Pink Swedish Princess Cake (Prinsesstårta)

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Author: Delphine Fortin
Prep Time: 60 mins
Cook Time: 35 mins
Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
Yield: 10-12 servings 1x
Category: Cakes

This pink Swedish princess cake (Prinsesstårta) is a lovely twist to the traditional Swedish cake. It features layers of sponge cake, vanilla pastry cream, raspberry filling, whipped cream and a pink marzipan top. Prinsesstårta makes a wonderful dessert for special occasions.

Ingredients

Scale

For the cake:

4 eggs
180g sugar
1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour, sifted
½ cup (80g) potato flour, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the vanilla custard:

3 egg yolks
⅔ cup (150 ml) whipping cream
⅔ cup (150 ml) whole milk
1 ½ Tablespoons sugar
1 vanilla bean, cut lengthwise and seeded (or ½ teaspoon vanilla paste)
2 Tablespoons cornstarch (plus more for rolling out the marzipan)

For the filling and topping:

7 ounces (200g) raspberry jam
2 cups (500 ml) whipping cream
2.6 ounces (75g) pink (or green) marzipan, at room temperature*
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

* For this recipe I recommend using the metric system (grams, milliliters), that is far more accurate and consistent than imperial (cups/ounces).

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line the bottom and the sides of a 9-inch (23 cm) springform pan with baking paper.
For the cake. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla with an electric hand mixer until pale and fluffy. Sift in the flour, potato flour, and gently fold together with a spatula until smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the lower part of the oven for about 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool slightly, then invert onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
Vanilla custard. Heat the milk, cream and vanilla seeds (together with the vanilla pod) in a saucepan to a gentle simmer. Remove from heat and take out the vanilla pod from the saucepan. In a medium bowl, whisk together yolks with sugar, then add the cornstarch and whisk until combined. Slowly pour in the hot milk over the yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Pour back the vanilla custard to the saucepan and heat on low heat, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, making contact with the custard, and let cool completely before using.
Assembling. Divide the cake base into three parts, lengthwise, and carefully place the bottom layer onto a cake stand. Fill the first layer with some raspberry jam and the second layer with the vanilla custard. Cover with the third layer of cake.
Using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer, whip 2 cups whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Place a generous layer of whipped cream on top of the cake and cover the cake with a thinner layer all around. Place the cake in the refrigerator to set for 4 hours or ideally overnight. Place a small glass with a little bit of baking powder next to the cake.**
For the marzipan and decoration. Roll out the pink marzipan to about 0.1-inch (3 to 4 mm) thick onto a Silpat silicone baking mat, gently dusting cornstarch as you roll out to prevent from sticking. The marzipan should be larger than what is needed to exactly cover the cake. Invert the marzipan over the cold cake. Smooth out and cut off excess marzipan with a sharp paring knife. Dust the prinsesstårta with confectioners’ sugar. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Notes

* If your marzipan is a little hard, you can knead it by hand to warm it up slightly and soften it before using. It’s also great to use a Silpat silicone baking mat to roll out the marzipan if possible. This way, you can lift the whole mat and turn it carefully over the cake without breaking. Then, just remove the mat and the marzipan will remain nicely on top of the cake.

** When cooling the cake, place a glass filled with a little bit of baking powder (one or two Tablespoons is enough) next to the cake in the fridge. The baking powder keeps the environment inside the fridge dry so the marzipan cake retains its matte look even the next day.