Princess Cake, or Prinsesstarta, is a beautiful Swedish cake served for most any special occasion. It is recognizable by its dome shape covered with a blanket of green marzipan, a bit of chocolate decoration, and a marzipan flower in the center. Watching this cake being made on the Great British Baking Show, I had to try my hand at making this beautiful cake. My marzipan may not look at refined as it should, but this cake is oh-so delicious. A Princess Cake is made with 3 layers of sponge cake filled with pastry cream, whipped cream, and fruit filling, a dome of whipped cream, and finally covered with green marzipan. Add a bit of chocolate decoration on top of the marzipan and place a marzipan rose in the center for the completed look. I also choose to add marzipan leaves around the base of the cake to give the bottom edge of finished look. This cake has several components and I recommend making the Pastry Cream, Raspberry Filling and Marzipan the day before to have ready to assemble the following day.

Ingredients:

  • See recipe for Marzipan
  • Green and Pink food coloring
  • See recipe for Pastry Cream
  • 12 ounces (about 2 heaping cups) fresh raspberries
  • ½ cup plus 1 Tablespoon water, divided
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • ½ cup cake flour
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons milk (preferably whole milk)
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 5 large eggs
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 2½ cups whipping (heavy) cream
  • ½ cup confectioner’s’ (powdered) sugar
  • About 2 ounces dark or bittersweet chocolate

Instructions:

