Red Currant Meringue Cake

A Swedish, old school, classic. You’ll have been served this sweet, thin, slice of meringue topped cake by your grandma, the recipe hand scribbled in an old notebook with a few egg and flour stains scattered over it.

The slight cake base is a heavy sponge, just enough to hold a topping of whipped currant meringue, a perfect balance of acidity and crackling sweetness.

Red Currant Meringue Cake

250 g all-purpose flour (4 dl/ 1¾ cups)

2 tsp baking powder

50 g unsalted butter, melted (1,75 oz)

3 eggs

450 g caster sugar (4 ½ dl/ 2 cups)

  – 200 g of the sugar (2 dl/ ¾ cup) is for the cake base and 250 g (2½ dl/ 1¼) for the meringue.

150 ml milk (1½ dl / ½ cup and 2 tbsp)

2 tbsp water

2 tsp vanilla essence (1 tsp for the cake; 1 tsp for the meringue)

200 g red /black currants (3½ dl / 1 ½ cups)

For the cake:

Pre-heat the oven to 200 C/ 390 F

1. Combine the flour and baking powder, set aside.

2. Melt the butter, set aside.

3. Separate the egg yokes and whip them with 180g of the sugar (2 dl/ ¾ cup) until the mix is light and fluffy.

4. Slowly pour the milk, water and 1 tsp vanilla essence into the whipped egg and sugar.

5. Fold in the sifted flour, and lastly the melted butter.

6. Line an oven tray with baking paper. Pour out the cake mix, spreading it evenly over the sheet. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until a toothpick pushed into the centre comes out clean. The shorter time is for a fan assisted oven.

For the Red Currant Meringue topping:

7. Whisk the egg whites on a low speed until firm – they should form peaks as you pull up the whisk.

Wait until the cake has cooled before cutting it, and VOILA!

This recipe was resurrected by Alexandra Larsson in her cookbook #Bakboken after winning The Swedish Bake-Off ‘Hela Sverige bakar’ 2014, and successfully getting everyone raiding grandma’s cupboards for old recipes.

Linking Red Currant Meringue Cake with #TastyTuesdays and #CookBlogShare

For another delicious Swedish recipe check out these Baked Vanilla Knots: