Daring Bakers - Prinsesstarta

I joined Daring Bakers oh so long ago now so that I could make pretty cakes.  The strawberry mirror cake inspired me to join, and while we make all kinds of things, pretty cakes are still my favourite things to make.  This month, I got to fulfil a long held ambition to make a particular type of pretty cake that I first saw on Anne's Food. 

Korena of Korena in the Kitchen was our May Daring Bakers’ host and she delighted us with this beautiful Swedish Prinsesstårta!

Prinsesstårta is a traditional Swedish cake, comprising layers of fluffy sponge sandwiched together with red jam, crème patisserie and cream, then covered with (usually) bright green marzipan and topped off with a pink marzipan rose:

I think it took me so long to get around to making this cake because it all sounds rather daunting.  However, since I first discovered Prinsesstårta, I have made the individual components many times for other recipes, so this one didn't phase me.

I used store bought marzipan tinted with green gel colouring, and for the jam, I chose strawberry (as I have a huge pot of it).  For some reason, this custard recipe did not like me and it split - I wonder if this is because it contains cream rather than milk, which is what I am used to using to make crème patisserie.  The custard never quite came back together and it chilled with a nasty hard fat layer on top, which I removed.  Starting again isn't an option when several egg yolks are involved. I also rolled my marzipan a little too thin because I was 30g short of the recipe requirement (as marzipan is sold here in 250g boxes), so it tore a little in a few places.  I disguised my sins with little marzipan leaves cut from the offcuts placed discreetly over the tears.

In the end,  none of this mattered - I received high praise from the recipients of this cake:

They didn't know about my trials and tribulations, and I didn't tell them.  I have to say that Prinsesstårta tastes delicious - a heavenly cake fit for royalty. 

Thanks to Korena for setting this challenge.  She will have the recipe.  To check out what the other Daring Bakers made of this month's challenge, you can visit the slide show on the Daring Kitchen website in due course.