Chocolate cake over an open fire – kladdkaka in an oven made of two pans

A floor of stone, walls of air and a roof of embers

6 pieces
Time: 15 min at home + 30 min for the embers + about 30–45 min baking
Difficulty: Medium
11 ingredients
15 steps

Photo: Veronika Olsson, Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

It has grown dark by the lean-to and the coffee pot has boiled. Two saucepans sit one inside the other on the grill, and when the lid is lifted for the first time the smell of warm chocolate drifts over the whole fire site. Nobody gets out any plates. Everyone gets a spoon and eats straight from the small saucepan while the cake is still warm in the middle.

A chocolate cake over a fire can be two completely different things: a light chocolate sponge or a dense kladdkaka (Swedish sticky chocolate cake). This page goes for the kladdkaka, and it's baked in an oven you build from two saucepans. How the method works in general, and why sand and water give different results, is explained in baking over a fire without an oven. This page is about the kladdkaka specifically.

Sticky or fluffy: why kladdkaka

Kladdkaka has no baking powder. That's the whole point by the fire. A fluffy cake relies on air bubbles that need to set before they burst, and if you lift the lid too early or the heat wavers, it sinks. A kladdkaka has nothing that can sink. If it's a little underbaked it's stickier; if it's a little overbaked it's a moist chocolate cake. Both are a joy to eat.

If you still want a light chocolate cake, that's a sponge with cocoa, and it has its own page: sockerkaka in a cast-iron pot. The classic kladdkaka in an ordinary oven is in kladdkaka at home.

Gooey, not runny. There are two kinds of sticky. A kladdkaka with a runny middle is in practice warm batter, and it contains egg and flour that haven't been heated. Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Danish eggs are fine to eat raw, but eggs from other countries should not be eaten raw. Flour isn't heat-treated and can in rare cases contain EHEC bacteria. The risk is very small, but that's why the cake here is baked until the middle is gooey and has set, even if it still sticks to the skewer.

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The saucepan oven: floor, walls and roof

Think of the outer saucepan as a little house the cake lives in while it bakes.

The floor is the stones or sand in the bottom. The small saucepan must never stand directly on the hot base, or the cake burns from below before the middle has even got warm.
The walls are the air all round. A couple of centimetres of air on all sides lets the heat flow around the small saucepan instead of just hitting one side.
The roof is the tight lid, ideally with embers on top. Without a roof, the heat escapes upwards and the top stays shiny and wet.

If the cake doesn't work, it's almost always one of the three parts that's missing.

Three heat sources

Grill over embers

The most common set-up and the one the recipe above is based on. The outer saucepan sits on the grill a little way above an even bed of embers, and the lid can have a few embers on top. Allow about 30–45 minutes.

Cast-iron pot

The cast-iron pot holds the small saucepan or tin on three stones or three balls of scrunched-up foil. The pot holds its heat more evenly than a thin saucepan and can stand directly on the embers. Put a few embers underneath and more on the lid, about one third underneath and two thirds on top. It's often quicker, about 25–35 minutes. More about distributing the embers can be found in the pot guide linked under the equipment.

Storm cooker (spirit stove)

The double saucepan also works on a storm cooker (spirit stove) when there's a fire ban. The county administrative board's or the municipality's decision determines what applies. The pans of a storm cooker are usually thin aluminium, and a pan like that standing dry with only sand or stones in it on full flame can get so hot that it warps or burns through. There's no water in it to absorb the heat.

The right size. A 16–18-centimetre saucepan rarely fits with air all round in the storm cooker's largest pan. Use a small steel tin or mug of about 12 centimetres and bake half the batter: 50 g butter, 1 egg, 1 dl sugar, ¾ dl flour and 1½ tbsp cocoa. It will be as thick as the large cake.
No oversized saucepan. Only put on the stove the kind of pan it's built for, so it sits steadily in the windshield.
Sand rather than stones. An even layer of sand covers the whole base, instead of a few stones that only touch it at points.
Lowest flame the whole time. If it smells burnt or of hot metal, turn it off and let the saucepan cool for a while before carrying on.

It takes longer, about 40–55 minutes, and there's no heat on the lid, so the top will be paler. Never bury thin aluminium saucepans in embers.

At home and by the fire

At home: mix the sugar, flour, cocoa, vanilla sugar and salt in a sealed bag and label it. Weigh the butter into a small tub. Bring the eggs in an egg box or a sealed container. Check that the small saucepan and the stones fit in the large one with the lid on.
At the fire: light the fire first, because the embers take time. While the fire burns down, the oven heats up and the butter is melted. All the batter is mixed in the small saucepan, so there's only one bowl and a few spoons to wash up.
Chilled items: cream and quark shouldn't be left out for more than two hours in summer heat and never in the sun. Keep them in the cool box until the cake has rested.
Afterwards: let the saucepans cool before packing them. How to wash up outdoors without polluting the lake is explained in hygiene and washing up outdoors.

