Spettkaka

The Spettekaka is a cake typical of Scania County, very crunchy, crumbly and light, made with eggs, potato starch and sugar. It can be covered with a white or dyed glaze. Its consistency is similar to that of meringue.
It stays crunchy for a few months if stored in packaging that protects it against contact with air, but once exposed it quickly becomes rubbery and sticky.
It was originally cooked on a spit over fire (its name literally means “cake on a spit”) and rotated slowly for several hours.

The size of the Spettekaka cake is usually proportional to the height, which can vary from 10 up to several dozen centimetres, while the diameter is equally wide in proportion. Its shape is conical (due to the tool used, the spit, onto which a very thin dough is rolled and cooked) and the surface is fairly irregular and “spiky”.
It is sliced by making small “windows” along the sides using a thin hacksaw, so that the cake doesn’t collapse and crumble altogether.

The recipe for the Spettekaka is an ancient one of Danish origin, introduced in Scania in the 17th century; but it was only in the 19th century that it became a more popular sweet, one cooked in village ovens as well, not just the kitchens of the nobility. Over time, it became the cake that farm women prepared for big occasions, when everyone gathered together. It then suffered a decline in popularity, but around the mid-20th century it was back in fashion again as a special cake for weddings, birthdays and other celebrations. Today, there are few that make the Spettekaka, which involves a labour-intensive, complex process, and it is not easy to find it on the market.

The Spettekaka is normally served with coffee or a sweet wine, typically Port.