Editorial: Kockums JernverkPublished: 2026-11-06

Mjuk pepparkaka – Swedish soft gingerbread cake

Name: Mjuk pepparkaka – Swedish soft gingerbread cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h 35 min
Cuisine: Swedish
Ingredients: Butter and dried breadcrumbs for the tin; 100 g butter; 2 eggs; 180 g caster sugar; 180 g plain flour; 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda; 2 tsp ground ginger; 2 tsp ground cinnamon; 1 tsp ground cloves; 1 tsp ground cardamom; Pinch of salt; 150 ml buttermilk or soured cream; Icing sugar, to serve

Makes 12 slices · 1 hour 35 minutes · Loaf tin

A moist spiced loaf cake with ginger, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom that belongs to December. In the deep enamelled steel loaf tin it bakes evenly with a thin, soft crust.

Mjuk pepparkaka is a Swedish spiced cake flavoured like gingerbread biscuits but baked as a moist loaf cake with buttermilk. Whisk the eggs and sugar until really thick and pale, fold in the rest gently and bake at 175 °C until a skewer comes out clean.

Soft gingerbread loaf cake dusted with icing sugar in a deep black enamelled steel loaf tin, with two thick slices on a wooden board

Ingredients

Makes 12 slices

Butter and dried breadcrumbs for the tin
100 g butter
2 eggs
180 g caster sugar
180 g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cardamom
Pinch of salt
150 ml buttermilk or soured cream
Icing sugar, to serve

Method

Heat the oven to 175 °C. Butter the loaf tin thoroughly and dust it with breadcrumbs. Melt the butter and let it cool slightly.
Whisk the eggs and sugar with an electric whisk for 3–4 minutes until pale and thick.
Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, spices and salt in a bowl.
Fold in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk and the melted butter. Stir only until the batter is smooth.
Pour into the tin and bake on the lowest shelf for 45–55 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cover with baking paper if the top darkens too quickly.
Leave the cake in the tin for 10 minutes, turn out onto a rack and cool for at least another 20 minutes. Dust with icing sugar and serve plain, buttered or with lingonberry cream.

Why it works

The deep loaf tin gives the cake a tall, even shape, and the black enamel conducts the heat so the sides and base form a thin crust while the middle stays moist. Butter and breadcrumbs make sure it turns out cleanly.