Finland- Tiikerikakku (Tiger cake)

Now usually I start off with "A little history" but I can't seem to find anything on the history of Tiger cake! (If anybody knows anything let me know in the comments below!) 

Ingredients:

•  200 grams of butter or margarine
• 200 grams of golden caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 300 grams of plain flour
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (or if your silly like me and didn't realize you didn't have any vanilla extract you can use one vanilla bean pod!)
• 2-3 tablespoons of good quality cocoa powder (I always use Cadbury's Bournville cocoa powder, you don't need much and will last you a long time!) 
• milk (optional)

You will also need a bundt cake tin otherwise the recipe won't work, if you need one Click here.


1. First of all, grease your bundt tin and then sprinkle with some caster sugar, this will stop the cake from sticking and means the cake will stay in ring when you take it out from the tin. Preheat the oven to 175 degree Centigrade/ 347 Fahrenheit.

2. Beat the sugar, vanilla and the butter together until light and creamy, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well.

3. In a separate bowl (or jug in my case!) mix the baking powder and the flour together, once combined, add to the mixture and beat until everything is combined.

4. Now here is the tricky part, carefully move one half of the mixture into a separate bowl, its important you try and get half and half, use scales if you must. Once the mixture has been halved, add two tablespoons of cocoa powder and stir, now here is where you need to trust your instinct, if the mixture looks to wet, add the other tablespoon of cocoa powder, if the mixture looks to dry (like mine did) add a splash of milk to loosen the mixture slightly.

5. Now to assemble the mixture, start with the vanilla mixture, take some of the mixture and spread around the tin, then add all of the chocolate mixture, then finish off with the left over vanilla mixture. Place in the oven for 50-60 minutes (I always go halfway with timings!). When you take it out of the oven, leave for a few minutes to cool, then run a knife around the edge of the cake, place a wire rack over top and let gravity make the cake drop. Once out the tin leave to cool completely.

Serve with a dollop of creme fresh and a cup of coffee!

Hope you enjoyed this bake and I hope you try it out! As I said before, I now have a Facebook page Click here and please like and share this page!, you will find out updates and new recipes on there! My next stop will be Russia!