Scandinavian-Style Spice Cake

A little baking diplomacy and self care for trying times.

I went to the therapist earlier this week, as one does. Anxiety is my constant companion, and the past few weeks of news have exacerbated it, as it does. My therapist is a nurse-turned-therapist, which perhaps accounts for the attention she gives to my personal health along with my mental well-being — more so than other therapists I’ve had. Her advice to me seems obvious when I write it down, but sometimes the simplest things are what I need to be reminded of.

After listening to me talk about ICE/children left wandering the streets after their parents were arrested by ICE/Trump and NATO/Greenland/Iceland/Norway/peace prizes/etc., my kind-eyed therapist suggested the only way I could have the energy to be aware and help is to take some time for a little self care. With so many people suffering indignities and fearful of venturing from their homes, and as our leaders verbally blow up years of calculated, crafted diplomacy, it feels selfish to need self care.

Nevertheless, I tried, and I took myself to my church: the public library. I hadn’t been in over a year, and I breathed deeply as I walked in — the sweet, familiar smell of quietly aging books wrapped around me. The Summit Public Library in New Jersey was a near-weekly destination for my mother and me when I was little. I was left to wander and create my own pile of books in the children’s area while my mother climbed the stairs to the adult fiction section to make her selection. We would then go home and sit at the kitchen table, reading our new treasures while we ate Ritz crackers and slices of Cracker Barrel cheese, and, yea, thinking about it makes me cry.

(Also, so-called House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, is on TV now as I write this, berating former special counsel Jack Smith in his opening statement, which makes me want to cry in a different way.)

My mother may never have come with me to my current public library in another part of New Jersey, but it always feels like she is there with me, encouraging me to get more books, to linger and make sure I try one book I wouldn’t normally pick. And also to visit the books that were once popular and now just sit on the shelves waiting for someone to find out how good they are.

Next to me as I write this is the stack of books I collected on this recent visit. My self care involves dipping into a book for 10 to 15 minutes at a time during the day, when otherwise I might be doomscrolling myself deeper into anxiety. I am also eating cake. I encourage you to join me in some self care with books and cake.

The recipe below is for a Scandinavian-style spice cake. After President Donald Trump’s petulant letter to Norway and repulsive and ignorant spewings about NATO, I thought a little baking diplomacy was necessary. This cake is cozy, rich with spice and elegant with the addition of a cream cheese frosting. You can, of course, just dust the top with confectioner’s sugar when you’re ready to serve, but cream cheese frosting will remind you of the snowy peaks of Scandinavia. Also, the cream cheese frosting is absolutely lush with the spice cake. And, it’s been a week.

Baking Notes:

• Feel free to tinker with the spices to suit your palate.

• Watch the bake time carefully to avoid a dry cake, especially if your baking pan is dark in color.

I heard a licking sound behind me.

Scandinavian Spice Cake

Makes 1 9” (23 cm) cake, about 12 servings.

What You’ll Need:

For the cake:

2 ½ cups (300 grams) all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

16 tablespoons (225 grams) butter, room temperature

1 cup (213 grams) dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

3 large eggs, room temperature

½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk

For the frosting:

4 tablespoons (56 grams) butter, room temperature

8 ounces (227 grams) cream cheese, room temperature

½ cup (60 grams) confectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste

(optional: 1 teaspoon grated orange zest)

What You’ll Do:

• Heat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Grease a 9” springform pan.

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and all the spices.

• With a hand or stand mixer (or a wooden spoon and buff forearms), cream the butter, sugar, honey, and orange zest together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl at least twice to ensure everything mixes evenly.

• Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, and, yes, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

• Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. After the last addition of flour, scrape down the sides of the bowl (I bet you knew I would say that), and beat the mixture on medium-high for 30 seconds to ensure a creamy batter.

• Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top and bake for 35 to 45 minutes. The center should be just set and no longer jiggly. An instant-read thermometer inserted in the middle should read 200°F/93°C. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove the outer ring of the springform to let it cool completely. While the cake is cooling, make the frosting.

• With a hand or stand mixer (I prefer a hand mixer here), beat the butter and cream cheese together until you cannot tell one from the other and the mixture is fluffy. Add the confectioner’s sugar and vanilla and beat first on medium to incorporate, then raise the speed to high and beat until light and fluffy. Swirl the frosting across the top. Share cake!

Covered now.

There are ways you can get involved in fighting ICE, among them: The Iglesia del Habla Hoy in Minneapolis has been making deliveries of food for people who are in hiding from ICE. Over the past six weeks, they’ve delivered over 12,000 parcels of groceries. The need and numbers are staggering, but we have to, as Mr. Rogers taught us, look for the helpers. You can read and/or listen to the story here.

LMK if you know of other examples of good things happening to help others. Here is one place where you can learn how to help, and/or get info on rights. I also recommend calling your representatives and senators and asking them if the ICE detention centers in their districts are being run humanely. In Kansas City last week, the local council voted to keep ICE and Homeland Security from building a detention center there, and in Georgia, a small, conservative community is also trying to stop a 10,000-bed facility.

Marissa Rothkopf Bates writes about food for the New York Times, Newsweek (RIP) and Publishers’ Weekly among others. Her newest book, “The Secret Life of Chocolate Chip Cookies,” is available wherever fine books are sold. Find her on Substack here.

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