This is my late maternal grandmother’s (Mummo’s) recipe for a traditional Finnish tiger cake (tiikerikakku)! Coffee and cake culture is deeply woven in Finnish culture, and this cake is often found on the kitchen table of a weekday coffee date and at special occasions. There is always time for cake and coffee! This cake has vanilla and chocolate layers/swirls, and is irresistibly fluffy.

Ingredients

200g butter, room temperature (plus a little extra for the bundt tin greasing)

2 dl (190g) sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

3dl (205g) all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1-2 tsp vanilla sugar

2-3 tbsp cocoa

3 tbsp cream

10g breadcrumbs (bundt tin greasing)

100g dark chocolate, melted (optional, to serve)

Icing sugar (optional, sifted, to serve)

Essential Utensils

Hand mixer and/or stand mixer with whisk attachment
22cm diameter bundt tin

Spatulas

Method

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius/ 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grease the bundt tin with some butter, making sure to cover all crevices. Toss the breadcrumbs around in the bundt tin to create a thin layer. Discard any loose breadcrumbs that did not stick. The butter and breadcrumbs will make sure your cake does not stick to the tin.

In a large bowl, add the sugar and butter. Beat/whisk until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, whilst the mixer is still whisking. Make sure each egg is fully combined before you add another. Don’t stress if the batter looks loose, the texture will improve when we add the flour.

Slowly add the flour, baking powder and vanilla sugar, until fully combined. Stop the mixer when the batter looks light and fluffy.

Remove approximately 1/3 of the batter and place into a large bowl.

Sift in the cocoa and add in the cream to the new bowl with 1/3 of the batter. Mix until fully combined.

Into your bundt tin, place a layer of the vanilla batter and then the chocolate, and if remaining, another vanilla layer. 2-3 layers is ideal. Swirl the batter around with a skewer/fork/knife.

Place the bundt tin onto the lower rack of the oven for 45-60 minutes. The cake is finished when a skewer comes out clean.

Let the cake cool completely before serving. Drizzle with dark chocolate or a sprinkling of icing sugar.