A rustic Danish skillet egg cake: eggs whisked with a little flour and milk, cooked slowly in a pan until just set into a thick, tender cake, then topped with fried pork belly, halved tomatoes and chives. Hearty and homely, it is cut into wedges and eaten straight from the pan with rye bread and mustard, often for a farmer's lunch or dinner.
Æggekage ('egg cake') is a traditional Danish home dish; the pork-topped version, flæskeæggekage, comes from the rural kitchens of the early 1800s and has long been an everyday farmhouse meal, eaten directly from the skillet with rye bread. The fried pork is fresh, unsmoked pork belly (stegt flæsk) rather than the smoked, salted bacon sold in Denmark; in warm weather it is also served as a summer field meal.
Variations
Topped with sliced medisterpølse (Danish pork sausage) instead of pork belly, mixed with sauteed onions, or served plain without meat as a simple breakfast egg cake.
On the Palate
Where Flæskeæggekage sits in the Danish flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 10 min
- 16 min
Fry slices of streaky bacon or pork in a large ovenproof skillet until crisp, then set aside, leaving some fat in the pan.
Watch outRender the bacon until it's crisp and browned, then keep a slick of that fat in the pan for the eggs to set in.
- 23 min
Whisk together eggs with a splash of milk, a spoonful of flour, salt and pepper into a smooth batter.
- 31 min
Pour the egg batter into the warm skillet over low-medium heat.
- 46 min
Let it cook slowly and undisturbed so the bottom sets while the top stays softly custardy.
Watch outHold it on gentle heat and don't stir — you want the bottom set and golden while the top stays soft and just-runny.
- 52 min
When almost set, lay the crisp bacon and halved cherry tomatoes over the top.
- 62 min
Finish under a hot grill or covered for a minute until the surface is just set.
Watch outPull it the moment the top just sets — a wet sheen is fine, any longer and the custard turns rubbery.
- 71 min
Scatter generously with chopped fresh chives.
- 82 min
Serve straight from the pan, cut into wedges, with buttered rye bread.
