Name: Danish Dream Cake
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour and 5 minutes
Yield: Serves 10–12
Ingredients: 3 eggs; 1 cup (225 g) granulated sugar; 1⁄2 tsp. vanilla sugar (see note at top); 1¾ cups (225 g) all-purpose flour or cake flour; 2 tsp. baking powder; 2⁄3 cup (150 ml) whole milk; 3⁄4 stick (75 g) butter, melted; 1 stick (100 g) butter; 1½ cups (150 g) dried shredded coconut; 1¼ cups (250 g) dark brown sugar; 1⁄3 cup (75 ml) whole milk; Pinch salt

Active Time
20 minutes
Total Time
1 hour and 5 minutes

This Danish Dream Cake (or ‘Drømmekage fra Brovst’) originates from Brovst, a village in Jutland. In 1965 a young girl baked her grandmother’s secret family recipe in a competition and won, and the cake has been a favorite of Danes ever since. No wonder: This cake is remarkably light and fluffy, with a delicious coconut topping.

You can buy vanilla sugar in Scandinavian food shops, but it’s also easy to make at home. Add 1 cup powdered sugar to a small food processor with a dried-out vanilla bean. Pulse until completely pulverized, then sift out any large pieces of the vanilla bean.

Ingredients

Serves 10–12

3 eggs

1 cup (225 g) granulated sugar

1⁄2 tsp. vanilla sugar (see note at top)

1¾ cups (225 g) all-purpose flour or cake flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2⁄3 cup (150 ml) whole milk

3⁄4 stick (75 g) butter, melted

For the topping

1 stick (100 g) butter

1½ cups (150 g) dried shredded coconut

1¼ cups (250 g) dark brown sugar

1⁄3 cup (75 ml) whole milk

Pinch salt

Preparation

Step 1
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Prepare a 9-inch springform or round cake pan, greased and lined with baking parchment.
Step 2
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the eggs, granulated sugar and vanilla sugar on a high speed for a few minutes, until white and light. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, sift the flour and baking powder together.
Step 3
Carefully fold the flour into the egg mixture. Mix the milk with the melted butter in a jug/pitcher and carefully pour into the batter, folding it in until incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
Step 4
Bake in the preheated oven for 35–40 minutes, or until almost done (try not to open the oven door for the first 20 minutes of the total baking time).
Step 5
To make the topping, put all the ingredients in a saucepan and gently melt together.
Step 6
Remove the cake from the oven and carefully spread the topping all over the cake. Return to the oven. Turn up the heat to 400°F and bake for a further 5 minutes.
Step 7
Leave cake to cool before eating, if you can (we are well aware it’s hard to do that).

From ScandiKitchen by Brontë Aurell. Photography by Peter Cassidy © Ryland Peters & Small 2015. Buy the full book from Ryland Peters & Small or Amazon.

Leave a Review

Reviews (8)

I followed the recipe step by step, and it resulted in a delicious cake baked to perfection!
- Maru
- Canada
- 3/18/2023
The cake's recipe has only the picture to weigh in on doneness which doesn't explain my picture. I have put it in the oven again to hopefully achieve this dark seemingly crispy coconut topping.
- Diane Huggins
- Cary, NC
- 2/8/2023
To Answer Elsie from Canada: When looking at a standard stick of butter: 1 stick or 1/2 cup butter is equal to 4 ounces, or 113 grams. This is true in the US and the UK.
- Anonymous
- ARLINGTON, TX
- 7/1/2022
Pleas answer the questions of those that review the recipe.
- Frank Speyerer
- Arlington, Texas
- 7/1/2022
Since when is a stick of butter 100 grams? The question is rhetorical only because Epicurious never answers questions.
- Elsie
- Canada
- 7/1/2022
Recipe doesn't specify sweetened or unsweetened coconut. My assumption is unsweetened. Thoughts?
- Neva
- Plymouth, MI
- 7/1/2022
Also not a review. Samjones from Tucson AZ has a good question. The recipe author is Danish and lives in London. If single-acting baking soda is prevalent in Europe, clarification is needed. Epicuroous: Please reply!
- EMCG55
- Mountain West
- 7/1/2022
Europeans use single acting backing powder. In the US we use double acting baking powder. I have both. which should i use as the final results are very different
- samjones
- Tucson, AZ
- 7/1/2022
Reply to San Diego Anonymous, not a review: Step #6 is to spread the topping all over the cake, return it to the oven, turn the heat up and bake another 5 minutes. All of this means the cake is still hot when you spread the topping and will get even hotter! Although the recipe doesn't specify, I'd let the cake cool a bit (Step 7) before removing the cake from the Springform pan.
- LillyJo
- Lansing, MI
- 7/1/2022
When you spread the frosting, it sounds like the cake is still hot. Do you remove from springform while it’s hot?
- Anonymous
- San Diego
- 7/1/2022
Simple. Excellent cake. Nice textires
- Anonymous
- New York NY
- 5/16/2022
This turned out great. I used about a tsp of vanilla extract instead of the vanilla sugar. I think I could have pulled the cake out about 5 minutes earlier to put the topping on but it was still delicious. I’ve made other recipes of this cake but this has the best ratio of cake to topping. Will definitely make this again.
- Lisa
- Philly
- 8/18/2023
The topping is soooo delicious. Wouldn’t mind adding an extra half portion. The “let cool” part of the process is important because it’s when the topping caramel seeps into the cake. Make sure that the topping is nice and warm so this process works better.
- Santiago Prieto
- Truckee, CA
- 7/28/2023