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Swedish Coffee Cake is a buttery pie crust topped with a Pâte à Choux mixture, a sweet glaze, and toasted coconut.
I’m doing the Friday happy-dance! Happy about-to-be-the weekend, everyone!
Because this week? Ridiculous!
Please take this Swedish Coffee Cake as a token of my love, affection, and (in)sanity. It is the perfect weekend-recipe.
A Volvo commercial came on the tube and it reminded me to finally post about this amazing coffee cake. For those scratching their heads, Volvo is Swedish. If you’re wondering about the other word(s) up there, it’s Pâte à Choux (paht ah shoo) and it is French for cream puff pastry. I’m getting all edumacational on you today.
By the way, WHO thought of spreading Pâte à Choux on top of a buttery pie crust? That was GENIUS!
The very first time I made this, I remember talking to myself out loud, questioning the recipe. I just couldn’t see how, a) this was a “coffee cake” and b) there’s cream puffs on top of a pie crust! Noone else sees this as kinda odd? That’s okay. What’s important is that this actually works. So much so that every time I make it, my treadmill and I chill for 2 hours. Truth be told, the treadmill chills while I sweat like a pig.
Apart from paht ah shoo and pie crust, here’s what we’re dealing with; sweet vanilla glaze that’s supposed to be an almond glaze, but I personally can’t stand almond extract. It’s almost up there with my hatred for watermelon. I love almonds, but you can keep the extract.
Also, and to finish it off, we sprinkle it with a generous amount of toasted coconut, grab our coffee cup and indulge.
Make it, you won’t regret it.
ENJOY!
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Swedish Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold butter,, cubed
- 2 tablespoons cold water
- 1 cup water
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter,, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or almond extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 whole eggs,, room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter,, softened
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or almond extract
- 1 cup flaked coconut,, toasted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place flour in a mixing bowl.
- Using a pastry cutter or fork, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly and dough holds together when pressed.
- Transfer dough to previously prepared baking sheet; press and shape dough in a 10-inch circle. Set aside.
- Combine water and butter in a large saucepan; bring to a rolling boil, making certain that butter is melted.
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
- Add flour and whisk until well blended.
- Return to heat and stir vigorously until mixture is shiny and pulls away from sides of pan.
- Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes.
- Transfer mixture to your mixer’s bowl.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well before adding the next egg.
- Continue beating until mixture is smooth, shiny and holds together.
- Spread mixture over prepared pie crust.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until lightly browned.
- Set on a wire rack and let cool completely.
- In the meantime, prepare the glaze.
- Combine powdered sugar, butter, milk and vanilla in a mixing bowl; beat until thoroughly combined.
- Spread over cake.
- Sprinkle with toasted coconut.
- Serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
Hi Katerina! Just discovered this post for your Swedish Coffee Cake on Pinterest. But I don’t see a recipe for it on your site. It is in one of your E-Cookbooks? If so, which one. I am willing to buy it so I can make this.
Thank you,
Vickie
Hi!! The recipe is there, but it was hiding behind a code… SO sorry about that! It should be visible now. 🙂
My Grandmother was 100% Swedish, (Midwest). Her parents (My Great Grandparents) immigrated here. She made this recipe often, with almond flakes, and mariani cherries. It is family favorite. I just made it tonight. Its fantastic. I don’t know if it really came from Sweden, but I DO know my Swedish grandparents made it often.
I made this cake this morning and it is incredible! I made a couple mods, added a layer of almond paste on top of the crust, and flavored the glaze with almond and a splash of cream. I dusted it wih slivered Almonds instead of coconut and I can tell you this will be a regular in my kitchen! Thanks for this recipe and your photos are beautiful.
Thanks you, Lisa!! It’s a unique and beautiful cake, and I’m so happy to know that you liked it! I love the idea of almond paste on top of that crust!!
I recently made a similar recipe from my “Century of Success Cookbook” by Gold Medal Flour (sans coconut, almond instead). It’s a new favorite of my husbands’! Thanks for sharing.
Wonder how sliced almonds would go with the coconut? I love both. Tx, sounds like a great recipe.
Hi! I’m Swedish and this is NOT a Swedish cake! Never heard of this cake before!
Hi. I definitely didn’t make up the name – this is a cake that I adapted from a national magazine. I’m Macedonian, and the French have a salad that’s called “Macedonian Salad” – that salad is anything, BUT Macedonian. 🙂 So… sometimes things are named as such because the chef/author/creator was probably inspired by something from that country.
My friend’s grandma…who was Swedish…made the most amazing dessert that she called Swedish Puff. It had the same base crusts as this recipe, but she topped it with a sweetened cream cheese and jelly. It was the yummiest dessert ever! Thanks for sharing this version.
Thanks so much for chiming in, Cathy! The sweetened cream cheese and jelly topping that she used sounds even better!
Just like things here in the US, perhaps it depends on individual families because if you look above, another person who states her grandmother, who was Swedish made this recipe ALL the time. Not everyone in a country makes EVERY recipe all the time. I’m sure in EVERY country foods vary from region to region and family to family.
You know my love of coconut and this cake looks amazing!! Gorgeous photo too by the way. I knew Volvo was Swedish because I used to work with a woman who bought a new Volvo with European pick up meaning she flew her rich ass over to Sweden to test drive, buy it, vacation with it for a week driving all over and then have it shipped home. Must be nice huh? ha ha
I’m looking forward to making this tonight! I’m wheat and soy free, so hopefully I can make the proper adjustments to do this recipe justice. 😀
Please let me know how it goes! 😀
The recipe converts beautifully to gluten/soy free. I’ll be bringing the cake to work tomorrow to share with coworkers :D. Basic changes were: almond milk to replace water and milk; and bobs red mill GF flour. I added the almond milk to add flavor. GF breads need as much flavor as possible.
AWESOME!!! Thank you so, SO MUCH, for sharing! I am going to make it your way over the weekend. 🙂 Isn’t it beautiful, though?
It’s gorgeous! Mine not so much as yours. But GF flour doesn’t rise the same way as wheat flour. And as GF it needs to be a thinner crust. Thanks for posting the recipe!
I’m Swedish, and I’ve never heard of this cake. But, I’ll absolutely add it to my “have-to-try”-list. Sounds delicious!
Oh… We don’t have Swedish Fish (the candy) in Sweden either…! 😉
Hi Sofia! So, it’s not Swedish? I thought it really was Swedish… hmmm… I am going to Google-around and find this cake’s origin. 😀 Swedish Fish is not Swedish, either?? I’m living a LIE! hahaha 😉
LOL!
Yeah… I guess there are several kinds of food that have very different names, depending on where you live. 😉
In Sweden we have a sugar cookie called Finnish Stick. I’ve never seen those in Finland… 😉
Or what about “wiener-bread” that we call them in Sweden and Denmark…but in English they’re known as Danish Pastry. 😀
Viewer bread as in from Vienna ??
Viener darn autocorrect!! Cake looks awesome were ever its from cant wait to try it.
Hi Ursula! Yes, autocorrect never gets it right! 😀 The cake is said to be a Swedish Coffee Cake, not Austrian, but I’m sure there’s something just like it in other countries. 🙂
Yay for that Volvo commercial, this is a winner — pinning!