Tanuki Den (aka Homepost): Date 20220528 
Tanuki Scroll LVIII: でこ鼻、手長、足長 
Read today’s folktale, from Niigata prefecture!
About nose-man, hand-man, and foot-man getting along… it was just completely mad 
Such as making a campfire in nose-man’s nose because it is so big and eventually a whole town is pulled from this nose… because?
Today is also konjac day.
Japanese found in the tall grass
Learnthings
Places
米山薬師「よねやまやくし」ー Yoneyama shrine, Aira
長岡京「ながおかきょう」ー Nagaoka-kyo, was once the capital of Japan (way back in 784-794)
Replies
Almost forgot about this as well, I don’t really have the money either, and then there’s worrying about not wanting to make a fuss… when did birthdays get so complicated? 
One of my favourites is Kladdkaka (Swedish mudcake), there’s also this brownie-like cake with fruit in it that is really tasty but my sister took the cookbook. I’ll have to see if I can find it out or find something similar because it’s really good.
The recipe for kladdkaka I used is just an ICA special - kladdkaka
Google translate from Swedish to English seems to be alright.
But I’ll write it out too with some notes, as I do it a bit different:
Kladdkaka
Ingredients
100g butter
2 eggs
(3 if they’re small)
250g / 2.5 dl sugar
(Personally I find this to be way too much sugar, I usually use brown sugar too and put in about 75g)
3 tablespoons of cacao powder
(Along with this I like to add a 1/4 to a 1/2 of a tablespoon of coffee granules too)
2 teaspoons of vanilla sugar
(I just use a teaspoon or 2 of vanilla extract instead)
150g / 1.5 dl flour
Pinch of salt
Additional
I like to crush up some nuts to use as a base, pecans are really good, but any work really. Cashews, walnuts, peanuts, all work well. I’m not sure on the exact measurement as I just get a bag of them and crush them, probably 100g-200g. But there needs to be enough to cover the bottom of whatever tin you’re using to cook it in.
I also like to put chocolate chips on top, I think the ones I get come in 150g bags.
(personally dark chocolate chips are my favourite to use, also any you don’t use can just be eaten while you wait for it to cook)
Serving
It says to serve with whipped cream and berries of your choice, strawberries/raspberries and cream do go well with it, but my favourite is to have it with chocolate ice cream, preferable dark chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips in it. Also good to have chocolate sauce as well as the ice cream.
Prep
- Set oven at 200C
- Grease the baking tin, it’s best to use one of those were the bottom is removable, or put in a baking sheet so you can remove it easily. The suggested baking tin is 24cm in diameter, I think mine is a little wider. Basically you don’t want the mixture to be spread too thin or to be too thick.
- If you’re going to use the nuts, mash up the nuts into small pieces, and then cover the bottom of the tin with them so you have a nice even layer.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan
- Whisk the eggs and sugar together - do not use an electric whisk
- Mix the cocoa and the flour together, I find it’s best to sieve them first, and then add the salt. If you are using vanilla sugar then add that too, as well as the coffee if you choose. Then add this mixture to the egg-sugar mixture and mix it all together. Add the vanilla extract here if you’re using that over vanilla sugar.
- Add the melted butter. Mix it gently until it is all nice and smooth. It should be thick and sticky but shouldn’t be powdery or runny.
- Pour into the tin, and spread it out evenly across the tin. (if you’ve gone for nuts sometimes some of the nut pieces like to come to the surface but it’s alright).
- Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes. This part is mostly to your own judgement and taste. The less time the more gooey it’ll be in the middle and the more time the more cakey-like it’ll be (it’s very similar to cooking brownies). The perfect outcome (in my opinion) is when the middle is still nice and gooey but the top has a crispy-crunchy edge to it. I think 12 mins worked out best for me.
- If you’re using chocy-chips I add them at about the 7-10 minute mark, so they melt enough to stick to the top but not melt completely. You can also add them at the end when you get it out of the oven if you prefer them that way.
Devouring it
The recipe does state that you should let it cool before eating, I usually only leave it about 5 minutes because it is really nice while it’s still warm. Also it’s kinda hard to resist when you have this constant smell of chocolate wafting at you.
Also, if you don’t eat it all in one sitting it is very nice chilled, in the fridge or freezer. The fridge keeps the gooeyness but gives it a nice truffle-like firmness. The freezer doesn’t make it rock-solid but the gooeyness is gone. I usually cut the leftovers in half so I can have the best of both.