Tosca Cake

One of my grandmother's classic recipes was the tosca cake, a soft spunge cake with a layer of caramelized almonds on top. I remember as a child I found the topping was the goodiest thing so I ate that first :)
I haven't baked this cake before, and I haven't eaten one since my grandmother made it maybe ten years ago, so I experienced a flashback when I took a bite of this :) A good flashback! The almond topping is the best! Try it, you won't be disappointed :)

Tosca Cake
100 grams or magarine or butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 dl sugar
2 dm flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 deciliter milk

Topping
100 grams of margarine or butter
1 deciliter sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons milk
100 grams chopped sweet almonds (peeled or unpeeled)

1. Put oven to 175 Celsius.
2. Grease and bread a round cake tin with removable rim, aproximately 24 cm in diameter.
3. Melt the margarine/butter and let it cool for a while.
3. Whisk sugar and eggs until the mix is light and fluffy.
4. Add the flour mixed with baking powder, the melted margarine/butter and the milk until you get a smooth fluffy batter.
5. Pour the batter into the cake tin and let the cake bake in the lower part of the oven for about 20 minutes.
6. While the cake is in the oven you can start preparing the topping.
7. Mix all the ingredients into a saucepan and let it warm slowly while you stire carefully.
8. When the mixture has started to thicken it is ready.
9. Spread the topping on the cake.
10. Let the cake bake approximately 15 minutes more in the middle of the oven until the color is nice on the topping.

Simple Jersey Tank Top!

Hello! I took a little summer vacation the past two weeks and I am now back on the blog with a very simple and cute sewing idea! Tank tops are one of the most popular garments but even if they often are made of very small amount of fabric they cost quite much. Also, I have the problem that when I need a tank top I seem to be the only one looking for COLOUR because the shops are always full of black, white and grey garments... So, I thought to myself that I probably need to fix the tank top I want by myself. I went to my favourite store in my town, Ohlssons Tyger, and found some lovely jersey fabric. The fabric was actually knitted like a tube and had the perfect diameter for my body so this tank top model didn't need very much sewing!

I bought the fabric in the three colors light pink, yellow and purple so I could make three tank tops. The final cost for these three tank tops is about 160 Swedish crowns (20 USD) together and when I look in the stores I can't find three tank tops in the right colors for less than 300 Swedish crowns (35 USD) together so I think I made a good deal :)

How to...
The easiest way to make your own tank top is to take measurements from a tank top you already have and like. Measure the body length and width of the tank top and then transfer them to the new fabric you want to use. If you don't have a tube-knitted fabric like I had, just cut out two rectangles in single sided fabric and sew one seam in each side to make your own "tube".  Remember to add about 0,5 cm on each side as seam allowance before you cut out your rectangles. Make sure to get the rib vertical so the fabric works along your body.

I wanted my tank top to be 45 cm long so I cut it about 50 cm and fold the upper and the lower edges about 2,5 cm each to get the final 45 cm length. The two stripes you see at the right in the picture above, are the two shoulder-straps in double fabric. You can of course make them how wide you like but I made them 3 cm wide and fold the long edges in about 0,5 cm on each side so they became about 2 cm wide in the end.
To get the right length for the shoulder-straps I measured on a tank top I had at home, you can also measure the straps on your bra. 

The piece in the lower part of the picture I used to make a headband to match with the tank top - super cute!