Brunsviger (Coffee Cake)

Danish coffee cake

“Brunsviger” has no direct English translation, which is why we’ve called it a Danish coffee cake. And to clarify – that’s not because it has coffee in it! Rather, it’s a great accompaniment to a cup of coffee, so that’s why it’s sometimes called coffee cake in English. The easiest thing is to refer to it by its Danish name, brunsviger.

The cake itself consists of a soft yeasted dough topped with a brown sugar and butter caramel. The topping gets super gooey and soaks into the dimples you make in the dough, so you get some bites that are really full of the caramel and others where you can taste the deliciously soft dough. I guess the best comparison would be that brunsviger tastes a bit like a deconstructed cinnamon roll, but without the cinnamon!

Fyn’s second-most-famous export

Fun fact – this cake comes from the Danish island of Fyn, or Funen. Fyn is located between Sjælland (where Copenhagen is located) and Jylland (the part of Denmark connected to Germany). People from Fyn are very proud of their brunsviger, so we’d highly recommend you visit and try it there, if you ever get the chance. We actually also have a written guide to what you can see and do in Fyn in 24 hours!

The reason we call brunsviger Fyn’s second-most-famous export is that the island is the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen. He may sound familiar, as he is the author of several famous fairy tales, including The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling. Internationally, he’s certainly more well-known than brunsviger. But here we are, making the case for brunsviger to get on your radar as a phenomenal cake!

Kagemand for your next birthday?

You can make brunsviger as a simple coffee cake, but many people also use it as a base for a birthday cake. This cake is called a kagemand (cake man) or kagekone (cake woman). A kagemand is a cake that you shape like a person, hence the name. It’s usually topped with marzipan or icing, and decorated with Danish sweets (including lots of licorice!) and sprinkles.

Bakeries in Denmark tend to make them to order for people’s birthdays or any other celebration. But we’ve also made a kagemand at home, and it’s a really fun project for a birthday. It also means you can decorate with the candy you like, and get creative! It’s not often you get to make more of a silly birthday cake that’s reasonably low-effort, so we’d definitely suggest giving it a try!

Ingredients you’ll need

For this recipe, you really don’t need anything too crazy – just a decent amount of butter and sugar! The dough is made with milk, yeast, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, salt, all-purpose flour, and some unsalted butter. You can use salted if that’s what you have – just reduce the amount of salt you add slightly. For the topping, all you need is more butter and some brown sugar. We like to use dark brown sugar for a super caramelized flavor, but light brown sugar works just fine as well.

How to make our brunsviger recipe

The recipe for brunsviger is incredibly easy to follow! The dough is the same as our recipe for kanelsnegle, and the topping just requires a little patience to allow the sugar and butter to melt together without separating. If it does separate, you can add some hot water to get it to come together again. Also, if you want a brunsviger with a lot of topping (which some people prefer), you can increase the topping quantities however much you like!

And as you go through the process of making brunsviger, you’ll realize that it’s actually a really fun cake to make, because you get to poke holes in the dough! Weirdly, the process is quite similar to making focaccia, but the end result is definitely different taste-wise. Try out the recipe and let us know what you think! If you make our recipe, be sure to leave a comment and a rating below, or tag us on Instagram if you post a photo!

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Brunsviger (Danish Coffee Cake)

5 from 5 votes

These soft, gooey brunsviger are one of the best accompaniments to a cup of coffee, and make a great base for a classic Danish birthday cake, called a kagemand or kagekone (cake man/cake woman).

Servings 12 servings

Prep Time 1 hour hr 50 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

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IMPORTANT NOTE:

We always bake using a digital scale and the metric system (grams and milliliters). We can’t promise that our cup measurements will be as accurate! Additionally, we bake and develop our recipes in a convection (fan) oven.

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

DOUGH

• 150 ml milk
• 2 tsp instant yeast (2.25 tsp active-dry yeast, 17.5g fresh yeast)
• 1 large egg (room temperature)
• 1 egg yolk (room temperature)
• 50 grams sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 375 grams all-purpose flour
• 57 grams unsalted butter, softened

TOPPING

• 100 grams unsalted butter *for even more sticky topping goodness, you can use 150 grams each of the butter and the brown sugar!
• 100 grams brown sugar

Instructions

 

• If using active dry yeast, heat the milk in the microwave or on the stovetop until it is “fingervarm” (finger warm), meaning it should feel warm to the touch but not hot. Add your yeast, stir, and leave it for 5-10 minutes until the mixture starts to bubble up. You can add this to the bowl of a stand mixer or another mixing bowl. If using instant yeast, simply add the yeast to the lukewarm milk – there usually is no need to wait for it to bubble up, but follow the instructions on your package of yeast if in doubt!
• Add the egg, egg yolk, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt to the yeast and milk mixture.
  
• Slowly add the flour. Once the dough starts to come together, you can begin kneading, either by hand or in a stand mixer.
  
• Add the softened butter and knead for about 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Add more flour if the dough is sticking to the sides of the mixing bowl or to your hands.
  
• Cover the dough and let it rise for about an hour at room temperature or in a warm place, or until doubled in size.
  
• Butter a baking sheet or a 9×13 glass pan, or line with parchment paper. Once the dough has doubled in size, you can either roll it out or just stretch it with your hands to fit the tray.
  
• Poke holes in it with your fingers. Let this rise another 30-45 mins, and preheat your oven to 400 degrees F (200 C).
  
• While the oven preheats, make your topping. Combine the brown sugar and unsalted butter in a saucepan and place it over a low heat. You want the sugar to dissolve and the butter to melt, but if you rush it at a higher heat, they will separate. If that happens, add a little bit of hot water and stir to try to save the mixture. Let your mixture cool slightly (but not harden or congeal!).
  
• Once the dough has risen again, poke holes in it with your fingers. Then, add the topping, and if the topping is cool enough, you can use your fingers to poke more holes. You want to push pretty far down, almost to the bottom of the baking tray.
  
• Bake the brunsviger for 15-20 minutes, or until the top of the dough looks nice and golden brown. Depending on the pan you've used and the thickness of the dough (thin dough on a dark metal baking sheet will bake faster), you may want to check the doneness as early as 10 minutes! Enjoy!
  

Video

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: Danish

Keyword: brown sugar caramel, butterscotch, caramel, classic, simple, soft, yeasted cake

Difficulty: Intermediate