Any Dane reading our translation of this cake as “Raspberry Meringue Cake” will probably chuckle a bit. That’s because it’s not at all what the Danish means. Really, this cake should be called “Grandfather’s Beard,” but we thought that could potentially be a bit confusing for non-Danish speakers! “Grandfather’s Beard”, of course, refers to the white, fluffy meringue on top, which is baked in the oven to give it a crispy top.
I supposed this is more of an old-fashioned Danish cake, and because of that, it’s really pretty simple. The base is a vanilla sponge, which is super fluffy and moist. This is baked on its own to start. That is then topped with some raspberry jam, which can be either homemade or store-bought but should be quite tart. Finally, the whipped, sweet meringue is spread on top and the cake is baked again until the meringue is crispy.
You seriously cannot go wrong making this cake for a birthday or any kind of celebration! It seems like it would be very sweet but the balance is actually perfect, especially if you go for quite a tart jam. And if you don’t want to use raspberry jam, you could use any other flavor. Strawberry, rhubarb, blueberry, boysenberry, or even lemon curd all work! Customize it as you wish and let us know if you try it 🙂
Bedstefars Skæg (Raspberry Meringue Cake)
Ingredients
CAKE BATTER
- 3 large eggs (room temperature)
- 300 grams (1 1/2 cups) sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 240 ml (1 cup) milk
- 57 grams (4 tbsp) unsalted butter
- 250 grams (1 3/4 cups) all-purpose flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
TOPPING
- 1 portion raspberry jam (or store bought – about half of a jar or enough to spread across the top of the cake!)
MERINGUE
- 4 large egg whites (144g)
- 288 grams (1 3/4 cups + 1 tbsp) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- A splash of lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Butter a cake pan (you can also line it with parchment paper if you want) – we used a rectangular one, but round is fine too!
- Melt butter and milk together on the stove. Let the mixture cool a bit, until it’s not burning hot but just a bit warm.
- Beat eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy and tripled in volume, either in a stand mixer, with a hand mixer, or by hand with a whisk. Add the vanilla extract in right before the eggs and sugar have tripled in volume, just so it’s evenly combined.
- Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.
- Now you are going to add your cooled butter/milk mixture and flour mixture into the fluffy egg/sugar mixture. Alternate between adding the two mixtures in two separate stages, making sure to sift the dry mixture in and fold gently with a rubber spatula, so as not to deflate the eggs. You can also use the paddle attachment on the stand mixer on a very low speed. So: sift in 1/2 of the dry mixture, fold together, add 1/2 of the butter/milk, fold, sift in 1/2 of the dry, fold, then add 1/2 of the butter/milk. Finally, fold everything together a few times at the end, until combined. You should have a smooth cake batter.
- Pour into the pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out almost completely clean.
- You’re going to add your topping and bake for a bit longer, so you don’t want the cake to be completely done at this stage. Of course, you also don’t want it to be liquid, so just check it with a cake tester, skewer, or knife – a little bit of batter should still stick onto the tester, but not much.
- While the cake bakes, make your meringue. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, add your egg whites and splash of lemon juice. Start whipping until your egg whites look frothy.
- Add in your vanilla extract. Slowly add your sugar one tablespoon at a time while the mixer is running. If you add it too quickly, the sugar will not dissolve and it will end up grainy!
- Once all the sugar has been added, keep whisking until you have reached stiff peaks – this can take a little while!
- Once your cake is ready, spread jam to cover the top of the cake (note – we are doing this right after removing the cake from the oven and NOT letting it cool down!).
- Carefully spoon the meringue over the jam and spread it out to cover the whole cake. Do not dump the meringue in one spot or you risk collapsing the cake!
- Put it back into the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the meringue is crispy and a little brown on top (the goal is just to have a meringue that doesn't deflate!)
- Let your cake cool, slice, and enjoy!
What size rectangular cake pan should be used?
We bake this cake in a 13×9 inch cake pan!
Just wanted to leave a comment saying that I stumbled upon your site in search of some recipes that my Danish hubby would appreciate living here in the USA. I asked if he ever had this recipe (before reading the description) and he laughed and told me what it meant… Right under the title was spot on lol. He’s like yeah I’ve never heard of that one before 🤣. Thanks for the laugh, hope to try some recipes soon!
Haha, it’s a great name for a great cake! One of my favorites! Thanks for leaving this lovely comment 🙂