You already know that I'm in love with Scandinavian baked goods, so now I share the recipe of the Princess Cake that has a truly fresh outlook that perfectly fits special occasions during Spring.
The original recipe was published by Jenny Åkerström in the Prinsessornas Kokbok (1948) -Princesses Cookbook-. She was the teacher of the three daughters of Prince Carl, the Duke of Västergötland. The name of the cake came from the three princesses: Princess Margaretha -later Princess of Denmark-, Princess Märtha -later Crown Princess of Norway-, and Princess Astrid -later Queen of Belgium-.
The cake has three layers of fat-free sponge filled with raspberry jam, pastry cream, and whipped cream. Finally, it´s wrapped in green marzipan giving the cake a smooth rounded top dusted with icing sugar. The pink marzipan rose and leaves are essential parts of the outlook. If you get a Princesstårta as a birthday cake, you have the right to eat the rose! It's such a cute tradition... isn't it?
Sometimes you can find a similar cake in different colours. They call the one with yellow marzipan to Prinstårta -prince cake- and Operatårta -opera cake- for red or pink marzipan.
Since 2004, Swedish people are celebrating the week of the Prinsesstårta during the fourth week of September when all the cakes are decorated with a little crown. A proportion of each sale is donated to Crown Princess Victoria’s Fund - a charity for chronically ill and disabled children.
Ingredients
White sponge layers
- 3 eggs
- 270 g sugar
- 100 ml warm water
- 180 g flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
Vanilla cream filling
- Pastry cream
- 1 tbsp xanthan gum
Whipped cream
- 400 ml double cream
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Other
- Fresh green marzipan
- Icing sugar
- Raspberry jam
- Marzipan rose and leaves
Instructions
White sponge layers
- Put the eggs and sugar into a mixing bowl and mix it with a hand mixer until it's pale in colour.
- Incorporate the warm water.
- Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix it well.
- Divide the batter equally in 3 lined sandwich tin and bake them in a pre-heated oven at 175 °C till it passes the toothpick test and the crust stays as light as possible.
- Let them cool down completely on a rack.
Vanilla cream filling
- Prepare the pastry cream according to this recipe.
- Chill it for an hour.
- Incorporate the xanthan gum with a hand mixer.
Whipped cream
- Whip the cream till soft peaks.
- Add the sugar and vanilla extract and continue the whipping till stiff peaks.
- Keep it in the fridge till you're ready to cover the cake.
Assembly
- I've covered the first sponge layer with the jam and the vanilla cream. I normally use a cake ring when I build up the layers, but it works without it too.
- Place the second sponge layer on the top and cover it with jam and the cream filling and close it by the third sponge layer.
- If your filling looks too soft, I recommend placing the cake into the fridge in a cake ring for at least an hour.
- Cover the cake with whipped cream, but make sure you form a round top if you're planning to create a classic look.
- Cover the cake with the rolled marzipan, place the rose on the top and sprinkle it with icing sugar.
For the Christmas edition, I used white fondant and homemade marzipan holly berries and leaves.
Princess Cake - Photo by © Reka Csulak
