Sweden: Prinsesstårta

Name: Sweden: Prinsesstårta
Prep time: 1 h 30 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 2 h 15 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: Sweden
Ingredients: almond meal: 4 cups; powdered sugar: 4 cups; almond extract: 1 Tbsp + 2 tsp; egg whites: 2; green food coloring gel: As needed; cake flour: 2 cups; baking powder: 2 tsp; eggs: 4; sugar: 1 cup; lukewarm water: 3/4 cup; whole milk: 2 cups; vanilla extract: 2 tsps; granulated sugar: 1/2 cups; egg yolks: 4; corn starch: 1/3 cups; heavy cream: 2 cups; powdered sugar: 1/2 cup; raspberry jam: 3/4 cup; pink candy rose: 1

Cuisine:

Sweden

Ingredients

For the Marzipan
4 cups almond meal
4 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp + 2 tsp almond extract
2 egg whites
As needed green food coloring gel
For the Cake
2 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup lukewarm water
For the Custard
2 cups whole milk
2 tsps vanilla extract
1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
1/3 cups corn starch
For the Cream
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
To Assemble
3/4 cup raspberry jam
1 pink candy rose

Directions

This one holds a special place in my heart, probably because this is how I remember princess cake:

Alli and me, enjoying one last fika on my last day in Stockholm before heading to France.

A very traditional fika, complete with semla, princess cake and a shrimpie sandwich (the latter is a Jo term, not a Swedish term).

At a small cafe in Stockholm with my dear friends the Abbondantes during what was an amazing galavant across Europe. I remember walking the streets of Stockholm – probably looking for some place to find a hot glogg because it stinkin’ COLD AF – and seeing this strange green cake in the window of every bakery.

Mike explained that this was a princess cake, and that they were pretty much ubiquitous across Sweden. He also explained fika, which is taken near daily as a break from work or study and is as much as a social institution in Stockholm as happy hour is in D.C. Fun fact: “Fika” meaning coffee break is an example of 19th century back slang, in which syllables of a word were reversed, deriving fika from kaffi, an earlier variant of the Swedish word kaffe (“coffee”). Anyways, fika is often accompanied by pastries – which brings us back to this princess cake.

So how did this unique cake come to be? The recipe is attributed to a Swedish home economics teacher named Jenny Åkerström who taught at an all-girls school in Stockholm; her students included three Swedish princesses. In 1948, she released a cook book entitled “Prinsessornas Kokbok: Husmanskost och Helgdagsmat” (The Princesses Cookbook: Home Cooking and Holiday Food). This is where the recipe for the first princess cake appeared, although it was referred to as Grön Tårta or “green cake.” It’s assumed the name change was due to the Swedish princesses’ fondness for the cake, which is fortunate because me thinks “princess cake” is a much more appealing name.

Recipe Source: Global Table Adventure

Steps

1 Done	For the Marzipan Place the almond flour and powdered sugar in a food processor and pulse until combined and any lumps are broken up. Add the almond extract and pulse to combine. Add the egg white and process until a thick dough is formed. Mix in the green food gel a little at a time, careful not to add too much - you want a lime green, not a dark green.
2 Done	For the Cake Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 8" cake pan with parchment paper and grease the sides - I find a spring form pan is the easiest to work with, but a standard cake pan will do. Whisk together the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl. In a standing mixer, whip the eggs with the sugar on high speed until fluffy and pale yellow. Stream in the water, then fold the flour mixture into the eggs. Pour into prepared cake pan and bake about 40-45 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely.
3 Done	For the Custard Heat up the milk, vanilla and sugar in a medium sauce pan. Meanwhile, whisk together the yolks and cornstarch in a medium bowl. When the milk is hot, whisk a little at a time into the yolk mixture, taking care not to curdle them. Pour the mixture back into the sauce pan, return to medium heat and cook until thickened, whisking often so that it doesn’t clump up or stick. Set aside until cooled to room temperature, preferably poured onto an 8″ plate. This will make your job easier later, as it’s a bit thicker than the spreadable custard.
4 Done	For the Cream Beat the cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form.
5 Done	To Assemble Cut the cake in three even pieces, as shown below. This is a bit tricky. Use a tooth pick of the tip of a knife to outline all the way around and then use a long knife to cut all the way through.
6 Done	To Assemble Spread raspberry jam over the first layer. Top with a scoop of whipped cream. Be sure to keep the jam away from the edge of the cake so it doesn't ooze out once you press the layers together.
7 Done	To Assemble Add the second layer, then top with the the vanilla custard and a mini mountain of whipped cream. Use your spatula to smooth it into an even mound. Add the final cake layer, pressing down with your hands on the edges, to encourage it to curve.
8 Done	To Cover with Marzipan This is the hardest part. Place the marzipan between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out in a circle - you might want to measure your cake after you assemble it with a tape measure and make sure you've rolled out hte marzipan to the appropriate size. My other challenge is that the circle was larger than the parchment paper, so I had to layer it in a criss-cross. Remove the parchment paper at the very end and roll it smooth to get rid of any lines the parchment paper may have pressed into the marzipan. Carefully transfer the marzipan over top of the cake, smoothing the edges and wrapping around the sides gently. Top with a pink rose in the center. Refrigerate until ready to serve, although you will want to give it about an hour to come close to room temperature.