Erin Mann is baking a new cake every week for a year from the "All Cakes Considered" cookbook and shares her adventures here on AnnArbor.com. Read past columns here.

Swedish Visiting Cake reminded me of the old Eileen Barton tune, "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd Have Baked a Cake." The song ran through my head as I baked the cake and hasn't left since! But I don't mind too much - it's a darling song and perfectly fitting for this week's cake.

The next two weeks of the cake project celebrate the baking prowess of a lovely cookbook author and food blogger, Dorie Greenspan. Many times she's been a guest on All Things Considered, the NPR show produced by "All Cakes Considered" author Melissa Gray. She has received various accolades for her food writing including five James Beard and IACP awards for her nine cookbooks.

Swedish Visiting Cake is a one-bowl recipe. I adore one-bowl recipes because, let's be honest, who really enjoys washing dishes? From start to finish this cake takes less than an hour, no mixer required.

The recipe was passed on to Dorie by a Swedish friend who told her you could start the cake when you saw friends coming down the road and it would be ready by the time they settled in and sat down for coffee. I'm not sure how long the roads are in Sweden, but I like the idea of whipping up this cake spur of the moment, giving your company the impression you'd spent hours in the kitchen.

The day before I baked this cake, my roommate and I moved from our downtown apartment to a house on the Old West Side. I was excited about our new digs and to be baking the first cake in our new home.

But a new home means a new kitchen. And a new kitchen means an unfamiliar oven that may have quirks. Time to unpack my trusted oven thermometer and recall "...important lessons in oven calibration" from the second week of the cake project.

It turned out my new oven is an infernal powerhouse! It's 50 degrees warmer inside than the dial setting. In order to achieve the proper temperature for the cake I set the dial to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

I learned a new baking technique; folding. Folding is used to combine two ingredients of different densities. In this case, I had to combine melted butter with the rest of the cake mixture.

This cake is so simple from its ingredients and preparation to its taste.  It's an excellent example that less is more.

Since the move, we've had friends trickling in and out, and those that were lucky enough to get a slice of this cake were delighted by the almond flavor and moist, dense texture.

Expecting visitors soon? Bake them a cake! The recipe for Swedish Visiting Cake appears online here.

Oh, I don't know where you came from
'cause I don't know where you've been
But it really doesn't matter
Grab a chair and fill your platter
And dig, dig, dig right in

(Excerpt from the 1950 tune "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd Have Baked a Cake" sung by Eileen Barton)

Erin Mann is a contributor for AnnArbor.com. She is a lover of all things cake and welcomes your baking wisdom. Email her at SheGotTheBeat@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter.