‘Tyttebaer’ are small red berries that grow wild in Norway. The taste is similar to cranberries; very tart (sour) with a hint of bitterness.
We have them in our woods, but I have to admit that I never get around to picking them… Luckily, you can also buy them frozen in the supermarket.
They are great match for our popular yoghurt cake. And even more so combined with some ground cardamom. This is used often in Scandinavian baking, so cardamom powder is available in every supermarket.
And don’t worry about the crying. Stine is a niece from Hermods side of the family. When she was highly pregnant, she came to visit us. We had baked this cake – but unfortunately, Stine could only taste a tiny bite since she was not allowed any sugar during her pregnancy.
Pregnancy can sharpen your sense of taste and smell. Stine got so overwhelmed by the flavors in the cake, especially after not eating any sweets for a long time, that she spontaneously shed a few tears.
Therefore this recipe just had to go on the website – so Stine could bake it, and finally enjoy it, after the birth of their baby girl.
This recipe is very easy and very quick to make. It’s more or less just to mix the ingredients together – no fussy separating of the eggs or such. You don’t even need a (hand)mixer for it. Perfect for busy parents!
Ingredients
3 eggs, size Medium or Large
250 grams of sugar
A pinch of salt
1,5 deciliter of vegetable oil (sunflower oil, canola oil, or a neutral olive oil)
3 deciliter yoghurt, sour cream, creme fraiche or ‘lettrømme’ (see Notes, below)
400 grams of flour – plain white flour, cake flour or fine spelt flour all work well in this recipe
3 teaspoons of baking powder
3 teaspoons of vanilla sugar (or 3 teaspoons of vanilla essence)
2 teaspoons of ground cardamom
Zest of 1 lemon (see Notes, below)
Juice of half a lemon
300 grams of fresh or frozen tyttebær or cranberries
2 tablespoons of sugar to sprinkle on top of the cake
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon to sprinkle on top of the cake
Instructions
If using fresh tyttebær or cranberries: wash and pat dry well with paper towel.
Heat the oven the oven to 180°C (regular upper and lower heat, not fan-forced).
Butter an approx. 25 cm spring form (see Notes, below).
In a mixing bowl, combine the 3 eggs with the 250 grams of sugar, a pinch of salt and the 1,5 deciliter oil. Add the vanilla sugar, cardamom, lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix it all together with a whisk until the sugar is absorbed and not ‘crunchy’ anymore.
Mix in the 3 deciliter of yoghurt and whisk until everything is combined.
Weigh 400 grams of flour. Add the 3 teaspoons of baking powder to the flour and mix it well.
Add the flour/baking powder mix to the bowl with egg/oil/sugar mix. Stir everything together with a whisk or a large spoon until combined. Don’t over-mix it; it’s fine if there is a little ‘bubble’ of flour here and there.
Fold in the tyttebær/cranberries. If using frozen, you can put them in straight from the freezer. Mix carefully through the dough mix, so as few berries as possible get crushed.
Scrape the dough into the prepared spring form and smooth it out. Sprinkle the cinnamon evenly over the top of the cake, followed by the sugar.
Bake the cake in the middle of the oven. The cooking time is dependent on whether you are using fresh or frozen berries. With fresh berries, the baking time is around 1 hour. When using frozen berries it will be around 15 minutes longer. (See Notes, below.)
When the cake is done, take it out of the oven and let it cool for about 20 minutes. After that, loosen the cake from the inside of the spring form with a plastic knife or such. (See notes, below.) Remove the sides of the form and let the cake cool down totally while still on the bottom of the form. When the cake is fully cooled, carefully loosen it from the spring form bottom and transfer to a cake plate.
Serve as is or with vanilla ice cream. To make it really Scandinavian, serve with a jar of vanilla sauce or custard.
