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Well, summer is officially over.

The kids are back at daycare/school and, after 3 mere days, they are sick. Our 4 year-old daughter had the misfortune of catching a fever on Friday and missing the entire weekend of activities due to it. Her biggest concern was missing the two birthday parties she had been invited to. No friends, no games and no cake.

The least I could do was make her a cake in compensation.

"Princesstårta" (or, "Princess cake") is the go-to birthday cake in Sweden for boys, girls, men and women. The majority of the cake's components are available pre-made in Sweden. I prefer to make my own although I cheated somewhat as I did not color and roll-out my own marzipan cover.

I started by making a thick vanilla creme.

You'll need:



5 eggs, 2 oz flour, 2 cups of whole milk, 3/4 cup sugar and a vanilla bean.

Start by seperating your eggs and adding the sugar to the yolks. Do whatever you want to with the whites...



Whip the yolks and sugar until thick and fluffy.



Add the flour and mix.



Split and scrape the vanilla pod. Add the pod and seeds to the milk. Heat the milk until just boiling.



Gradually add the hot milk to the egg yolk mixture and dump it all back into the saucepan (this is a two-handed job so no pics...). Bring to a gentle boil and let bubble for a few minutes. It should be very thick:



Cool the creme.



Meanwhile, assemble all of the ingredients for the cake.



That's 1/3 cup cornstarch, the vanilla creme, raspberry preserves, 1/3 cup flour, one cup of whipping cream, 4 eggs, 2/3 cup sugar, 2 tsp baking powder and one pre-made marzipan cover.

Start by making the cake. Once again, add the sugar to the eggs and beat until light and fluffy.





Add the cornstarch, flour and baking soda and fold carefully until incorporated.



Pour into a prepared cake pan...



... and bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes:



Let the cake cool.

When cool, cut the cake into 3 layers.



Spread about 1 cup of the vanilla creme over the bottom layer...



... and cover with another layer of cake. Pour about 1/2 cup of raspberry preserves onto this layer and spread evenly to cover.



Place the final layer of cake on top of the preserves, whip the cream and dump it on top of the cake.



Carefully even out the cream and cover the edges of the cake. You'll want to leave most of it, though, in a pile on top of the cake.



If using uncolored marzipan, add a few drops of food coloring (green is traditional) and carefully roll out into a disk that will cover the cake and its sides. Or, if living in Sweden, just pick up a pre-made cover!



Cover the cake with the marzipan and sprinkle with powdered sugar:





Serve, try to forget about the weekend's missed birthday parties and, well enjoy!

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My flickr food photos

For the recipe index:

Princesstårta/Swedish princess cake

Start by making a thick vanilla creme with:

5 eggs
2 oz flour
2 cups of whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean

Seperate the eggs and add the yolks to the sugar. Whisk until thick and fluffy. Add the flour and mix.

Split and scrape the vanilla pod. Add the pod and seeds to the milk. Heat the milk until just boiling.

Gradually add the hot milk to the egg yolk mixture and dump it all back into the saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil and let bubble for a few minutes. It should be very thick. Cool the creme.

When the creme is finished and cooled, assemble:

1/3 cup cornstarch
the vanilla creme
1/2 raspberry preserves
1/3 cup flour
1 cup of whipping cream
4 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
about 1/2 marzipan
a few drops of food coloring (green is traditional)

Start by making the cake. Add the sugar to the eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Add the cornstarch, flour and baking soda and fold carefully until incorporated. Pour into a prepared cake pan and bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes. Let cool.

When cool, cut the cake into 3 layers. Spread about 1 cup of the vanilla creme over the bottom layer and cover with a layer of cake. Pour about 1/2 cup of raspberry preserves onto this layer and spread evenly to cover. Place the final layer of cake on top of the preserves, whip the cream and dump it on top of the cake. Carefully even out the cream and cover the edges of the cake. You'll want to leave most of it, though, in a pile on top of the cake.

Add a few drops of food coloring to the marzipan, mix and carefully roll out into a disk that will cover the cake and its sides. Cover the cake with the marzipan and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve.

_________________
My flickr food photos

Wow, Bridgestone, that's a lovely version. I had never heard of this cake until Josephine mentioned it during your last foray into baking; I've been meaning to try one (wish I'd thought of this earlier this year! )

Wish I'd grown up with your version of "feed a fever, starve a cold." Hope the little one is feeling better! We've spent our first entire summer cold and flu-free - which means that I'm dreading the inevitable next week when Sparky is back in school, too...

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No guts, no glory.
http://www.chicagonow.com/quips-travails-braised-oxtails
http://quipstravailsandbraisedoxtails.blogspot.com/

Looks delicious. Great post as always Bridgestone.

And of course, right after we visited school to meet the teacher, Sparky is sick. I made him chicken soup, secure in the knowledge that he doesn't read LTHForum and won't find out how much luckier kids are on the other side of the world ...

_________________
No guts, no glory.
http://www.chicagonow.com/quips-travails-braised-oxtails
http://quipstravailsandbraisedoxtails.blogspot.com/

I love princess cake, but I am not at all confident that I could create one from scratch - I've never been any good at splitting cake layers, for one, and for another the concept of rolling out marzipan frightens me - but luckily, with the Swedish Bakery within walking distance, I don't have to

Excellent recipe porn, though.

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As a mattra-fact, Pie Face, you are beginning to look almost human. - Barbara Bennett

Thanks everyone! Your kind comments are greatly appreciated.

I'd love to see a picture or read a description of the Swedish Bakery version of Princesstårta. The layer of jam that I use isn't necessarily traditional although I think that it adds some color and tartness to what is otherwise a very sweet and mild cake. I kind of doubt that the Swedish Bakery's version would have jam in it.

Thanks again.

_________________
My flickr food photos

Bridgestone, your cake looks and sounds wonderful. Swedish Bakery does not have online photos of their conventional cake or slices, but here are links to their wedding cake versions:
http://www.swedishbakery.com/site/epage/27891_222.htm
http://www.swedishbakery.com/site/epage/2775_222.htm

I happened to be in the venerable Wuollets in St. Paul yesterday and saw such a cake, garnished with sliced almonds. It was described as having "[R]aspberries and cream, layered with genoise".

BTW, I had a lemon blueberry scone, my boys had cherry and lemon danishes, and my husband had two sticky buns, which he complains he can't find a proper rendition of in Chicago. All were excellent.

I happened to be in Sweedish Bakery today (I ran into Katsu and his wife, but I digress). The description of the Princesstårta did not include jam. It only had a custard layer and a whipped cream layer; topped by green marzipan, of course.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Thanks everyone for all of the reports.

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My flickr food photos

Bridgestone,

You have some serious competition in the world of LTH, but you are my nominee for Father of the Year. Your daughter is a lucky girl.

Josephine

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Man : I can't understand how a poet like you can eat that stuff.
T. S. Eliot: Ah, but you're not a poet.