Brown-sugar yeast cake from Funen island

SERVES 15

“This recipe is originally from the central Danish island of Funen – or Fyn in Danish – but these days brunsviger are found all around the country,” says Magnus Nilsson. “Brunsviger is often flavoured with ground cassia cinnamon and served lukewarm for breakfast. In Funen, slices of brunsviger are sometimes served as a sandwich topping on buttered Danish breakfast buns, rundstykker, in which case the sugared side of the cake should be placed directly onto the buttered side of the bread.”

250 ml (1 cup) milk

25 gm fresh yeast

120 gm unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing

2 tbsp caster sugar

2 eggs

500 gm cake flour (see note) BROWN-SUGAR TOPPING 150 gm unsalted butter, at room temperature 250 gm soft brown sugar 2 tbsp ground cassia cinnamon (see note)

1 Pour the milk into an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the yeast and stir to dissolve. Add butter, sugar, eggs, flour and 1 tsp salt and knead on medium speed until smooth and shiny (8-12 minutes, depending on your machine).

2 Grease a 25cm x 30cm baking tray, then spread dough onto the tray. Leave to rise until doubled in size (40 minutes). 3 Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200ºC. For the brown-sugar topping, combine ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat and cook until melted and shiny (6-8 minutes).

4 Wet your hands and press your fingers down into the dough to make indentations where puddles of the topping can form. Pour the brown-sugar topping evenly over the dough and bake until the surface is golden and the cake is cooked through (18-20 minutes).

5 Let the cake cool a little in the pan, then cut into 15 portions and serve while still warm.

Note Cake flour, a fine baking flour, is available from select supermarkets and grocers. If cassia cinnamon is unavailable, substitute with regular ground cinnamon.