Toscakaka

Toscakaka is an almond cake popular in Sweden. A soft baked sponge is topped with almonds bound with butter and sugar, then baked again. The thin, toasty surface contrasts with the light, fluffy texture inside.

Baking the cake, then baking the topping

In one example of a home recipe, eggs and sugar are whisked until pale, then combined with flour, milk and melted butter. While the batter bakes in the tin, slivered almonds are warmed in a pan with butter, sugar, milk and flour until the mixture thickens.

The partly baked cake is taken out, the topping is spread over it, and it goes back into the oven. It bakes until the surface is browned. Because the cake and the topping are prepared separately, a toasty layer of almonds held together by sugar and butter forms on top of the soft base. The cake is cut into slices and served at coffee time or when people gather.

A topping that carries the name Tosca

“Tosca” is not a name for just one form. Swedish Spoon, which has researched the history of sweets, notes that a 1948 Swedish encyclopedia for confectioners includes examples of Tosca topping spread on both toscakaka and rigoletto, which uses an almond dough. In this way, Tosca topping has also been used on other bases.

Today’s pastry shops also offer items that differ from a round cake cut into slices. Åby Konditori in Sweden sells an individual pastry made with a sablé shell filled with almond filling and finished with Tosca topping. Although the toasty almond surface is shared, the pastry and filling beneath it differ.

Some link the name to Puccini’s opera Tosca, but how the name came about is unclear. The same historical research notes that confections with similar names appeared in advertisements in the 1930s, and that the name was also used for home-baked cakes.

Glossary