The light sponge like texture with chocolate icing and sprinkles of coconut in these Kärleksmums - Love Cake is the kind of bake you want to share with a bunch of people and it easily serves 16 so you can make this for a small crowd or for a Galentines dinner with your favorite people.
The other beautiful thing about this cake is that it’s probably one of the best cakes to make ahead. In fact this cake is best a day or two after being baked.
The frosting is soft and needs no electric mixer and comes together within 2 minutes flat making it incredibly simple and even one to put in your back pocket for other cakes.
Why you’ll love this
Easy chocolate cake
The chocolate cake itself is pretty minimal to whip up and actually tastes best a day or two after being made.
That frosting
The soft frosting maintains it’s light squiggyness even when set on top meaning you bite into this soft layer of icing before sinking into the chocolate cake.

Ingredients and substitutions for Love Cake
- Butter: Unsalted butter is used here though salted could easily be substituted in place.
- Milk: Whole milk was used here, but you could replace with skim or even a creamy non dairy milk that helps add moisture and lightness to our cake.
- Sugar: As a result of using confectioner’s or icing sugar, the superfine granules dissolve into our cake and add sweetness without adding additional flavors.
- Eggs: Room temperature eggs, add structure to our cake, the egg helps to bind everything together so are essential.
- Plain flour: Plain flour or all purpose is best because it helps give the cake it’s light texture and nice crumb. You also don’t want to overwork the batter so you don’t end up with a firm cake texture.
- Cocoa Powder: The star ingredient here so you’ll want a nice high quality cocoa powder for a truly chocolate packed flavor. I do not recommend substituting melted chocolate in equal measure here as this can be quite dense, however, chocolate chips or chunks would work well as an addition.
- Salt: Without salt the chocolate flavors will be dull so it is essential to adding dimension to the cake. Sea salt is best, but rock salt also works well.
- Vanilla extract: Pure vanilla extract is the flavor powerhouse adding depth of flavor to the cake.
- Coffee: The coffee mixed with out cocoa powder deepens the flavor in our chocolate frosting...you'll want to make sure this is hot. Instant or freshly brewed will work best.
- Desiccated coconut: Desiccated coconut is finer and adds a nice texture to our the top of our cake, though you could substitute with shredded coconut, if you prefer.
See recipe card for quantities.
Equipment needed to make a batch
Greaseproof paper: Lining your tin will make getting the cake out a breeze!
Hand or stand mixer: To whip the cake batter into a nice and fluffy texture, it is best done with an electric beater, though this can be done by hand.
Mixing bowl: A medium mixing bowl is needed for the cake batter and for the ganache frosting.
Whisk: A nice large whisk will help you mix the frosting as this doesn’t need to beaten with an electric mixer, making it easy to whip up!
Spatula: A rubber or offset spatula will help you smear on that frosting all the way to the edges.
Square tin: A 18×18 cm or 7×7 inch square baking tin works well here, though a rectangle tin would also work well.
How to make Love Cake:
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
Toss the butter and add the milk into a saucepan on low heat, stirring until melted. Set aside.
Add the eggs and sugar into a bowl and beat until doubled in volume and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes.
Place the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder into a bowl and stir.
Sieve into the fluffy eggs, adding the salt.
Pour in the melted butter, milk and vanilla extract and fold together to form a smooth batter.
Pour into your cake tin and bake until a skewer comes out clean, approximately 25 minutes.
Remove and allow to cool completely.
For the chocolate glaze, place the coffee and cocoa powder into a small bowl and stir together until smooth.
Pour the melted butter, vanilla extract and sugar into a bowl and and spoon in the cocoa coffee mixture, whisking until smooth.
Spoon on top of the cake and spread out evenly with an offset spatula.
Sprinkle over the coconut.
Allow to set completely.
Slice and serve.
Dig in!

Love Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: Serves 16
- Category: Cakes
- Cuisine: Swedish
Description
This Swedish Love Cake recipe is a light sponge like cake is topped with an easy chocolate frosting and a sprinkle of desiccated coconut for an easy cake that will serve a small crowd.
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
200 grams / 7 ounces butter
200 milliliters / 1 cup - 2 tablespoons milk
3 large eggs, room temperature
189 grams / 1 ½ cups + 2 tablespoons confectioner’s/icing sugar, sifted
211 grams / 1 ¼ cups + 1 tablespoon plain flour
10 grams / 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
76 grams / ⅔ cup + 1 teaspoon cocoa powder, sifted
¼ teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Chocolate Glaze
100 grams / 3.5 ounces butter, melted
50 milliliters / ¼ cup - 1 tablespoon coffee
28 grams / ¼ cup cocoa powder, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
237 grams / 2 cups + 1 tablespoon confectioner’s/icing sugar, sifted
38 grams / ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon desiccated coconut
Instructions
Chocolate cake
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
- Toss the butter and add the milk into a saucepan on low heat, stirring until melted. Set aside.
- Add the eggs and sugar into a bowl and beat until doubled in volume and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes.
- Place the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder into a bowl and stir.
- Sieve into the fluffy eggs, adding the salt.
- Pour in the melted butter, milk and vanilla extract and fold together to form a smooth batter.
- Pour into your cake tin and bake until a skewer comes out clean, approximately 25 minutes.
- Remove and allow to cool completely.
Chocolate glaze
- For the chocolate glaze, place the coffee and cocoa powder into a small bowl and stir together until smooth.
- Pour the melted butter, vanilla extract and sugar into a bowl and and spoon in the cocoa coffee mixture, whisking until smooth.
- Spoon on top of the cake and spread out evenly with an offset spatula.
- Sprinkle over the coconut.
- Allow to set completely.
- Slice and serve.
- Dig in!
Notes
Adapted from arla.se
Nutrition
- Calories: 340 calories per serve
Keywords: chocolate cake, swedish cake
Leave a Reply