Safety at the saucepan

Everything in the oven gets hot. The lid, handles and stones in the bottom hold their heat for a long time. Lift with fire gloves and put the hot saucepan on a stone where nobody will step or sit.
Melt the butter carefully. Butter left in the middle of the fire can get so hot that it catches fire. If it catches fire in the saucepan, put the lid on and never pour water on burning fat.
Don't taste the batter. Flour isn't heat-treated and can in rare cases contain EHEC bacteria, which can cause serious stomach illness. The risk is very small and the bacteria die when the cake is baked, but don't lick the spoon – and that goes for children especially. Give them a piece of chocolate while they wait instead.
Eggs from other countries must be baked through properly and not eaten raw. More about eggs by the fire can be found in boiled eggs over a fire.

If someone gets burnt, cool it straight away with cool water for about fifteen minutes, no longer, and never with ice or snow. Don't pop blisters. If a child aged one or younger has been burnt, contact a healthcare provider straight away. How to create a safe zone around the fire is explained in fire safety in nature.

Kladdkaka with children

Kladdkaka suits children because almost all the work happens before the saucepan gets near the fire. The ages are guidelines – go by your child's experience.

The youngest can measure out the dry ingredients at home, shake the bag and stir the batter with a big spoon while the small saucepan stands on a stone.
Slightly older children, often from six or seven, can crack the eggs, beat them and look for stones for the oven floor. Let them choose round, dry stones from the ground, not from the shore or a stream.
Older children used to fires can keep an eye on the clock, turn the saucepan with gloves on and do the skewer test once an adult has lifted the lid.

It's an adult who lifts lids and saucepans. Have the children stay a big step back from the grill when the lid is lifted, because the steam from the cake is hot. More ways to give the children their own roles can be found in cooking with children over a fire.

Tips for kladdkaka in a saucepan

Heat the oven first. If the batter goes into a cold outer saucepan, it takes a long time before anything happens, and the edge dries out.
Stones rather than foil. Stones and sand hold the heat and even it out. Foil balls work, but the floor is thinner.
The right thickness. The batter should be about two centimetres deep. A thicker cake dries out at the edge before the middle has set.
Dark chocolate instead of cocoa. Swap the cocoa for 50 g chopped dark chocolate melted with the butter. The cake gets even stickier and needs a few more minutes.
Coffee with it. Kladdkaka and kokkaffe (boiled coffee) are happy to share the same fire. Make the coffee while the cake rests.

Common mistakes

Burnt bottom, raw top: the floor is missing or too thin, or the saucepan is too close to the embers. Put more stones underneath and raise the grill.
The top is shiny and wet after 40 minutes: the roof is leaking heat. Put more embers on the lid or switch to a tighter lid.
One side is burnt: the saucepan hasn't been turned. Turn it a quarter turn every ten minutes.
The eggs went stringy: the butter was too hot. Let it cool for a minute before stirring in the eggs.
The cake runs when it's cut: it was eaten too early. Let it rest for 10–15 minutes so the middle sets.
Dry and crumbly: it was left in too long. Take it out while the middle is still gooey, and serve with cream.

Kladdkaka variations

With berries: press a handful of raspberries into the batter before it's baked. Livsmedelsverket (the Swedish Food Agency) advises against cooking acidic foods such as berries in aluminium pans without a protective coating, so bake the berry cake in a stainless steel or enamel saucepan or tin.
With orange: grate the zest of a washed orange into the batter.
With saffron: there's a Christmassy version in saffron kladdkaka.
With nuts: scatter chopped hazelnuts or almonds over the top before the lid goes on.
Gluten-free: swap the plain flour for the same amount of almond flour or a gluten-free flour blend.
Dip in chocolate instead: when there isn't time for a cake, chocolate fondue over an open fire is ready in ten minutes.

Allergens

The kladdkaka contains gluten from the wheat flour, egg, and milk protein from the butter and cream. The nut variation contains nuts or almonds. Dark chocolate may contain traces of nuts and milk, so read the ingredients list.

Frequently asked questions

How do you bake kladdkaka without an oven?

Build an oven from two saucepans. Put stones or dry sand in the bottom of a large saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, stand a smaller saucepan with the batter on top and put the whole thing on a grill over embers. Allow about 30–45 minutes. A cast-iron pot with embers on the lid works the same way.

How do you know when the kladdkaka is done over a fire?

The edge should be firm, the top matt and the middle gooey. A stick pushed in near the edge should come out almost clean, and in the middle sticky crumbs should cling to it but no glossy batter. Then let the cake rest for 10–15 minutes.

Is it dangerous to eat kladdkaka with a runny middle?

A runny middle means the egg and flour haven't been heated. Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Danish eggs are fine to eat raw, but eggs from other countries should not be eaten raw. Flour isn't heat-treated and can in rare cases contain EHEC bacteria. The risk is very small, but bake the cake until the middle is gooey and has set, especially when children will be eating it.

Can you bake kladdkaka on a storm cooker?

Yes, with a double saucepan, half the batter in a small steel tin and as low a flame as possible. It takes about 40–55 minutes. Never leave a thin aluminium saucepan on full flame with only sand or stones in it – it can warp or burn through.

Should there be water or sand between the saucepans?

Sand or stones for kladdkaka. Water gives steam baking, and then the top turns pale and soft and the cake is more like a pudding.