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–+ servings
Slice of Danish dream cake with a golden sponge base and browned coconut topping

Danish Dream Cake With Coconut

One of Denmark’s favorite traditional homemade cakes, with a soft base and a sweet coconut topping.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Danish
Servings 24 pieces

Equipment

  • 8 × 12 × 2 inches baking pan (20 × 30 × 5 cm)

Ingredients
  

For the batter

  • 200 ml milk 13½ tbsp
  • 50 g butter 3½ tbsp
  • 4 eggs
  • 300 g sugar 2½ cups
  • 1 tsp vanilla sugar 4 g
  • 250 g flour about 8.8 oz
  • 3 tsp baking powder about 13 g

For the coconut topping

  • 150 g butter 10½ tbsp (1 full US stick + 2½ tablespoons; or roughly 1⅓ sticks total)
  • 100 g unsweetened shredded coconut 1¼ cups, or about 20 level tablespoons
  • 250 g brown sugar the moister, more syrupy type (1¼ cups)
  • 50 ml milk 3⅓ tbsp

Instructions
 

Baking the cake base

  • Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) on the conventional Bake setting.
  • Put the milk and butter in a saucepan and heat until the butter has melted. Don’t let it get too hot.
    Milk and butter warming in a saucepan
  • Meanwhile, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla sugar in a bowl with a hand mixer or stand mixer until foamy.
    Beat on high speed until pale, thick, and foamy.
    Eggs and sugar beaten until pale and foamy with a hand mixer
  • In another bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder.
    Flour and baking powder mixed in a bowl
  • Alternately sift the flour mixture into the egg-and-sugar mixture and pour in the milk mixture, gently folding with a spatula.
    I add half the flour first, in two additions, then the milk and remaining flour in three additions each.
  • Pour the batter into a parchment-lined baking pan measuring about 20 × 30 cm (8 × 12 inches).
    Cake batter in a rectangular pan lined with parchment paper
  • Put it in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes.
    Every oven is different, and the pan size can vary a little too. Check whether it’s done with a skewer or fork. Don’t overbake it at all, and it’s even fine if the inside isn’t completely dry yet, since we’ll bake it again with the coconut topping. But it does need enough structure to support the next layer.
    Cake base after the first bake

The coconut topping

  • While the cake is baking, melt the coconut topping ingredients together in a saucepan, stirring occasionally: the butter, shredded coconut, milk, and brown sugar.
    Before the cake’s 20-minute baking time is up, turn the heat up a little so the topping is almost boiling. Make sure it doesn’t burn!
    Cake base after the first bake
  • Take the cake out of the oven and spread the coconut topping over it with a spoon. Turn the oven up to 440°F (225°C).
    At this point, you can prick the cake with a skewer or fork so a little of the buttery coconut topping soaks into the cake.
    Coconut topping spread over the cake base
  • Bake the cake for another 5–10 minutes at 440°F (225°C).
    Be sure to check it after 5 minutes. The top should have a nice dark color, but it shouldn’t burn. Depending on your oven, your taste, and how hot the topping was when you poured it on, the final bake with the coconut topping may take 5–10 minutes in total. At this point, the coconut topping will be bubbling in the oven.
    Danish dream cake after the final bake, with a browned coconut topping
  • Let it cool in the pan. Cut it into squares to serve.
    Slice of Danish dream cake with a golden sponge base and browned coconut topping

Notes

Danish name: Drømmekage fra Brovst. The family recipe was called Østergaardskagen.
Keyword coconut, Original, sweet
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