Typically Swedish
Prinsesstårta
Green marzipan, a pink rose and underneath more cream than you’d expect.
Green looks like decoration
That’s exactly what I thought, until the knife went through the dome: underneath, so much cream that the slice almost fell apart on its own.
The marzipan blanket isn’t the main thing at all. It just holds together what lies beneath.
Two things about the green cake
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My recipe
Four parts, each one simple on its own: sponge cake, vanilla custard, cream, marzipan. Only the assembly is challenging.
Show recipe
Sponge cake
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- 150 g sugar
- 75 g wheat flour
- 75 g potato starch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch of salt
Vanilla custard
- 300 ml milk
- 1 vanilla bean
- 3 egg yolks
- 60 g sugar
- 25 g cornstarch
- 20 g butter
For layering
- 600 ml cold heavy cream
- 2 tsp vanilla sugar
- 3 tbsp raspberry jam (optional)
For covering
- approx. 500 g green marzipan
- a little pink marzipan
- Powdered sugar
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Bake the sponge
Beat the eggs and sugar for several minutes until pale and thick. Sift the flour, starch, baking powder and salt, fold in gently and bake at 175 °C for 35 to 40 minutes.
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Cool and slice
Let the cake cool completely, ideally overnight, then slice it horizontally into three layers.
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Cook the vanilla custard
Heat the milk with the vanilla seeds. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and starch together, stir in the hot milk, return everything to the pot and bring to a boil while stirring until the custard thickens.
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Chill the custard
Stir in the butter, pour into a shallow dish and cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface. Let it get completely cold.
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Whip the cream and layer
Whip the cream with the vanilla sugar until stiff and fold a third of it into the custard. Spread the first layer with jam, top with custard, place the second layer on top and spread generously with cream.
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Shape the dome
Place the last layer on top, spread the remaining cream high in the middle and flatter toward the edge, smooth it out and chill for at least an hour.
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Marzipan, rose, powdered sugar
Roll the marzipan out between sheets of plastic wrap to about 34 cm, lay it over the cake, press it on from the center outward and trim the edge. Place the rose on top; add the powdered sugar only just before serving.
Keep everything cold
Warm cream collapses – and then the very dome you went to all this trouble for disappears.
My first homemade cake sat crooked, the marzipan tore, and the rose was more of a bud. But it still sat on my kitchen table.
This cake can’t be made on a whim. Bake the sponge, cool the custard, wait in between – rushing gets you nowhere here.
“Under the green blanket there is surprisingly much room
for patience.”
Baking Prinsesstårta
Why does the dome turn out lopsided?
Usually the cream is too soft or the cake isn’t cold enough before the marzipan goes on. At least an hour in the fridge makes the difference.
Can I prepare the parts separately?
The sponge and custard can be made a day ahead. Once assembled, everything keeps for one to two days in the fridge; dust with powdered sugar only just before serving.
Does it have to have raspberry jam?
No. Originally there was no jam in it; today it’s common in many recipes. Both count as correct. And in the end, it comes down to taste.
Does it have its own day, like the kanelbullar?
In Sweden, the last week of September is considered Prinsesstårta week.
Images: my own photos · AI · Pexels