Rye Bread Cake – Is it Bread or Cake?

Rye bread cake is my new favorite cake for holiday sharing or any occasion.

No eggs or fat (butter or oil) ingredients needed.

Most cakes can’t say that. Not even an easy boxed cake mix.

This is one easy flour and milk cake you make from scratch.

And make no mistake, it’s a delicious, moist cake with no butter or oil.

…Where just earlier this year, I put on the debate between which is the better fat, butter vs. oil in a moist cake. Because I used to always use them interchangeably, based on my mood or what I had closest to me.

…So along those curious lines, I also wondered if rye bread is actually a cake?… and those bread vs. cake ideas collide in this dessert recipe below, where the dessert can be considered both.

And you can decide for yourself what the dessert should actually be called.

…Oh, and for a 3-D full-on experience, make the rye bread-cake for yourself, that btw is called rye bread (rứgbrauđ) in Iceland.

Icelanders bake this bread low and slow. And their European and Nordic counterparts (they’re invisibly tethered to), have their own similar versions.

The close inverted flag colors say it all… 🇮🇸🇳🇴

But going against the grain, I call it rye bread cake because the leavener of choice is baking soda (and baking powder if you wish). There’s no yeast. And no proofing.

That proof in simple baking terms, means cakes.

I try to keep it simple.

And it’s cake that’s soft enough to eat with a spoon-fork on a plate

It’s also better served with sweets (and not savory usually), so that’s also cake-dessert leaning, where you can adjust the sweetness.

You can make the cake consciously low-sugar healthier.

And adjust how you bake this bread (?) cake (?)…

Icelanders bake volcanic rye bread outside where they add the ingredients in a covered stainless steel metal pot. They bury it in the geothermal volcano underground.

The ground is like a community natural oven.

…Aww well hey, when you’ve got lemons (like they’ve got in Amalfi), make lemonade. …and when you have simmering volcanic heat, use that as your oven. Did you see my basalt and lava steam love Iceland photos ?

It wasn’t rocket science for the people of the fire and ice land to learn what they could heat with their natural fire pit resources. 🌋

And then dig the ready-rye treat out of the ground the next day.

Such a cool idea. And across the Atlantic, this is what the rye bread cake looked like when I dug my metal pot out (of my kitchen oven) after 60 minutes…

See how easy this can be!

Or sticking with tradition, you can bake a savory rye bread. And serve with non-sweet bites… dialing up the Icelandic salt.

Icelanders sometimes add their fishy tastes ontop (salmon, arctic char, and fermented shark)… eww. You’d agree if you got a whiff of the putrid bite where others I know have described the aroma as hair permanent solution. And Gordon Ramsay spit it out. No mouth wash is going to help. Not even Iceland’s natural water filtered through lava rock.

…And in those times, that would be a good use case for rye bread. Bread is appropriate and can serve as a palate cleanser.

And like other breads, rye bread pulls apart with your hands, like when you’re sharing and breaking bread.

…And yes this is the same rye bread cake I made (photos above).

It’s comfort food with a matching warm-comfort chestnut color from the rye.

And healthy rye is full of fiber.

…So if you do like me, this bread or cake is breakfast food.

I like to pair the rye bread cake with yogurt and honey to lean into early morning glee. I serve it like a dessert cake.

…And so do restaurants around Iceland further away from the geothermal underground. They bake in an oven like you and me, under a roof top. This is where I first tried this rye cake delight in Reykjavik (the capital of this geothermal cake wonderland).

They paired the rye plate with ice cream for dessert. But at home, I like to pair with the healthy pairings for breakfast.

…Like here I deliciously paired with a healthy Greek yogurt for a suitable breakfast plate, full of prebiotics and probiotics harmony.

That way your gut and mouth will both be thankful. And satisfying to your mind in mind-body alignment. 😊

But that’s up to you… you do you!

And whatever you decide to pair it with, it’s delicious on a plate.

And a little honey drizzle and walnut confetti on the cake helps the happy plate celebration. 🎉 Skál!