The recipe for Drømmekage is one of the most traditional and famous Danish cakes. Translated, Drømmekage simply means Dream cake probably because some people think it taste like a dream :-)
Read also: Recipe for traditional Danish Butter Cake (Dagmar tart)
The history for this cake originates from the small Danish town Hjallerup, Jutland which is located in the western part of Denmark. Back in 1960, a woman named Jytte Andersen participated in a cake baking contest held by a large food company in Denmark. In the contest she made the Drømmekage which turned out to be so good that it won. This was the beginning of a cake which later became probably the most famous cake in Denmark.
Also see: How to make a Danish Hotdog
We both remember having made, and eaten, countless amounts of this cake when we were kids. The cake is a simple cake based on flour, sugar, butter, eggs and milk. However, it's the coconut topping that gives the cake its characteristic taste. If you like the topping you can easily make a double portion of it and give the cake a thicker layer. We both love this cake and we have never heard of anybody who don't like it.
Ingredients
Cake
- 250 g all-purpose flour
- 250 g sugar
- 50 g butter
- 3 eggs
- 2 dl milk
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar (or vanilla essence)
Topping
- 125 g butter
- 1/2 dl milk
- 200 g brown sugar
- 100 g coconut flakes (unsweetened)
Instructions
- Whisk eggs and sugar until light and fluffy in a bowl.
- Melt the butter using a saucepan or microwave oven. Add the milk to the saucepan and stir. Add it to the bowl with eggs and sugar.
- In a separate bowl; mix together all-purpose flour, vanilla sugar (essence) and baking powder. Add to the other bowl, and mix it all together into a smooth batter.
- Line a baking pan (about 25x35 cm - 10x14 inch) with baking paper and pour the batter in it.
- Bake the cake at 200 C (400 F) for about 20-25 minutes. When the cake is in the oven, prepare the coconut topping.
- Coconut topping; melt the butter in a saucepan.
- Add the milk and the brown sugar and let it simmer for about a minute.
- Add the coconut flakes and mix it well.
- When the cake has been in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. Take it out and pour the coconut mixture over the it. Use a knife to spread the topping evenly.
- Bake the cake for another 10 minutes and it should be done. Let it cool off before serving it.
emm says
I first had this cake with my Danish exchange friend, loved it so much I knew I had to bake it. Thanks for posting this, I baked it today for my family and they LOVED it! Thanks a bunch from Canada.
Kim Nielsen says
Hi. We are happy that you liked it :-) Cheers from Denmark
Theo Alexander Jakobsen says
I am a true Danish born and lived in kobehaven right om Theo midde og kobehaven. Jeg elsker din drømme kae
Kim Nielsen says
Drømmekage is also one of my favorite cakes :-) Regards Kim (NordciFoodLiving.com)
Amy says
Can you you use fake sugar instead of sugar?
Laura M Chapman says
Cake...I'm curious about the measurement.. 4/5 .. of milk, is that 4 to 5 cups of milk?? Topping...same as the other part.. 1/5 cup of milk ??? 1 to 5 cups ??? Please explain this to me ..
laura chapman says
is that 4 cup and a 1/4 cup ??? and the other is that 1 cup and a 1/4 cup
Kim Nielsen says
Sorry about the confusion regarding the measurements. If you go to the recipe there is a button called "US Customary" if you click that one it will convert into US unit. For the topping you would need 4.5 oz (4 oz + 1/2 oz) of butter, 1/5 cup of milk (one cup divided by five). I hope it makes sense? Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
pam says
I am about to make this cake :) we don't actually have 1/5 measuring cups so that's why Americans are confused. 1/5 cup = 1.6 oz; 4/5 c therefore is 6.4 oz or 189 milliliters... slightly less than the metric recipe of 200 ML or 2DL.
For myself, I will pour 6.5 ounces and call it a day!
Kristian Dalsjø says
1/5 is 1 fifth cup
Liz says
I don’t like the taste of coconut. Is there any substitute?
Nikolas M says
I'm pretty sure this is the cake my mother used to make for my birthday every year. Still probably my favorite cake. She did use a chopped nut topping of almonds, hazelnuts, and maybe walnuts in place of coconut. Seems like that is something that you can play with to suit your mood.
