Princess Cake

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Prinsesstårta

Yield: 8-inch cake

Author: Sarah Truesdell

Ingredients

For the Swedish Sponge Cake

• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup (200g) sugar
• 1/2 cup (75g) flour
• 1/2 cup (70g) cornstarch or tapioca starch
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 50g unsalted butter, melted

For the pastry cream

• 1 cup (8 oz) heavy cream
• 1/2 cup (4 oz) milk
• 6 tbsp (75g) sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste or 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped)
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

For the raspberry jam

• 200g raspberries (fresh or frozen)
• 175g granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

For the stabilized whipped cream

• 1 envelope (.25 oz.) powdered unflavored gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the marzipan

• 400g almond flour (not almond meal)
• 150g (3/4 cups) superfine sugar ("Baker's sugar" or make your own by pulsing granulated sugar in the blender)
• 250g powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp almond extract
• green gel food coloring (not liquid)

For decoration

• Pink or red gel food coloring
• 100 g dark or semi sweet chocolate (chocolate chips fine)

American Buttercream

• 1/2 cup (8 tbsp) unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups (8 oz) powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• salt

Instructions

Prepare the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and line an 8 or 9-inch round springform pan with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat eggs and sugar on high speed until pale and thickened. It will be light and thick, and fall in a ribbon back into the bowl leaving trails of batter on the surface.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour and start, baking powder and salt together. Carefully fold the dry mixture into the egg mixture until thoroughly combined.
4. Pour the melted butter down the side of the pan and carefully fold in.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool slightly in the pan for a few minutes then run a knife around the edge and remove the springform collar. Peel away the parchment and let cool completely on a wire rack.
6. Wrap in plastic.

Prepare the pastry cream

1. Combine milk & cream in a heavy bottomed saucepan. If using a vanilla bean, add vanilla bean, pod & seeds with milk. Heat over medium until just under a boil.
2. Meanwhile, in a heatproof bowl, combine eggs, sugar, salt, and cornstarch and whisk until completely blended.
3. Once milk is hot, slowly stream in about 2/3 of a cup of hot milk/cream into egg mixture while whisking continuously. This is called tempering and heats the eggs up slowly, so they do not curdle.
4. Pour egg mixture into saucepan with remaining milk/cream. Return to low/medium heat and whisk continuously until thicken to a pudding consistency. About 5 minutes.
5. Take off heat and whisk in vanilla extract and butter. Whisk until butter is melted. Pour into a shallow dish and cover with plastic. Allow to cool completely before using.
6. If you have lumps, strain through a fine mesh sieve into your shallow dish. Cover with plastic pressed to the surface. Chill until ready to use.

Prepare the jam

1. Combine the raspberries (defrost first), sugar, and lemon juice in a heavy-bottom sauce pan. Make sure the pan is big enough that the ingredients aren't more than 1 inch deep.
2. Cook over medium heat until jam thickens.
3. Remove to a container, allow to cool. Store in the fridge until ready to use.

Prepare the whipped cream

1. Sprinkle the gelatin over the 2 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Let stand until dissolved.
2. Place the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whip attachment. Set mixer speed to medium and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add in the powdered sugar and then mix in the vanilla. Heat gelatin in the microwave for 5-7 seconds, or until completely liquid. Gradually add liquid gelatin to whipped cream in a thin stream with the mixer running. After all of the gelatin is added, increase mixer speed to high and beat to stiff peaks. Set aside.

Prepare the marzipan

1. Mix the almond flour and sugars in a mixer fitted with a dough hook, the add the eggs and almond extract.
2. Knead in the bowl until it forms a stiff dough. Turn out onto a surface dusted with icing sugar. Using a cocktail stick add a tiny amount of green food coloring and knead to an even pastel green color.

Prepare the buttercream

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until creamy and smooth.
2. Sifted powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Add slowly to the butter and beat on high until fluffy.
3. Add a tablespoon of heavy cream or milk to thin out if the buttercream is not smooth and spreadable.
4. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and a small pinch of salt. Beat for two minutes.

Assemble the Cake

1. Using a serrated knife, cut the cake horizontally into three or four even layers. Use toothpicks as guides to help split evenly.
2. Place one of the sponges onto a serving plate or cake board. Spread a very thin layer of custard over the base of the first sponge.
3. Spoon a quarter of the custard into a piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle and pipe a border around the edge of the sponge – this is to contain the jam.
4. Spoon the jam over the sponge, and spread evenly within the border.
5. Fold half of the whipped cream into the remaining custard.
6. Spread one-third of the custard cream over the jam.
7. Place the second sponge on top and spread over the remaining custard cream.
8. Place the third sponge on top (if you only have 3 sponge layers, don't place the 3 sponge on top here) Spoon over the remaining whipped cream covering the sides and smoothing into a small dome shape on the top. Place the final cake layer on top and press down so that all of the cake’s edges are smoothed against the whipped cream and a dome shape is formed. Set aside in the fridge for an hour.
9. Thinly crumb coat the cake with American Buttercream. Return to the fridge to chill.
10. Roll out the marzipan on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar, to a 16in diameter circle, large enough to cover the cake. Lift the marzipan up over the cake and using your hands, shape the marzipan around the sides of the cake to get a smooth finish. Trim any excess.
11. Melt chocolate carefully in the microwave. Spoon the melted chocolate into a small piping bag. Snip off the end and pipe a swirl over the top of the cake.
12. Tint a small ball of white fondant or marzipan with red or pink food coloring. Roll out thinly. Use a small, 1 inch diameter cutter or a piping tip base of the same diameter to cut our several then circles. Using a dab of water to connect, overlap the circle in a line. Roll up and use fingers or a toothpick to shape the rose. Top with the fondant rose.
13. Use left over whipped cream to pipe around the base of the cake. Chill until ready to serve.

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