non-stick frying pan is the best option for making caramel.
If you use a small saucepan, the limited surface area and the greater distance between the top of the caramel and the base of the saucepan can make it more challenging to achieve good caramelisation.
Keep an eye on the caramel topping when it’s in the oven
When the cake is in the oven for the second round, it’s important to closely monitor the caramel top during the last minute or two. It tends to brown more quickly towards the end.
Open the oven door to get a better idea of the colour, as a dark oven door can sometimes deceive your eyes.
Variations
- Add lemon zest to the batter for a lemony twist.
- You can add almond extract for extra almond flavour.
- Some recipes include cardamom. We haven’t tried it, so let us know in the comments if you do and whether you like it!
- Add orange zest or orange extract.
How to serve Toscakaka
This cake is incredible on its own, but you can also serve it with..
- Whipped double cream/heavy cream.
- A dollop of sour cream.
- Custard.
- Vanilla ice cream.
- Lemon curd.
- Chantilly cream.
Storage
The cake will keep well for up to five days when stored in an airtight container.
We would not recommend freezing it as the crispy caramel topping will go soggy.
Toscakaka – Swedish Tosca cake
Equipment
- 1 23cm/9" round springform cake tin
- 1 large frying pan preferably non-stick
Ingredients
For the sponge
- 100 grams unsalted butter
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 170 grams caster sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 200 grams all purpose flour
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 100 grams buttermilk
For the almond caramel topping
- 125 grams flaked almonds
- 125 grams unsalted butter
- 125 grams light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
Prepping
- Line a 23cm/9" round springform tin with parchment paper.
- Toast the almonds in two batches in a large frying pan until a very light golden brown. Keep the almonds aside in a bowl. Set the pan aside to make the caramel topping in later.125 grams flaked almonds
- Melt the 100g unsalted butter for the cake in the microwave. Set aside to cool.100 grams unsalted butter
- Preheat the oven to 170℃/338℉/gas mark 3
To make the sponge
- Add the eggs, caster sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl. Beat at a high speed until light, creamy and thick. This will take about 5 minutes with an electric hand mixer and slightly less time in a stand mixer.4 eggs, 170 grams caster sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.200 grams all purpose flour, 1.5 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- Using a spatula or large spoon, add ⅓ of the flour to the egg mixture and lightly fold it in, taking care not to knock out the air.
- Add all the buttermilk and fold it in.100 grams buttermilk
- Add the second ⅓ of the flour and fold in.
- Add in all the melted butter from earlier and fold it in.
- Add the final ⅓ of flour and again, fold it in. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure all the ingredients are incorporated.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Knock it on the counter three times to get rid of any large air bubbles in the batter.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is a light golden brown, the centre feels firm and a cake tester comes out clean.
- Temporarily remove the cake from the oven and turn the oven up to 200℃/392℉/gas mark 6.
Make the almond caramel topping
- Slice the 125g of butter into smaller pieces. It will help it melt faster.125 grams unsalted butter
- Using the same frying pan as earlier, add the butter, light brown sugar, salt and milk. Over a medium-low heat, melt the butter and keep stirring, combining it with the rest of the ingredients.125 grams light brown sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, 3 tablespoons milk
- Turn up the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture up to a bubble. Let it cook undisturbed for about 2 minutes. It should get thicker and become a rich caramel colour. Test it by giving it a stir. If it looks like it's 'pulling' away from the sides as you scrape it, it should be ready. Important – Take care not to overcook the caramel. Err on the side of undercooked rather than overcooked, which will instead result in a sticky, unusable caramel. In a large frying pan, this really won't take much longer than 2 minutes at a medium-high heat.
- Remove the caramel from the heat and stir in the flaked, toasted almonds from earlier.
- Spoon the mixture over the surface of the cake and spread it out equally with the back of a spoon.
- When the oven's preheated up to 200℃/392℉/gas mark 6, put the cake back in the oven and bake for a further 7-8 minutes until the top is a rich, golden brown.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool inside it's tin for 15 minutes.
- Using a knife or offset spatula, run it alongside the edge of the cake to release it from the tin.
- Unbuckle the springform tin and remove the collar. Allow the cake to cool down to room temperature before slicing.
Notes
Lining the cake tin
We don’t line the entire cake pan, only the bottom. We also don’t treat the sides of the tin with a non-stick substance. A wise baker once said to me that a cake needs something to ‘cling’ to when it rises. If the cake tin is coated with non-stick spray or butter, it becomes slippery, and the cake lacks something to cling to, resulting in limited rising. If your pans tend to stick, the best option is to spread it with a very thin layer of butter and then flouring over it.Don’t over-toast the flaked almonds
When toasting the almonds, avoid browning them too much, as additional browning will occur when the almonds are baked with the caramel topping.Beat the eggs and sugar well
Beating the eggs and the sugar until it’s light, fluffy and creamy is a really important step. Don’t stop until you reach that consistency. Do your best to fold in the remaining ingredients very gently, preserving the air you’ve beaten into the egg mixture.Use a large, non-stick frying pan for the caramel
Using a large non-stick frying pan is the best option for making caramel. If you use a small saucepan, the limited surface area and the greater distance between the top of the caramel and the base of the saucepan can make it more challenging to achieve good caramelisation.Keep an eye on the caramel topping when it’s in the oven
When the cake is in the oven for the second round, it’s important to closely monitor the caramel top during the last minute or two. It tends to brown more quickly towards the end. Open the oven door to get a better idea of the colour, as a dark oven door can sometimes deceive your eyes.Nutrition
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