Yummy Mocca Cakes.

These were my favorite treats as a child: I remember we made (and ate) them often and they were the staple at every kids' party and get-together. The cake bites were easy enough for children to make on their own, we always had the basic ingredients at home and the colorful sprinkles appealed to every kid on the block. And most importantly they were delicious, almost too sweet had there not been the coffee flavor to tone the taste of sugar, moist and very addictive. We called them mokkaruudut which could be translated as mocca squares but I've heard they are called kärleksmums or love treats (or more literally "love nom") in Sweden, and I'd much rather use that name.

Now days it's very seldom that anybody makes the mocca cakes anymore, and if someone has baked them the usual reaction from everybody I know is an enthusiastically nostalgic one. I still love them but somehow they have fallen off my usual cooking grid and it must be years since the last time I made them. I blame the pregnancy cravings but a few days ago I got an unexplainable need to bake them and since we had all the ingredients I immediately baked a whole tray. They are still just as yummy and addictively scrumptious as I remembered. Yesterday at work I had serious difficulties concentrating on the tasks at hand because all I could think about was the tray full of mocca cakes at home. I cursed myself for not bringing any with me to the office so I could have had a snack in the afternoon and the first thing I did when I got home was to cut a nice big piece for myself. I'm enjoying them even at this very moment and crumbling them all over my keyboard :) Luna is doing her fair share cleaning up my mess, she seems to love the cakes as well.

Without any further ado let me give you the recipe. (Just a small disclaimer: I'm not to be held responsible for any addiction this recipe may cause.)

MOCCA CAKES

2 eggs

3 dl sugar 

4.5 dl all-purpose flour*

4 Tbsp. dark cocoa powder, sieved (I use Van Houten)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla sugar
1.5 dl cream (or milk)
200 g butter, melted

Frosting:
4 Tbsp. dark cocoa powder, sieved
7 dl confectioners' sugar
2 tsp vanilla sugar
1.5 dl brewed coffee, cooled down (as dark as you can make)
2 Tbsp. butter, melted

sprinkles, nonpareils or shredded coconut

* To make a gluten free version I used 2 dl corn meal, 2 dl rice flour and 0.5 dl corn starch.

Preheat your oven to 175 degrees C and line a baking tray with parchment paper. My tray is 25 x 35 cm.

Whisk together the eggs and the sugar until light and fluffy. Mix the dry ingredients, add them to the mixture and beat until they are well-combined. Add the butter and cream, give a final whisk and pour the mixture into your baking tray. Bake for about 15 minutes or until well-done.

Let the cake cool down completely before adding the frosting. Otherwise it will just melt over everything.

Mix together all the ingredients for the frosting and spread evenly over the cake. Add the sprinkles or shredded coconut (I made half the cake with sprinkles because I prefer them, and the other half with coconut which is Magnus's favorite.) Try to resist the temptation to lick too much of the frosting. Put the cake in the fridge until the frosting has set (this takes half an hour minimum, sorry you just have to wait that much longer!) and then cut it into pieces for serving.

Store in the fridge (I've read they keep about a week - if you can make them last that long, we never have...)