Danish Dream Cake (Drømmekage)

One of the best parts of traveling to other countries is trying their most iconic and beloved foods. It’s a wonderful way to immerse yourself in another culture. But when travel isn’t an option, exploring recipes from around the world at home is the next best alternative. This Danish dream cake (aka drømmekage) is our latest and tastiest culinary adventure.

If you love simple single-layer snack cake recipes and are obsessed with coconut desserts, then this Danish dream cake recipe needs to become a part of your life. It’s the perfect sweet treat to serve for dessert or as an accompaniment to a cup of hot coffee or tea. We all love a good breakfast that’s secretly dessert, right?

Truly, this Danish cake recipe must be what dreams are made of.

What is Danish dream cake?

Danish dream cake is a single-layer cake from Denmark that’s comprised of an irresistibly light vanilla sponge and a sinfully sweet coconut topping made with caramelized brown sugar and butter. The combination of the soft, tender sponge and buttery caramel-coconut topping led the Danish to start calling the recipe drømmekage, which literally translates to “dream cake.”

The recipe first gained popularity after a granddaughter from Brovst, Denmark, allegedly submitted her grandmother’s secret cake recipe to a 1965 baking competition and won. Grandma’s cake recipe was an instant hit and has been popular among Danes ever since.

Aside from its heavenly taste and texture, this cake is unique in that it is baked twice. The first visit to the oven bakes the fluffy cake layer. A brief second visit bakes the molten topping of coconut and brown sugar caramel (similar to the taste of penuche fudge).

Ingredients for Danish Dream Cake

• Sugar: In cake baking, sugar adds sweetness and helps make a cake moist and tender.
• Cake flour: Cake flour is typically more finely milled than other types of flour and has a lower protein content. This helps achieve a light and tender texture.
• Baking powder: Baking powder acts as a leavener, giving the Danish drømmekage a lift and creating an ethereally light sponge cake.
• Salt: Salt balances and enhances the sweet vanilla flavor of the cake layer.
• Butter: Using a high-quality brand of butter for baking really helps maximize the flavor and richness of this vanilla drømmekage cake recipe.
• Eggs: Eggs play an important role in cake baking because they tenderize a cake and provide vital structural proteins that give a cake stability and strength as they rise in the oven.
• Vanilla extract: A good vanilla extract brand enhances the delicate flavors in the cake.
• Milk: Milk enriches the batter with extra fat to produce a cake that’s wonderfully moist and tender.
• Coconut topping: What makes this Danish dream cake recipe special is its sweet caramelized coconut topping, which is made with shredded unsweetened coconut, brown sugar, butter, milk, vanilla and a pinch of salt.

Directions

Step 1: Reverse cream

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a 13×9-inch cake pan with parchment and grease the paper.

Sift the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the softened butter and cream together for one to two minutes until the mixture resembles crumbly, wet sand.

Editor’s Tip: In this drømmekage cake recipe, we’re using a baking technique called reverse creaming. In many cake recipes, creaming butter and sugar happens first, and then all the dry ingredients are added later. With reverse creaming, the butter is mixed with all the dry ingredients. Doing so coats the flour in fat, which hinders gluten development and results in a supremely soft and “dreamy” cake.

Step 2: Add the wet ingredients

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla, then beat in the milk. Continue to mix until a smooth, lump-free batter forms. Don’t overmix.

Step 3: Bake the cake

Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 15 to 17 minutes.

Step 4: Prepare the topping

While the cake bakes, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the brown sugar and increase the heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally with a whisk, until the brown sugar dissolves and the mixture emulsifies into a caramel-like syrup, five to seven minutes.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the milk, vanilla and salt until incorporated. Fold in the shredded coconut.

Editor’s Tip: Don’t rush cooking the coconut topping. Cook until the butter blends completely with the brown sugar. If the butter remains separated upon pouring the coconut topping onto the cake, the butter will soak into the cake and cause it to be dense and taste like oil.

Step 5: Spread on the topping and bake again

Remove the cake from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 400°.

Gently pour the topping over the warm cake and spread it into an even layer. Return the cake to the oven for an additional five to eight minutes or until the topping is bubbly and lightly golden brown. Remove the cake to a wire rack and let it cool completely before slicing.

Editor’s Tip: To reduce the risk of your cake collapsing in the middle, pour the topping onto the cake starting with the edges and working your way into the center.

Ellie Crowley for Taste Recipes

Danish Dream Cake Variations

• Add chocolate: If you love Girl Scout Caramel deLites (aka Samoas), try adding a drizzle of chocolate ganache over the cooled cake before serving for a cake version of this popular Girl Scout cookie.
• Make drømmekage with nuts: This coconut topping is reminiscent of the topping on a German chocolate cake, which normally calls for pecans. For a little nuttiness and added texture, you can stir up to 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts into the coconut topping before spreading it onto the cake.
• Swap in all-purpose flour for the cake flour: You can make Danish dream cake with an equal amount of all-purpose flour if you don’t have cake flour. However, the cake will have a slightly coarser texture and will be a little less fluffy.

How to Store Danish Dream Cake

Store drømmekage cake at room temperature in a covered cake pan to preserve freshness. To keep the cake soft, tender and moist, we recommend storing the cake at room temperature, since refrigeration has a tendency to dry out cakes faster.

How long does Danish dream cake last?

Danish dream cake will stay fresh for three or four days at room temperature. Luckily, you can freeze this cake recipe for two or three months if you want to save it to cure a future craving.

Danish Dream Cake Tips

Ellie Crowley for Taste Recipes

What is the benefit of reverse creaming for drømmekage?

Reverse creaming is a foolproof method for achieving a moist and tender cake with a tighter crumb that’s still soft and fluffy but more structurally stable. Additionally, when reverse creaming, it’s very difficult to overmix the batter, which is a common mistake in cake baking that could be the reason why your homemade cake isn’t light and airy.

Many Danish dream cake recipes opt to make the batter with warm milk and melted butter. While this method does yield a light and fluffy sponge, it can often be too delicate to support the weight of the heavy coconut topping—leading to a dream nightmarish cake with a collapsed center.

How do you keep the Danish dream cake topping from getting brittle?

The top layer of a Danish dream cake should be soft and slightly chewy. That said, if you overbake the topping, it can become crisp and brittle. To combat this, keep a close eye on the topping and do not let it become too dark. Additionally, you can lightly tent a piece of foil over the cake as it cools, which will trap moisture and help keep the top layer softer.