January Eggless Challenge - Drommekage fra brovst Danish (Danish Dream Cake)

Some words are just difficult to pronounce. I am sure each of us have some word or the other that we pronounce in a funny way. I have difficulty with words like "expedite" and names like "wisconsin" when spoken with the flow quickly. Foreign names are even more difficult. I always considered learning French just for this reason. To be able to pronounce difficult tongue twisters with ease :), but that never happened.

Now that I have been in the baking realm for more than a year, I guess it is time to start some French self study classes. That might just help me with Danish too. This month, we baked the Danish dream cake, please read the Danish name off the title of this post... I have no clue as to how to pronounce it ;).

Here is the original recipe from Diana's Desserts.
Ingredients: 
For the Cake: 
250g (8.82 oz./2 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour (plain flour) 
3 tsp. baking powder 
50g (1/2 stick/2 oz./1/4 cup) butter 
200ml (7 oz.) milk 
4 eggs 
300g (10.5 oz./1 1/3 cups/) granulated sugar 
1 tsp. vanilla extract 

For the Topping: 
125g (1 stick/4 oz./1/2 cup), butter, softened to room temperature 
50ml (1.69 fl. oz./approximately 1/4 cup) milk 
100g (3.5 oz./1 1/3 cups) dessicated coconut 
200-250g (7 to 8 1/2 oz./1 to 1 1/4 cups) muscavado sugar, or light brown sugar

Instructions:
For the Topping: 
In a mixing bowl, combine all topping ingredients. Set aside until ready to spread over cake. 

For the Cake: 
Preheat oven to 200 degrees C/400 degrees F. Grease an 8 or 9-inch (20-22cm) square or round baking pan. 
If desired, line baking pan with parchment paper, then grease paper. 

Sift the flour with the baking powder. Melt the 50g butter and mix with the 200ml milk. 
Beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy, then fold in the flour mixture. 
Lastly, fold in the butter and milk mixture. Pour into prepared baking pan;
Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted into center of cake comes out clean 
(leave oven on and set to 225 degrees C/425 degrees F). 
Remove cake from oven and immediately spread the topping over cake;
bake cake for an additional 5-10 minutes at 225 degrees C/425 degrees F. 
Cool cake completely on wire cooling rack before serving. 
Cut cake into squares (or wedges, if baking cake in a round pan). 

Makes 12-16 servings.

Here is he Eggless version, I prepared.

For the Cake: 
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 
3 tsp. baking powder 
1/4 cup butter 
200ml milk 
1 tin - condensed milk (replaces 4 eggs and 1 1/3 cup sugar)
1 tsp. vanilla extract 

For the Topping: 
1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature 
1/4 cup milk 
1 cup sliced almonds (used in place of coconut)
1 1/4 cups muscavado sugar, or light brown sugar
Instructions:
For the Topping: 
In a mixing bowl, combine all topping ingredients. Set aside until ready to spread over cake. 

For the cake:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees C/400 degrees F. Grease an 8 inch square. I lined the baking pan with parchment paper and very lightly greased the paper.

Sift the flour with the baking powder. Melt the butter and mix with the whole milk.
Beat the condensed milk and vanilla extract, then fold in the flour mixture. 
Lastly, fold in the butter and milk mixture. Pour into prepared baking pan;
Bake in preheated oven for about 20-22 minutes or until wooden pick inserted into center of cake comes out clean 
(leave oven on and set to 225 degrees C). 
Remove cake from oven and immediately spread the topping over cake;
bake cake for an additional 5-10 minutes at 225 degrees C. 
Cool cake completely on wire cooling rack before serving. 
Cut cake into squares and serve. 

Verdict:
The cake was a little dense, since I added less sugar than what the recipe demanded. But I found it fine for my taste, lest it gets too sweet. One problem was with the topping. I should have powdered the almonds and combined with butter and brown sugar. That way the almonds would have perfectly absorbed the butter and sugar and make a nice soft/crisp layer. My topping got runny and started seeping into the cakes and around the edges. But as the name suggests this is definitely a wonderful cake and an awesome comfort food just as described.