Louise Dam says
Hi Nikolas,
Oh, it sounds divine with the nut topping - I really must try that some time.
Rheanna says
Just made this cake and it came out perfectly.... so tasty and delicious!
Kim Nielsen says
You are welcome - I am happy that you liek the recipe for Danish Dream Cake :-)
Liz says
That sounds great.
Amy says
The directions omit when to add the whisked egg and sugar mixture. Regardless, my daughter was successful at figuring it out and the cake was delicious! (side note, we made this Dream cake in celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr., birthday. "I have a dream..." speech very moving!).A
Louise Dam says
Hi Amy
Actually it did say, but I have now changed a little in the directions.
Jennie says
Do you use sweetened or unsweetened coconut? Thanks!
Louise Dam says
Unsweetened :-)
Holly says
Just wondering - my cake went down on the sides, pooling the topping more to the edges. Do you have any advise on how to prevent this?
Louise Dam says
Well it does that a bit, but there should still be topping on the top?
Mikkel M says
I've had luck taking out the yellow cake after it has firmed up, around 15-18 minutes or so, and pressing it level with a spatula. It makes the cake slightly more dense and springy, which I personally think is even better, and lets the topping stay mostly level instead of pooling at the sides.
Uma says
Happy to have found this recipe! Always a win! Crowd pleaser for sure! Many thanks!
Rosemary Bluhm says
What is vanilla sugar ??
Kim Nielsen says
Vanilla sugar might me a European thing - I did not know. However, it is similar to vanilla essence. Vanilla sugar is just vanilla seeds mixed with a little normal sugar. I have a small guide how to make your own vanilla sugar. Please see this link: https://nordicfoodliving.com/homemade-vanilla-cream/
Mikkel M says
You can find Dr. Oetker vanilla sugar at World Market if you have one nearby!
Phillip says
At a recent meeting of the Portland, OR, Danish Lodges there were 3 x 5" recipe cards for the taking. I chose Tusik Kage. Do you know anything about this cake and what the name means? Hilsen,
Phillip says
In the 1950s my Mother, now 96, was making this cake in Portland, OR, USA. It is nice to know that the popularity of this cake has gone to other countries as well.
Louise Dam says
Oh, that sounds interesting. I was sure the cake originated from Denmark and the city Brovst.
J Nielsen says
It is named "Drømmekage fra Brovst" (Dream cake from Brovst), so where does Hjallerup comes into the picture???
It is a recipie which goes all the way back to Danish Colonial times in the 1600 century.
Kim Nielsen says
I understand the confusion. I haven't been good enough explaining this part. They cake was originally made by a lady called Jytte Andersen and for a moment named after her grandmother from Hjallerup. The cake became popular after it won a competition in Brovst where it also got the name Drømmekage (Dream cake)
I hope this answers your question. And again, sorry that I haven't explain myself good enough.
Kaye Bradford says
I spent today going through some old papers and came across a recipe for ‘danish cake’ that my grandmother included in a letter to my mother sometime in the early 1970s. Both ladies were prolific and accomplished bakers but I couldn’t place this particular cake in either’s repertoire. That brought me to your website which I look forward to exploring more.. I can’t wait to try the recipe and simply wanted to share the P.S. that made me smile: This doesn’t have too many calories in it.
Louise says
Hi Philip,
I'm not familiar with a 'Tusik Cake'. Do you have a Picture of it you can e-mail me
Rubén says
Thanks a lot for the recipe.. I tried the TIGER premix and went a little bit dissapointed. I will try this one
Kim Nielsen says
Hi Robén. You are welcome I hope you have better success with this recipe :-)
Susanne says
This cake tastes great using finely chopped almonds in place of the coconut as well. I made this cake as a kid.....I'm Danish and am now living in America. Thought the cake was called Tosca taerte.
Kim Nielsen says
Hi Susanne. I happy that you like the recipe - this is absolutely one of my favorite Danish cakes :-)
Jackie Hart says
Susanne, when made with almonds it is called Tosca kaka in Sweden.
Allison says
Hi! This looks great and I can't wait to try it! Question - when you add the coconut, do you keep the saucepan on the stove with the heat on or do you remove it from the heat while waiting for the cake to finish baking? Thank you!
