Last October my wife and I were offered to submit a cake recipe to a magazine in Iceland. This magazine, Vikan, has been published for over 70 years, and their ‘cake’ issue is probably a top five biggest seller in Iceland each year. The reporter, Ragnhildur Aðalsteinsdóttir (a Western Academy of Photography graduate), wanted a recipe and two photos – one of the cake and one of the baker.
After mulling it over, we decided to have our son bake the cake, a spiced chocolate sheet cake. Something simple enough for a ten year old to do by himself or thereabout.
What was supposed to be maybe half a page with two photos ended up as a full page with eight photos. I was very happy to see that, and got a preview through Skype from a few people before I was able to pick up my own copy back in Iceland.
Our kitchen is wide open, which enabled me to put up one light with a softbox in the living room, directing it into the kitchen.
Oh, and here is the recipe, if you want to try it out.
The cake:
200 g margarine
2 dl coffee, brewed strong
3 eggs
300 g sugar
350 g flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
Whip the eggs and sugar. Margarine and coffee heated together and added to the mixture. Dry ingredients added. Baked in a sheet for 15-20 minutes at 200°C.
The icing:
4 dl powdered sugar (icing sugar)
4 tsp cocoa powder
3 tbsp butter
1/2 dl coffee, brewed strong
1 tsp vanilla essence
Topped with shredded coconut.
Verði ykkur að góðu!