Brita cake is a traditional Finnish, stylish, and delicious dessert that is perfect for spring and summer celebrations. The cake features a crispy meringue topping on a sponge cake base, filled with fresh strawberries and a refreshing lemon cream filling.
Why I love this recipe
- Perfect to use any kind of berries in the cake
- Simple to make. Meringue and sponge cake base can be made ahead of time and filled later on before serving
- A Crowd pleaser who everyone likes
- Lemon curd gives a nice lemony taste
- You can bake this in a sheet pan or round cake pans.
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Background and History
Brita cake and its variations is a very popular cake to make in Finland. Usually, we make this summertime when fresh berries are ripe, but this cake is very versatile with different fillings, so it can be made all year round.
Actually, the cake gets its inspiration from Norway. Norwegians bake kvæfjordkake that resembles Brita cake but does not have any fresh berries added and has a vanilla custard filling. Brita cake is also loved in Sweden where it is called Pinocchio cake, manor cake (herrgårdstårta), and summer cake (sommartårta). It became loved by the Finnish people thru a baking contest organized by Kodin Kuvalehti year 1983.
Ingredients for base
- Butter. Can be replaced with margarine
- Eggs
- All-purpose flour
- Sugar
- Milk. Can be replaced with plant-based milk
- Baking powder
- Lemon zest, can be replaced with lemon extract
See recipe card for quantities.
Ingredients for filling and decorating
- Heavy cream
- Lemon curd
- Vanilla extract
- Fresh strawberries
- Fresh blueberries
Small snack lemons can also be used as decoration.
Instructions
- Whip the egg whites into a sturdy foam, and add in the sugar gradually while continuing to whip.
- Cream together the room-temperature butter and sugar until it is light in color and fluffy using a hand-held mixer or a stand mixer. Add in the egg yolks and grated lemon zest. Mix the flour and baking powder together and add in the mix. Beat gently until combined.
- Spread the batter evenly out onto your sheet pan, or divide evenly between two smaller cake pans. Spread the meringue evenly on top using a spatula or knife. Bake at 350 F, 1(75 C) for 20-25 minutes in the lower part of the oven. Let the base cool down.
- Whip your heavy cream until it is fluffy and relatively stiff. Add in the lemon curd and vanilla extract and whip to mix.
- Cut the base in half. Spread all or half of the filling over the bottom layer. (depending on how you like to decorate). Top with sliced strawberries, so that the filling is completely covered.
- Lay the second layer on top. Decorate with cream and berries. You can pipe your cream into patterns, leave the top without cream or spread some with a knife. Use strawberries and blueberries to decorate. Edible flours are also a nice addition. Even small lemon slices can be used, or leaves of herbs, like mint.
Variations
You can make many different variations on flavors. Here are some tips:
- Mango Brita. Add fresh sliced mango as filling. Flavor your whipped cream with mango puree.
- Rhubarb Brita. Add some rhubarb jam as filling. Decorate the meringue with sliced almonds.
- Apple Brita. fill with apple compote flavored with cinnamon. Use caramel sauce in decoration.
- Black currant Brita. Use black currant compote in filling. Decorate with fresh black currants.
- Lime curd Brita. Replace the lemon curd with lime curd. Decorate with lime slices and strawberries.
Even canned peaches, pears or mangoes are a perfect filling.
Equipment
- A sheet pan. finnish sheet pan is the size 35x30 cm (13x11 inches). A US ¼ size sheet pan is ok to use or use 2 smaller ones 6x9 inches. You can also use two round cake pans.
Storing
The cake stores 2 days in the fridge. It is best served fresh since the cream makes the meringue soggy when stored.
Top tip
You can put your cream in a piping bag or just spread it on top of the cake with a knife. you get more sticky meringue taste if you leave the top without cream.
Brita cake
Equipment
- 1 sheet pan 35x30 cm (13x11 inches) A ¼ size sheet pan is ok to use or use 2 smaller ones 6x9 inches
Ingredients
For base
- 1⅓ sticks butter, 150 grams
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- ½ cup milk
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 zest of fresh lemon
For meringue
- ¾ cup sugar
- 4 egg whites
Filling and decorations
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup lemon curd
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pound fresh strawberries (450-500g)
- ½ cup blueberries
Instructions
- Whip the egg whites into a sturdy foam, add in the sugar gradually while continuing to whip.
- Cream together the room-temperature butter and sugar until it is light in color and fluffy using a hand-held mixer or a stand mixer.
- Add in the egg yolks and grated lemon zest. Mix the flour and baking powder together and add in the batter. Beat gently until combined.
- Spread the mixture evenly out onto your sheet pan, or divide evenly between two smaller cake pans. Spread the meringue evenly on top using a spatula or knife.
- Bake at 350 F, 1(75 C) for 20-25 minutes in the lower part of the oven. Let the base cool down and cut it in half.
- Whip your heavy cream until it is fluffy and relatively stiff. Add in the lemon curd and vanilla extract and whip to mix.
- Place one layer onto a serving plate of the appropriate size and shape. Spread all or half of the filling over the bottom layer. (depending on how you like to decorate) Top with sliced strawberries, so that the filling is completely covered. Lay the second layer on top. Decorate with cream and berries.
- Serve immediately after decorating
Arthur Maynard
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