Kim Nielsen says
Hi Allison. Thanks :) I normally make it just before I'm going to pour it on the cake. However, I would just take off the heat if it is done before you need it for the cake. I hope that answered your question. Regards Kim
Allison says
Hi Kim! Thank you, yes this answers my question! Allison
A'ndrea Rogers says
So happy to have found this recipe. I'm searching for Danish recipes. My great grandparents came to america from Denmark. Just wanting to have a little taste of Denmark in my home.
Drew Dencker says
Hi there I made this last night and it turned out amazing :) thanks for sharing the recipe. One question. Would it be ok to not use the baking paper and instead lightly grease the bottom of the baking dish? It was a bit difficult for me to get an even distribution of the batter in the pan because my baking paper was being stubborn. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Kim Nielsen says
Hi. Yes you can just use a greased baking pan. I actually do that from time to time. Regards Kim
ann says
The first time I tasted this cake is when I lived in Denmark a few years back and since then it became my favorite. I definitely try this recipe.
Maria says
I tasted this cake at a bakery on my third visit to DK. I love it! I made the cake yesterday!
Golden Pravina says
Can we used cream instead of milk for the topping
Kim Nielsen says
HI. That's a good question. I actually think you can use cream. However, I would always recommend milk.
Renee Dooling says
I have used evaporated milk for the topping and it turned out wonderful.
Hollie says
The cup/tbsp conversions seem off when I looked at up. Can anyone help please?
Kim Nielsen says
Hi. I've chekced the conversions and I can't find the mistake. Which conversion do you think is wrong? I would be happy to update my mistakes.
Per Asmussen says
Great to see a recipe for the tradional Danish cake in English :-)
Really, really great pictures btw.
Keep up the good work.
Kim Nielsen says
Thanks for your comment. I'm happy that you like the recipe. It's absolutely one of the most traditional Danish cakes that you can make :-)
Roisin Ratican says
Hi :)
I’ve just used a light brown sugar instead of dark brown sugar will is still be ok? I just noticed the colour of the sugar in the pics!
Kim Nielsen says
Hi Roisin. That should not be a problem. Then you just have a light colored topping :-)
Joost W. Kers says
For the second time I baked denne kage.
Again a lovely taste.
Brenda (Sorensen) Hernandez says
Wow. My dad was half Danish and my mom German. She baked a cake just like this a lot when I was a kid and we all loved it. I never knew it was a recipe from my dad's side of the family.
Chris says
Hello. We are having a tray bake competition. Do you think this can be categorised as a tray bake?
Kim Nielsen says
Hi. Yes I would say this is a tray cake :-) This is was I call it in Danish.
Mae says
Can you use vanilla extract instead of vanilla sugar?
Kim Nielsen says
Yes you can do that.
Restauranter Fredericia says
Tak for en herlig opskrift!
Sahar says
It's sahar form Iran. I felt in love with this super awesome cake yesterday when i tried it for the first time in the canteen. As its name, "dream cake", it tastes so dreamy :)
Kim Nielsen says
Hi Sahar. Thanks for your comment. I'm glad that you like the recipe and the cake. :-)
Pook says
Greeting from Thailand. I just wanted to say "thank you" to you for posting the recipe. I was in Denmark for a month this year and I fell in love with pretty much everything there. I made this cake today :) https://drive.google.com/open?id=1I4e2X8CClE2TOAXOpKWNZgo7rsCXv0py
Kim Nielsen says
You are very welcome. I'm just happy that you like Denmark and the recipe. I looked at your picture - it looks fantastic :-) I was in Thailand last year and I fell in love with the Thai kitchen - it's fantastic.
Pook says
Thank you :) What's your favorite Thai food?
Kim Nielsen says
My favorite dish is something I call Chaing Mai Curry Noodles. You can see the recipe on my Danish Food Blog site: https://madrejsen.dk/chiang-mai-curry-noodles-kao-soi/
Pook says
That looks good. It's interesting that you made it before you visited Thailand for the first time, right? Did you have a chance to eat that here too? Was it different than the one served there? I love that they usually put deep-fried egg noodle on top of it. It adds some texture to the dish :)
Kim Nielsen says
Yes I actually made it before I came to Thailand. I was one of the reason I picked Thailand. One of my personal favorite parts of the trip was all the delicious fruit that you can get. It is just soo much better compared to the fruits that you can buy in Denmark.
