Princess cake ( sv, prinsesstårta) is a traditional Swedish
layer cake
A layer cake (US English) or sandwich cake (UK English) is a cake consisting of multiple stacked sheets of cake, held together by frosting or another type of filling, such as jam or other preserves. Most cake recipes can be adapted for lay ...
or
torte
A torte (from German ''Torte'' ( (in turn from Latin via Italian ''torta'')) is a rich, usually multilayered, cake that is filled with whipped cream, buttercreams, mousses, jams, or fruit.
Ordinarily, the cooled torte is glazed and garnish ...
consisting of alternating layers of airy
sponge cake
Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most of them do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated ...
, pastry cream, raspberry jam and a thick-domed layer of whipped cream. The cake is covered by a layer of
marzipan
Marzipan is a confectionery, confection consisting primarily of sugar, honey, and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract.
It is often made into Confectionery, sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzi ...
, giving it a smooth rounded top. The marzipan overlay is usually green, sprinkled with
powdered sugar
Powdered sugar, also called confectioners' sugar, or icing sugar, is a finely ground sugar produced by milling granulated sugar into a powdered state. It usually contains between 2% and 5% of an anti-caking agent – such as corn starch, po ...
, and often decorated with a pink marzipan rose.
![PrincessCake](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/PrincessCake.jpg)
The original
recipe
A recipe is a set of instructions that describes how to prepare or make something, especially a dish of prepared food. A sub-recipe or subrecipe is a recipe for an ingredient that will be called for in the instructions for the main recipe.
His ...
first appeared in the 1948 ''Prinsessornas kokbok''
cookbook
A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes.
Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food.
Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cour ...
, which was published by
Jenny Åkerström (1867-1957), teacher of the three daughters of
Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland
Prince Carl of Sweden and Norway, Duke of Västergötland (27 February 1861 – 24 October 1951) was a Swedish prince. Through his daughters, for whom he arranged excellent dynastic marriages, he is an ancestor of several members of European roy ...
. While the original recipe did not contain any fruit, modern versions may include layers of jam or fresh fruit, usually raspberries. Variants with other colours of marzipan are occasionally called ''prinstårta'' (prince cake) for yellow marzipan and ''operatårta'' (opera cake) for red or pink marzipan.
The cake was originally called ''grön tårta'' (green cake), but was given the name ''prinsesstårta'' or "
princess
Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince.
Princess as a subst ...
cake" because the 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).
See also
*
Frog cake
The frog cake is an Australian dessert in the shape of a frog's head, composed of sponge cake and cream covered with fondant. It was created by the Balfours bakery circa 1923, and soon became a popular treat in South Australia. Originally fro ...
, a broadly similar Australian dessert
*
List of cakes
The following is a list of types of dessert cakes by country of origin and distinctive ingredients. The majority of the cakes contain some kind of flour, egg, and sugar. Cake is often served as a celebratory dish on ceremonial occasions such as we ...
References
{{Portal bar, Food
Marzipan
Sponge cakes
Layer cakes
Foods with jam
Swedish desserts