Prinsesstårta: Swedish Princess Cake
Prinsesstårta: Swedish Princess Cake might be one of, if not the most, recognizable of all Swedish pastries. Layers of cake interspersed with raspberry jam, vanilla pastry cream, and whipped cream, all topped with
a green marzipan dome, Princess Cake is iconic for a reason.
The History of Princess Cake
Princess cake, or Prinsesstårta in Swedish, is a traditional Swedish dessert that originated in the early 20th century. It was created by Jenny Åkerström, who was a teacher for the three Swedish princesses at the time. The original name for the cake was “gröntårta,” or green cake, after the distinctive marzipan topping. It was later renamed Prinsesstårta, or Princess cake, as it became a favorite of the three princesses. Originally, it did not contain any fruit. People still like to argue with me in my comments that I’m not making princess cake but something else because I add raspberry jam. However, as I got this recipe from working in Swedish bakeries and have eaten at many Swedish bakeries, and all their cakes contain raspberry jam, I reject this. Skip the jam if you’d like but, in my opinion, it really makes the whole cake!
My First Princess Cake
I made my very first princess cake at my very first job in Sweden. I was 22 years old, had just moved to Stockholm, and started working at this little bakery in the suburbs. It was so fun learning how to shape the dome, and I was so proud of it that I had my coworker take a picture of me!
Elements
There are 4 different recipes in this cake: the marzipan for the top, raspberry jam, vanilla pastry cream for the filling, and of course, the cake itself. While it might seem intimidating all together, individually all of these recipes are quite simple. I think the hardest part is getting the marzipan over the top right. It can be hard to smooth it out without wrinkles. However, this doesn’t affect the taste, so it’s fine if it’s a bit wonky!
Princess cake is THE go-to for birthday cakes in Sweden. It is common now to use different-colored marzipan and decorate the top according to the party theme. But whether you are making this cake just for fun or for a special event, Prinsesstårta: Swedish Princess Cake is always a good idea!
Prinsesstårta: Swedish Princess Cake
Ingredients
Marzipan
- Green food coloring
- Red food coloring
- 400 g Almond flour
- 300 g Powdered sugar
- 2 Egg whites
Raspberry Jam
- 250 g Raspberries
- 200 g Sugar
- Lemon juice to taste
Pastry Cream
- 500 g Milk
- 1 Vanilla Bean
- 100 g Sugar
- 50 g Cornstarch
- 120 g Egg Yolk
- 25 g Butter
Cake
- 220 g Eggs
- 88 g* Egg yolk
- 140 g Sugar
- 140 g Flour
- 66 g* Melted butter
Assembly
- 500 g cream
Instructions
Marzipan
- In a food processor, combine 400g of almond flour and 300g of powdered sugar.
- Mix until powdered sugar is evenly distributed and almond flour is slightly finer.
- Add one egg white and mix.
- Add a touch of almond extract (optional but adds flavor).
- Scrape the sides, add the second egg white, and mix until a homogeneous dough forms.
- If the marzipan is dry, add a tablespoon or two of water.
- Divide marzipan; color a small portion with red dye for decoration, and color the rest light green.
- Wrap the colored marzipan in plastic and set aside.
Raspberry Jam
- In a pot, combine 250g of raspberries and 200g of sugar.
- Heating carefully, bringing to a simmer.
- Simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring often.
- Test jam consistency on a frozen plate.
- If the jam thickens, turn off the heat and add lemon juice to taste.
- Pour the jam into a heat-proof container and refrigerate.
Pastry Cream
- Bring 500g of milk and scraped vanilla bean (seeds and pod) to a boil.
- In a bowl, whisk 120g of egg yolks, 100g of sugar, and 50g of cornstarch.
- Temper the egg mixture with hot milk, whisking continuously.
- Return the mixture to the pot and bring to a boil, stirring continuously.
- Boil for a minute until thick and glossy.
- Remove from heat, add 25g of butter, and stir until combined.
- Strain the cream and refrigerate until cool.
Cake
- Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).
- Prepare a 23cm cake pan with parchment paper and melted butter.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk 220g of eggs, 88g of egg yolks, and 140g of sugar.
- Place the bowl over simmering water, whisking continuously until 55°C (130°F).
- Transfer to a stand mixer and whisk until light, fluffy, and just warm, no longer hot.
- Gradually sift and fold in 140g of flour.
- Fold in 66g of melted butter in two additions.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes.
- Let the cake cool completely.
Assembly:
- Stir raspberry jam so it isn’t clumpy.
- Whisk pastry cream until smooth.
- Whip 500g of heavy cream until soft peaks form.
- Mix about ½ cup (1 dL) of pastry cream with ⅔ of the whipped cream to create diplomat cream.
- Reserve the leftover whipped cream.
- Cut cake horizontally into three layers.
- Spread raspberry jam over the bottom layer.
- Place a layer of cake on the raspberry jam and spread the pastry cream on it.
- Over the pastry cream pile the diplomat cream (whipped cream and pastry cream mixture).
- Smooth the diplomat cream out into a dome.
- Place the last piece of cake over the diplomat cream and press in a bit to help keep that dome shape.
- Roll out light green marzipan and drape over the cake.
- Smooth out the marzipan and then cut off the excess.
- Transfer to a cake plate and dust with powdered sugar.
- Decorate the cake with a marzipan rose if desired.
- Enjoy your homemade Princess Cake!