Have you heard of Spettekaka? It’s a unique type of cake from the southern parts of Sweden, especially from a place called Skåne. Locals there might call it Spiddekaga. What makes it special is not just its taste, but also how it’s made and its place in local traditions.
Spettekaka’s name means “cake on a spit,” which is a big clue about how it’s made. Imagine baking a cake, but instead of using an oven, you cook it slowly on a skewer over a fire. This method isn’t just for show; it gives the cake its distinctive dry and crispy texture, kind of like a meringue.
This cake isn’t new. It has a long history, going all the way back to Germany in the 1500s, but it’s become a big part of food culture in Skåne. It’s so important there that the European Union has marked it as a special regional food.
What goes into a Spettekaka? Just three things: eggs, sugar, and potato starch flour. These ingredients are combined and then cooked in a very special way to create the cake. And these cakes can be big – they can range from just a few inches to several feet tall!
Now, eating Spettekaka is an experience in itself. It’s typically served with strong coffee, vanilla ice cream, or port wine. But here’s the fun part: because it’s so fragile, you can’t just cut it with a knife. Instead, people use something like a hacksaw blade to cut it without breaking it apart.
There’s a fun fact too: the largest Spettekaka ever made was in a town called Sjöbo in Skåne. It was huge – over 12 feet tall! This was such a big deal that it was mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records back in 1986.