[ed. note: This is part of our fantasy dinner series]
UC#2 has chosen the Prinsesstårta, or Swedish Princess Torte. This is a challenging baking project. The pastry is a multi-layered sponge cake with various fillings and a marzipan frosting.
Background and History
Princess cake (Swedish: prinsesstårta) is a traditional Swedish layer cake or torte consisting of alternating layers of airy sponge cake, pastry cream, and a thick-domed layer of whipped cream. The cake is covered by a layer of rolled marzipan, giving it a smooth, rounded top. The marzipan overlay is usually green, sprinkled with powdered sugar, and often decorated with a pink marzipan rose. While the original recipe did not contain any fruit, modern versions usually include layers of jam or fresh fruit, usually raspberries.
Origin and name
The original recipe first appeared in the 1948 Prinsessornas kokbok cookbook, which was published by Jenny Åkerström (1867-1957), teacher of the three daughters of Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland.
The cake was originally called grön tårta (green cake), but was given the name prinsesstårta or “princess cake” because the Swedish princesses were said to have been especially fond of the cake. The princesses were Princess Margaretha (1899–1977; later Princess of Denmark), Princess Märtha (1901–1954; later Crown Princess of Norway), and Princess Astrid (1905–1935; later Queen of the Belgians).
Wikipedia
For fun, let’s create an album of the Wikipedia fly-overs (in order).
The three princesses:
The original Swedish recipe book can still be found:
Veranda Vikings and the Princess Cake
The Veranda Vikings is a delightful website that chronicles the adventures of a rustic Scandinavian family. In addition to countryside photos, gardening, history, and recipes, the site includes the story of the Princess Cookbook.
Semi-Sequitur: The Veranda Vikings Build a Lego Snow Fort
The Recipe
We were attracted to Cecilia Tolone‘s recipe for the Princess Torte. Cecilia is a 3-star Michelin pastry chef living in Sweden.
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.
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!
Celina Tolone
The recipe is available on Cecilia’s web site. We also converted it to a PDF: https://www.wlbott.com/archives/PrinsesstårtaSwedishPrincessCakeCeciliaTolone.pdf
A Little AI to Ruin an Otherwise Nice Post
Creativity
Enjoyment
Prinsesstårta Portraiture
The WLBOTT Spin
Our Community
Not Everybody’s Happy
Even with cake and a crown, some people are never happy.
