Dome of sponge layered with vanilla custard and whipped cream, sealed under pastel-green marzipan — Sweden's most photogenic cake.
Princess Cake was created in the 1920s by Jenny Åkerström, a home-economics teacher to the three Swedish princesses Margaretha, Märtha, and Astrid — hence the name. The construction: thin sponge, vanilla custard, raspberry jam, more sponge, custard, then a dome of whipped cream, all covered in a thin sheet of pale-green marzipan and topped with a pink marzipan rose. It became the standard birthday cake; Sweden's Cake Week in September is when bakeries try to one-up each other on it.
Cut through pastel-green marzipan into whipped cream, then a layer of vanilla custard, then a thin shock of raspberry, then sponge — four textures in one fork. The marzipan top stays just pliable, never sticky.
The cream dome must be over-piped so the marzipan sheet has something curved to drape over. Refrigeration sets the cream to dome-stable; warm assembly collapses the structure within an hour.
Variations
The 1960s yellow marzipan version (gula) became standard in Sweden; later restaurateurs created the pink princess cake — different colors, same architecture, different birthday-recipient.
On the Palate
Where Prinsesstårta sits in the Swedish flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
5 steps · 1 hour 12 min active + 1 hour 48 min waiting
- 136 min
Sponge: whisk 4 eggs + 150g sugar over hot water bath until tripled. Fold in 100g flour + 50g cornstarch sifted. Bake 175°C in a 23cm round 22 min. Cool, split horizontally into 3 thin layers.
Watch outThe batter is ready when the whisk leaves a ribbon that sits on top for a few seconds before sinking — that trapped air is what makes the sponge light.
- 236 min
Pastry cream: whisk 4 yolks + 80g sugar + 30g cornstarch. Bring 400ml milk + 1 vanilla pod to a simmer; pour over yolks whisking, return to pan, cook 2 min until thick. Cool with film on surface.
Watch outCook the custard until it coats the spoon and one big slow bubble plops up — pull it off before it scrambles.
- 336 min
Whip 500ml double cream to firm peaks.
- 436 min
Assemble: bottom sponge, ½ pastry cream, raspberry jam (50g); middle sponge, remaining pastry cream; top sponge; pile all the whipped cream on top, shape into a dome. Chill 1 hour.
Watch outPile the cream higher than looks right and pack it into a smooth dome — the marzipan needs that curve to drape without wrinkling.
- 536 min
Roll 400g green marzipan to a thin 33cm circle. Drape over the cake, smooth down sides, trim. Top with a pink marzipan rose. Dust with powdered sugar.
Watch outRoll the marzipan thin enough to see your hand through it — too thick and it cracks at the dome's shoulder instead of smoothing down.
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