Kronans kaka, a Swedish almond and potato cake, is a traditional cake from the 1800s. Potatoes replaced flour in this cake, because flour was hard to find at the time and was used sparingly.
I’ve found this recipe in the fun Swedish Fika cookbook, by Anna Brones and Johanna Kindvall. It seemed perfect for Passover, so I was curious to try and see what it would taste like, and it’s delicious! Not too sweet, very delicate. So here we go.
Swedish Almond and potato cake (kronans kaka)
Course: Cakes and cookiesCuisine: Swedish, JewishDifficulty: Easy12
servings20
minutes1
hour1
hour20
minutesKronans kaka, a Swedish almond and potato cake, is a traditional cake from the 1800s. Potatoes replaced flour in this cake, because flour was hard to find at the time and was used sparingly.
This cake works well for Passover
The recipe is adapted from Fika cookbook by Anna Brones and Johanna Kindvall.
Bitter almond extract is available at some specialty baking stores, as well as at some stores in Israel. It may not be legal to use in the USA, since bitter almonds contain cyanid… but just a little! And it adds a really good almond taste! You can also use a couple of ground bitter almonds instead. Again, these are not available in America, but you can sometimes get them at specialty stores in Israel.
To make the cake parve you can substitute butter with coconut oil.
INGREDIENTS
1 large peeled potato (7 oz.) preferably Yukon gold
7 tablespoons unsalted butter or coconut oil, at room temperature, plus more for the pan
⅔ cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup almond meal or almond flour
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
A few drops almond extract (preferably bitter almond, optional)
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Grease 9 inch round pan with butter (or PAM.)
- Start by boiling the potato. Peel potato, cut to quarters, cover with water at room temperature in a medium pot. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes. Wash in cold water to cool potato down, transfer to a bowl, mash until pretty smooth and set aside.
- In a stand mixer with the flat beater beat butter and sugar for a couple of minutes. Add one egg at a time and mix until just incorporated. Add almond meal, lemon zest, lemon juice and almond extract and mix briefly. Now add the mashed potatoes, mix until the batter is almost smooth (there may be a few lumps) and remove from mixer.
- Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, until lightly brown on top. Let cool on a rack.
- Serve at room temperature. You can serve with whipped cream and berries.
- Cake keeps wrapped in the fridge up to 5 days.
