# Princess Cake (Prinsesstårta) By The Intern · 2026-11-08 · https://ricottabear.com/princess-cake The Swedish classic: sponge, raspberry jam, vanilla pastry cream and a tall dome of whipped cream under a sheet of homemade marzipan. ## The story Prinsesstårta is the green dome you see in every Swedish bakery window. Underneath the marzipan are three layers of light sponge, one spread with raspberry jam and one with vanilla pastry cream, then a big mound of whipped cream shaped into a dome. Everything here is made from scratch, including the jam and the marzipan, which is just almond flour, powdered sugar, water and almond extract kneaded together. No eggs, no cooking. It is a lot of parts, so spread it over two days: make the jam and pastry cream the day before so they are fully cold, then bake, assemble and cover on the day. The marzipan colours easily with gel colouring and models well, so it is also the place to get creative. Skandibaking’s recipe, written out here in my own words. ## Recipe: Princess Cake (Prinsesstårta) Swedish princess cake: three layers of sponge with raspberry jam and vanilla pastry cream, a whipped cream dome, and a cover of homemade no-cook marzipan. Serves 10. > Status: UNTESTED. The author has not made this yet; quantities and timings may change. - Makes: 10 servings - Prep: 2 hr 30 min - Bake: 35 min - Total: 3 hr 5 min ### Ingredients **Raspberry jam** - 170 g (1⅜ cups) raspberries, frozen or fresh - 75 g (⅜ cup) granulated sugar - ⅛ tsp table salt - 1½ tsp lemon juice **Pastry cream** - 2 large egg yolks - 25 g (2 tbsp) granulated sugar - ⅛ tsp table salt - ½ tsp vanilla extract, or vanilla bean paste - 13 g (1⅞ tbsp) cornstarch - 200 ml (⅞ cup) milk - 14 g (1 tbsp) unsalted butter **Sponge** - 4 large eggs, room temperature - 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar - 240 ml (1 cup) milk - 45 g (3⅛ tbsp) unsalted butter - 1 tsp vanilla extract - ½ tsp almond extract - 240 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour - 2 tsp baking powder - ¼ tsp table salt **Marzipan** - 375 g (3⅞ cups) almond flour, super fine, blanched - 375 g (3⅓ cups) powdered (icing) sugar - 4 tbsp water, up to 5 - 2 tsp almond extract - green gel food coloring, for the cover - red or pink gel food coloring, optional, for the rose **Whipped cream** - 700 ml (3 cups) heavy cream, cold - 1½ tsp vanilla extract, or vanilla bean paste - 1 tbsp powdered (icing) sugar, optional, helps it hold ### Method 1. **Make the jam.** Put the raspberries, sugar, salt and lemon juice in a small pan over medium-low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until thick. Cool for at least 20 minutes, then chill. Best made the day before. 2. **Start the pastry cream.** Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, salt, vanilla and cornstarch in a heatproof bowl until completely smooth. Heat the milk in a pan until it just starts to steam, then turn off the heat. 3. **Temper and thicken.** Whisking hard, pour at least half the hot milk into the yolks. Pour everything back into the pan, set it over medium-low heat and whisk constantly until it thickens; it has to get close to a boil for the cornstarch to work. Whisk in the butter. 4. **Chill the pastry cream.** Scrape it into a container and press cling film onto the surface so no skin forms. Leave 15 minutes at room temperature, then chill until completely cold. Also best made the day before. 5. **Heat the oven.** Heat the oven to 165°C (325°F). Grease and line a 23 cm (9 to 9.5 in) round pan. A 25 cm pan works but makes three layers hard to cut. Oven: 330°F / 165°C (145°C fan). 6. **Warm the milk and butter.** Melt the butter into the milk in a small pan, then let it cool for 10 to 15 minutes until just warm. 7. **Whip the eggs.** Beat the room-temperature eggs and sugar until roughly doubled, pale and a little thick: what falls from the whisk should sit on the surface for a second before sinking. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts. 8. **Fold in flour and milk.** Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Sift in half and fold gently (or mix 10 to 15 seconds on low), then add half the milk and butter. Repeat with the rest, then fold a few more times until smooth, scraping the bottom and sides. 9. **Bake.** Pour into the pan; it fills it right to the top but should not overflow. A tray on the rack below catches any drips. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until golden and a tester comes out clean, longer if your oven runs cool. Cool completely on a rack, or wrap and chill overnight. Oven: 330°F / 165°C (145°C fan). 10. **Make the marzipan.** Mix the almond flour, powdered sugar, almond extract and 4 tablespoons water in a stand mixer with the paddle, or by hand, until it comes together. If it is still crumbly, add the last tablespoon of water. It should feel like play dough: not sticky, not crumbly. 11. **Colour it.** Pull off a ball about 5 cm across for the rose and tint it with less than a drop of red or pink gel. Knead green gel into the rest, 5 or 6 drops to start, until the colour is even. Gel keeps the texture; liquid colouring can make it wet. Wrap and chill until you are ready. 12. **Make the rose.** Roll the pink marzipan about 3 mm thick on a silicone mat and cut small rounds with a shot glass. Fold one in half and pinch the base, do the same with a second, press them together, then wrap more rounds around them to build the petals. 13. **Roll the cover.** Roll the green marzipan on a silicone mat or parchment into a large round about 6 mm thick. Do not go thinner or it can tear. It will be much bigger than the cake; that is what you want. 14. **Layer the cake.** Whip the cream, vanilla and powdered sugar to stiff peaks just before assembling. Level the domed top of the sponge with a serrated knife, then cut it into three even layers. On the serving plate: sponge, all the jam, sponge, all the pastry cream, sponge. 15. **Build the dome.** Pile the whipped cream on top and shape it into a smooth dome with an offset spatula. Spread a thin layer over the sides so the marzipan has something smooth to sit on. 16. **Cover.** Lift the marzipan over the cake in one go, using the mat or by rolling it loosely around the rolling pin. Smooth out air pockets and trim the excess at the base. 17. **Finish.** Use the leftover green marzipan for a collar around the bottom, plain, scalloped or pressed with a pie-edge mold, and set the rose on top. Dust with powdered sugar if you like. Keep it in the fridge. Notes: Spread it over two days: jam and pastry cream the day before, sponge, marzipan and assembly on the day. The marzipan is egg-free and uncooked, and it takes gel colouring well, so leftovers are good for modelling decorations.