I've never tried deep-fried noodles. I'll add that to my list :-)
Pook says
That's quite a passion. I think we usually like what we don't have. I love berries. I ate a lot of strawberries when I was in Denmark. They're so expensive here.
http://www.foodtravel.tv/datastore/recfood/4576/Picture14576_normal.jpg Fried noodles are on the left side. I like the crunchiness. It's like crispy fried onions on smørrebrød :)
Tarun says
Hi kim,
Your recipe looks delectable ...i have a question, if i want to make it without egg, what change do i have to make in the recipe.
Kim Nielsen says
I'm not sure if this recipe can be made without eggs. I'm not aware of any good substitutes for regular eggs. If you find a good substitute then I would like to hear from you.
Maria Axelrad says
Hi! Salted or unsalted butted? I have both, but I am planning on making it today, so I wanted to make sure. Thanks in advance, from Houston, Texas!
Kim Nielsen says
Hi - I always use salted butter (it's most common in Denmark). However, it doesn't matter in this recipe. You can use both. Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Chris says
Great recipe - That's for sharing, it came out perfect!
Tobias Walbom says
elsker droemmekage som de fleste andre , dog efter at vaere blevet introduceret til bannoffee pie her i london ,har jeg siden kun brugt condensed milk istedet for soedmaelk..saa faar man en mere ensformig bloed karamel istedet den lidt harde sometider kant breandte karamel... men det er jo en smagssag...
tak for opskriften...ekstra tip..bag en banan kage og udskift chackolade overtraekket med droemmekage fyldet.. fantastisk....og hvis man saa vil gaa helt dansk westindisk pisk flodeskum med en smugle moerk rom.og koer en klat paa toppen.... ved det er i overkanten og smagsregisteret kommer paa seightseing og det er saa laekkert det naesten blir ullaekkert..men de tre forste bider er himmelske...lol
Kim Nielsen says
Det var da faktisk en rigtig god idé med kondenseret mælk i opskriften. Det tip giver meget mening, det vil jeg porøve næste gang jeg laver Drømmekage :-) Jeg kan også sagtens forstille mig at banankage med drømmekage topping kunne være super lækkert - det tip har jeg helt sikkert også skrevet ned :-) Tak for det! vh Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Mary says
This is a delicious cake- spongy, eggy and the coconut caramel topping is wonderful. It's very easy to make. Thank you for the North American measurements as well.
Kim Nielsen says
I'm happy that you can use the recipe and that you like it. Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Pat says
Please, do you use sweetened or unsweetened coconut?
Kim Nielsen says
We only have unsweetened coconut here in Denmark. So unsweetened :-) Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)
Jessica says
Just wanted to say I made this with Bob's Red Mill 1 for 1 Gluten free flour instead and it turned out amazing!! I love the texture and flavor :) thank you
Susanne says
So easy to make and dreamy delicious 😋
Pearl Kjarside says
My mother would bake a cake very similar to this, except using sliced or slivered almonds. It was so good! I'll have to make it one day, with coconut.
Anna Read says
I have made this a few times now and the recipe is well described and the cake is excellent. The only time it went wrong was when the oven wasn’t quite hot enough (my oven defaults to 180 degrees) and when I spread the topping it sank into the cake. :-( my own fault. A warning worth noting though.
Johnny Disorder says
What kind of milk? Whole, buttermilk, 2%? I've seen a version of this recipe call for buttermilk, but just wanted to be sure of the intent for this one?
Kim Nielsen says
You can use normal whole milk or skim milk - it will not change the outcome.
Johnny Disorder says
Thanks Kim. What about the butter? Salted or unsalted? Typically in baking it's unsalted but just wanted to be sure.
SaveLife says
The Danish Dream Cake, or Drømmekage, is a delightful treat that truly lives up to its name! This classic Danish dessert features a light and fluffy vanilla sponge cake topped with a rich coconut and brown sugar caramel. The topping adds a deliciously sweet and slightly crunchy texture, making every bite a dream come true. Perfect for any occasion, this cake is a must-try for anyone looking to indulge in traditional Danish flavors.