  1. See recipe for Marzipan. I recommend making the Marzipan the day before final cake assembly. Refrigerate until ready to assemble cake.
  2. See recipe for Pastry Cream. I recommend making the Pastry Cream the day before final cake assembly. Refrigerate until ready to assemble cake.
  3. I recommend making the Raspberry Filling the day before final cake assembly. In a medium size, heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat, combine the raspberries, ½ cup water, and sugar. Bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, about 15 minutes or until the raspberries have broken down. Remove from the heat.
  4. Immediately pour the hot mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to strain out the raspberry seeds. You should have about 1 to 1¼ cups of raspberry mixture. Return the strained raspberry mixture to the pan.
  5. In a small bowl stir the remaining 1 tablespoon water and cornstarch together to dissolve the cornstarch. Add the cornstarch mixture to the raspberry mixture and stir to combine. Bring the raspberry mixture back to a boil, and then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, 3 to 5 minutes or until thick. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
  6. Pour raspberry filling into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight and ready to assemble the cake
  7. Preheat oven to 350o degrees F. Prepare one 9-inch springform pan with 3 inch sides; lightly grease the pan with shortening, line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper, and then dust the pan with flour.
  8. In a small mixing bowl, combine cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
  9. In a small heavy-bottomed pan over low heat combine milk and butter. Heat until the butter melts. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Cover the pan to keep the mixture warm. Set aside.
  10. Separate 3 of the eggs, placing the egg whites in a medium mixing bowl. Tip: a copper bowl is ideal for beating egg whites. Place the 3 egg yolks along with the remaining 2 whole eggs in a large bowl of an electric mixer.
  11. Beat the egg whites to stiff moist peaks (do not overbeat.) Set aside.
  12. Beat the egg yolks and whole eggs with an electric mixer on low speed about 1 minute to blend, add the sugar and beat another minute to blend the eggs and sugar. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat for 5 to 8 minutes or until the mixture is very thick and drops in ribbons when the beater is lifted. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Using a balloon type whisk or large rubber spatula, gently fold the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk mixture.
  13. Place the flour mixture into a wire mesh strainer and sprinkle 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time over the egg mixture. Using a balloon type whisk or large rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the eggs, using about 3 to 4 turns with each addition of flour, and making sure to reach to the bottom of the bowl as you fold. Do not worry about incorporating all the flour until the last addition, as too much handling will deflate the batter. The flour should be added quickly in about 4 to 5 additions.
  14. Before the last addition of flour, quickly pour the warm milk mixture in a stream over the batter. Immediately sprinkle in the remaining flour mixture, and fold into the batter taking about 12 to 15 more turns to completely incorporate the ingredients, and taking no more than 15 to 20 seconds as the batter can deflate quickly.
  15. Using a rubber spatula, immediately push the batter into the prepared pan. If any butter remains in the bottom of the bowl, do not add to the batter as this could prevent the cake from rising. Smooth the top of the batter with a small offset spatula or the back of a large spoon.
  16. Bake: Tap the pan on the counter to remove air bubbles, and place the pan in the oven. Bake 23 to 25 minutes or until the cake is golden brown, springy to the touch, and has come away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the oven and let stand 10 minutes on a wire cooling rack. Run a thin sharp knife around the edge of the pan to release the cake. Remove cake from the pan and place on a wire cooling rack to finish cooling. Tip: Lightly grease the cooling rack with vegetable oil or a nonstick cooking spray to prevent the cake from sticking.
  17. In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the whipping cream until soft mounds form; gradually add the powdered sugar, continue beating until thick and stiff. Tip: the cream will whip easier if the mixing bowl and beaters are first chilled; place in the refrigerator to chill until ready to whip the cream. Set the whipped cream aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.
  18. Using a long serrated kitchen knife, split the sponge cake into 3 horizontal layers. Place the bottom cake layer on a cake plate.
  19. Bottom Layer: Using an offset spatula spread a thin layer of the chilled Pastry Cream over the bottom cake layer.
  20. Spoon about one quarter of the remaining Pastry Cream into a pastry bag fitted with a ½ inch plain tip, or simply insert a standard ½ inch diameter coupler into the bag and pipe without using a metal tip. Pipe a border of Pastry Cream around the top edge of the bottom cake layer to contain the Raspberry Filling. Push any remaining Pastry Cream out of the pastry bag and back with the unused Pastry Cream.
  21. Give the chilled Raspberry Filling a quick stir to loosen it, and then spoon the filling over the bottom cake layer and spread evenly with an offset spatula within the piped Pastry Cream border.
  22. Using a large rubber spatula or wire whisk, fold one half of the Whipped Cream into the remaining Pastry Cream.
  23. Spread about one third of the Pastry Cream/Whipped Cream mixture over the Raspberry Filling.
  24. Middle Layer: Place the middle layer of the sponge cake on top. Spread the remaining Pastry Cream/Whipped Cream mixture over the top.
  25. Top Layer: Place the top layer of the sponge cake on top. Spoon the remaining one half of Whipped Cream onto the top layer. Use an offset spatula to spread some of the Whipped Cream to cover the sides of the cake, spreading the cream as smooth as possible. Smooth the top into a dome shape.
  26. Refrigerate the cake at least one hour to stabilize the whipped cream before covering with Marzipan.
  27. Marzipan: Remove a 2-inch ball of marzipan and set aside for the flower and leaf decoration.
  28. Use green food coloring to tint the remaining marzipan a pastel green color.
  29. Sprinkle a large marble board, or large pastry mat with powdered sugar. Using a rolling pin, roll out the marzipan to about a 16 inch circle, or large enough to cover the cake.
  30. Gently drape the marzipan over the top of the cake and using your hands, shape the marzipan around the sides of the cake to get a smooth finish. If the marzipan is folded or creased, gently stretch it flat. Using a sharp kitchen knife, trim the marzipan even with the bottom of the cake.
  31. In top of a double boiler over hot water, melt chocolate, gently stirring with a rubber spatula until melted. Set aside to cool. Or, place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, use 50% power and stir frequently just until the chocolate is melted; do not overheat as chocolate will burn easily. Set aside to cool slightly. Tip: Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water and bringing it to a simmer. Turn the heat off and place a glass bowl, stainless steel bowl, or ceramic bowl on top of the hot water; the upper pan should not touch the water.
  32. Spoon melted chocolate into a pastry bag with a small round decorating tip or a small plastic bag with a ziplock top. If using a plastic bag, cut off a very small corner of the bag.
  33. Pipe the chocolate in a decorative pattern over the top of the cake.
  34. Divide the reserved 2-inch ball of marzipan in half. Use pink food coloring to tint one of the halves pink for the flower. Roll the pink marzipan into about 10 small balls and flatten each ball with your fingers to form the petals. Roll the first petal up like a sausage to form the bud, and then wrap the remaining petals around the bud to make a rose. Bend and curl the edges of the petals to make them look more realistic. Place the marzipan flower on top of the cake. Tip: brush a small bit of corn syrup on the bottom of the rose to adhere to the cake.
  35. Tint the remaining marzipan with green for the leaves. Roll out the leaf marzipan to about a 1/16 inch thickness and cut three leaf shapes. Score the leaves with a knife to create veins. Bend each leaf slightly to look more realistic. Place the leaves around the flower. Tip: brush a small bit of corn syrup on the bottom of each leaf to adhere to the cake.
  36. Optional: Use the marzipan trimmed from the bottom of the cake to make additional leaves and place around the bottom edge. I brushed these leaves with a bit of gold disco dust.
  37. Cover cake loosely and refrigerate until ready to serve. Refrigerate Leftovers.

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