Tuesday, April 13, 2010

TWD: Lemon-Vanilla Swedish Visiting Mini-Cakes





Having no oven proof skillet, I baked the recipe in 12 very well greased 3-inch mini tart tins. There's something so charming about their understated elegance accented by a smattering of slivered almonds on top. I kept saying over and over, "they are so cute!" and was totally impressed that they came out looking just like the book photo.

Just as Dorie promises, this recipe couldn't be quicker: 1-bowl and no electric mixer required! I had these sitting on the counter ready to be baked before the oven had even finished preheating. I swapped lemon extract for the almond extract to enhance the lemon zest already in the recipe. They had a pleasant, light flavor to them making them a great accompaniment to a hot cup of tea.



This recipe was chosen by Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs from p. 197 of Baking: From My Home to Yours

36 comments:

alvarosa said...

Your edges really browned perfectly!
(Mine didn't - got too dark. Don't know what I'm doin wrong because that happens often... But the taste was still per-fect!)

chocolatechic said...

Brilliant idea to make mini's.

Unknown said...

Tia, they look super yummy !!!

Anonymous said...

Those look beautiful! I loved this recipe too. The mini cakes are so cute.

Cindy said...

I love your idea, these are the perfect size for tucking in a child's lunch or an anytime snack.
I am baking a batch of 'minis'!

Jencrafted said...

This is one of the cutest Swedish Visiting cakes I 've seen! Wonderful!
My day has just started; I can't wait to bake these!!

Valerie Gamine said...

What a cute idea! They look like the sort of pasteries one would find in a bakery. :)

Nancy/n.o.e said...

Your lemony minis look adorable and I'll bet they tasted amazing! Love this idea (might have to "borrow" it) Thanks for baking along with me this week.

Tia said...

cindy - that's exactly what i did - my toddler loved these and asked for one in his lunchbox

valerie - aww what a great compliment!

jencrafted - you are too nice.

bexbakes & chocolatechic - i can't wait to see what yours look like too :)

priya - you've gotta try this recipe. it's awesome.

alvarosa - Sometimes I find that I have to lower my oven temp a bit (I use an oven thermometer to double check temperatures)

Flourchild said...

I agree this cake is perfect with tea! Your minis look so good!

CB said...

I made mini tarts too! GMTA! Yours are a little more mini than mine though. Mine were 4" tarts. Yours turned out adorable. Great job!
-CB
http://iheartfood4thought.com

Pamela said...

Oh, man! I just love minis! And you're right...this was a good cake for tea. So yummy!

steph- whisk/spoon said...

i love these minis! i'd like to steal one and put it in my bag for jury duty today! :)

Hindy said...

Your minis are perfect! What a great idea.

Jeannette said...

Minis!! whyyy didn't I think of that? I really need to invest in mini pans!

Your minis looks good enough to eat ;)

The Mortensens said...

I love your minis. They look great!

Marthe said...

Ohhhh, mini cakes!! I love them: absolute perfection!

Joanne said...

I think these tart tins are just perfect! These would make the perfect teatime snack.

Anonymous said...

I think the mini-muffin tins totally suit this recipe. Those are adorable.

Snooky doodle said...

wow these look cute and yummy :)

April said...

Cute babycakes! Those would be dangerous around me, I wouldn't realize I was eating so much cake.

Susan said...

Love the mini cakes! They are beautiful! This was so good. :)

Jules Someone said...

So darn cute! I always forget that I have pans like these. Yum!

Jessica said...

Oh, your little mini tart/cakes are so perfectly adorable. What a wonderful idea! You made a homey treat look downright elegant!

Piggy said...

Your mini cakes look so cute!

Amanda said...

Love the minis, what a perfect idea!

mike said...

I'll chime in with the rest - those DO look wonderful as fluted mini's! What a perfect idea - my 6" round was nice, but mini's are bite-sized - I'll have to try that. Perfectly risen too!

Anonymous said...

I love the tiny cakes! And they do look just like the one in the book.

natalia said...

Ciao Tia ! How lovely your minis are !

margot said...

I'll say it again, they are so cute! I love how adaptable this recipe is, that you can bake it in anything and change around the extracts.

Liz said...

These ARE perfect tea cakes! So cute, and I can imagine them being a wonderful midafternoon snack.

Rachel said...

They are cute! Love the tart pans. :)

Nickki said...

What a brilliant idea! Your little cakes are so cute. Amazing!

Anonymous said...

You're soo right - they are soo CUTE! I love the minis! They look like a bunch of flowers in your first photo - a nice spring dessert! =)

Jaime said...

wow what cute little cakes!!! nancy actually pointed out the adapated recipe, otherwise i wouldn't have known about it :)

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

These look better in minis but the large size was really good to eat. I have to try these in the smaller size for appeal.