Søsterkage (Christmas Spiced Loaf Cake with Raisins and Orange)
This cake comes from the Sønderjylland region of Denmark, and it is a delicious and festive option for your winter celebrations this year!
Ingredients
- 250 milliliters milk
- 2 tsp instant yeast (2.25 tsp active dry yeast, 17.5g fresh yeast)
- 100 grams butter, melted
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 100 grams brown sugar
- 0.5 tsp vanilla extract
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 275 grams all purpose flour
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 1.5 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 3 tbsp candied orange peel (such as Italian mixed peel) *if you need to, you can make this homemade!
- 75 grams raisins
- 1 tbsp flour
Instructions
- Heat up the milk, either in the microwave or in a saucepan, until it is "fingervarm" (finger warm), meaning it should feel warm to the touch but not hot. You don't want to kill the yeast! Add the yeast and a bit of the sugar from the recipe and stir to dissolve. Let it rest 5-10 minutes until it begins to froth and bubble a little bit. (If your yeast doesn't do anything, it may be expired. Check the expiration date on the package and start over with new yeast!)
- Melt the butter in a separate bowl, let it cool until it's also "fingervarm" (too hot and it might affect the yeast!) but still liquid, then mix it in with your yeast and milk. We like to do this in a liquid measuring cup so it's easy to pour into the final batter.
- Add the eggs (room temperature) and the brown sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar together using the whisk attachment, or using a hand mixer, until light in color and increased in volume, and the mixture falls off the whisk in "ribbons" which you can see on top of the mixture for a second before it dissolves.
- Add the lemon zest and vanilla extract to the eggs and sugar and mix to combine.
- In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom.
- Toss the raisins and candied orange with a tablespoon of flour. This will prevent them from sinking in the batter.
- Add about half of your wet ingredients to the egg and sugar mixture and whisk to combine.
- Then add half of the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
- Repeat adding the remaining wet and dry ingredients, and whisk until everything is just combined.
- Get a rubber spatula and add in the raisins and orange peel; fold into the batter.
- Prepare a loaf tin by buttering the sides and adding a piece of parchment paper across the tin for easy removal. We use a medium sized loaf tin for this.
- Pour the batter into the tin.
- Cover with a piece of plastic wrap or a dish towel.
- Let the batter rise for 45 minutes to an hour, until risen in the tin between 1-2cm (you do not want it to reach the top of the tin! this can cause major overflow in the oven).
- Towards the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 375F (190C).
- When the cake has risen, remove the plastic wrap and bake for about 35 minutes, until well browned on the top and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- After a few minutes out of the oven, remove from the loaf tin and let cool on a wire rack. Slice and enjoy!