Spettekaka

Spettekaka ("Spit cake") is a local dessert of the southern parts of Sweden, in the province of Scania but also in Halland. It plays an important part of the Scanian cultural heritage.

The mixture consists of basically eggs, potato flour and sugar which is put on a skewer and rotated over an open fire. It makes the dessert very dry. It is then wrapped in a sealed plastic bag to preserve its dryness. To stay crisp, the cake should only be unwrapped at the actual moment service is to commence. Spettekaka can range in size anywhere from a few inches to several feet in height and over a foot in diameter. With the very large cakes, the idea is to saw rectangles from the cake leaving as much standing as possible.

It is served accompanied by dark roast coffee, vanilla ice cream and port wine. A clean hacksaw blade is use to gently saw the dessert into serving sized pieces, as it will otherwise crumble or shatter if a knife is used or too much pressure is applied with the saw blade.

" 'Skånsk spettkaka' " has PGI status under EU law.

See: Baumkuchen

For an excellent article, including photographs, visit http://www.skane.com/cmarter/cmarter.asp?doc=1678