Saffron Cake

Absolutely nothing says Christmas in Sweden like saffron. Despite that, I'd never tried making a soft saffron cake before - just saffron buns of different kinds. I came across this recipe at one of the best Swedish food blogs, Kryddburken, and I totally had to make it. You might think it has a lot of fat, and you're totally right. But saffron tends to dry out whatever you put it in, so you really need all that fat to make it nice and moist. I used, per the recipe's instructions, margarine but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't hurt to use real butter. (It so rarely does!)

Sunday is the third Sunday of Advent - make this and have your friends over for some genuine Swedish Adventsfika!

Saffron Cake

1 g saffron, ground (or mash it with a sugar cube in a pestle if you have saffron threads)
200 g margarine (if using unsalted butter, add a small pinch of salt)
2 eggs
300 ml sugar (about 300 g)
150 ml milk (0,6 cups or 150 g)
400 ml all-purpose flour (240 g)
2 tsp baking powder
Confectioner's sugar to garnish

Melt the butter, and stir in the saffron. Add the milk and let the mixture cool a little.

Beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flour and baking powder. Carefully stir in the butter mixture - if you're not careful, you'll get saffron-y butter all over.

Pour into a buttered and floured pan, preferrably a springform with loose sides. Bake at 175°C for 40-45 minutes, until the cake is no longer sticky in the middle and has started to shrink away from the sides of the pan. When cool, decorate with sifted confectioner's sugar.

Recipe in Swedish:
Mjuk Saffranskaka