I don’t believe this recipe is truly Swedish, but it is fantastic nonetheless. It comes from my mom’s friend, “Diane from Minnesota”, whom I don’t remember. Thank you, Diane, whoever you are! We ate it weekly as kids, now I make it practically weekly as an adult.
This dish is one of the fastest ways to get a crowd-pleasing baked dish on the table. It takes only 20 minutes to cook, it’s fun to watch in the oven, and kids absolutely love it. It can easily be made into a savory dish for more sophisticated palates. Why the whole world doesn’t make aggkaka once a week, I can’t tell you.
All you need are three eggs, two cups of a milk-like substance, one cup of flour, a half a stick of butter, and some kind of sweetener. The recipe is very forgiving, see my substitutions below.
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups milk (or any number of substitutions)
- 1 cup flour
- 1-2 teaspoons sugar (or any number of substitutions)
- pinch or two of salt
- 4 tablespoons butter
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Then whisk in the milk, sugar and salt. Then whisk in the flour. The batter will be a little bit lumpy, but that’s fine.
Put the butter into a casserole dish and melt it in the oven.
When the butter is melted, add the batter to the dish. The butter will rise to the top and cover the batter.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. The aggkaka will turn into a beautiful landscape with puffy browned peaks and buttery valleys.
Substitutions and Additions
For the milk:
What you want are two cups of any fatty, milk-like substance. I never buy milk, so I often use a combination of Greek yogurt and soy milk. Buttermilk is fantastic. Low-fat yogurt works. Half-and-half or whipping cream diluted with a bit of water works. Almond milk works. Just pull out whatever milk-like stuff you’ve got in the fridge and whisk it in.
For the sugar:
Brown sugar works. Honey is lovely, as is maple syrup. Add less, add more, or add even more as a topping if you want.
For the flour:
Here I’ve found it to be less flexible, but I haven’t experimented very much. Whole wheat flour doesn’t work well as it’s too heavy and sinks to the bottom. Standard European flour works very well. Bread flour makes it chewier and denser, but in a not unpleasant way. I haven’t tried it with gluten-free or other flours, but perhaps you could and let me know how it went?
Additions:
Add vanilla to make something heavenly.
Reduce the sugar and add sautéed mushrooms, leeks, herbs, asparagus, or anything you would normally add to a quiche. Then you have a savory dinner fit for discerning adults.
To Make it More Convenient
Make the batter up to a day or two ahead of time and keep it in the fridge. This is a great way to make an easy morning for your future self. It also seems to improve the texture.
Place the butter in the oven at the same time you are preheating it. Just remember not to burn it!
Make one savory aggkaka and one sweet aggkaka to serve a combination of 4 or more adults and children.
Eat the leftovers for lunch, if there are any.