Swedish Princess Cake II

(THIS is supposed to be the authentic recipe)

Prinsesstårta (adapted from Vår kok bok)
serves 12

For the sponge cake:
4 eggs
1 cup (225g) sugar
1/2 cup (62g) flour
1/2 cup (80g) potato starch flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
breadcrumbs

For the vanilla custard:
1 cup (240ml) heavy cream
4 egg yolks
3 tablespoons potato starch flour or 2 tablespoons corn starch
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla sugar or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the assembly:
2 cups (480ml) heavy cream, whipped
10 ounces (300g) marzipan
green and yellow food coloring
powdered sugar for dusting
purchased marzipan rose and leaves for garnish or extra marzipan and red food coloring to make your own rose and leaves

Make the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Thoroughly butter a 9″ x 2″ (2 liter) round baking pan. Toss in enough breadcrumbs to cover the bottom and sides of the pan and shake them around to ensure all surfaces are covered (the same as you would typically do with flour when baking a cake, you are just using breadcrumbs instead).

2. Place the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat on high speed until light colored and fluffy.

3. Blend the flour and baking powder together and carefully fold them into the egg and sugar mixture until thoroughly blended. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake in the lower portion of the oven for about 40 minutes or until golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool slightly in the pan before turning it out onto a rack to cool completely.

Make the vanilla custard

Place the cream, egg yolks, potato flour, and sugar in a small saucepan and whisk together (do not use a steel whisk as it can turn the custard grayish). Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. If cooking the custard with potato starch flour you need to use the custard shortly after you make it. If using corn starch the custard can be prepared a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator.

Prepare the marzipan

Knead the marzipan with your hands to soften it up and add the green and yellow food coloring sparingly until you have achieved a bright, spring green. Flatten the marzipan into a disk. Place it between two pieces of parchment paper or on a smooth surface dusted with powdered sugar and roll it into a thin, even circle ideally about 1/32″ (just under 2mm) thick but do the best you can to thin it out. Keep in mind the circle has to be large enough to cover the entire cake. You can dust the marzipan and work surface with powdered sugar if need be to prevent sticking.

Assemble the prinsesstårta (It’s helpful to refer to the pictures above)

Once the sponge cake has cooled completely, slice it into three layers keeping the top layer a bit thinner than the others. Start to assemble the prinsesstårta by spreading a thin layer of jam onto the bottom layer of the sponge cake. Add a generous layer of vanilla custard by either piping or spreading it over the jam. Add the next layer of sponge cake and another generous layer of vanilla custard. Whip the 2 cups (480ml) of heavy cream until stiff and pile a generous, fluffy mound onto the last custard layer. Add the final layer of sponge cake and gently form it into a dome shape over the cream being careful not to squish too much cream out of the sides. Spread a thin layer of cream over the top to even out and seal the surface. Gently lay the thin marzipan sheet over the top of the cake and use your hands to help define the shape. Trim the excess marzipan from the bottom of the cake by using a pizza or pastry wheel or a very sharp knife. Dust the top with sifted powdered sugar (you can use a tea strainer) and garnish with a pink marzipan rose with leaves. The cake needs to be refrigerated until serving time and any leftovers need to be refrigerated as well. Ideally the cake should be eaten the day it is made.

Swedish Princess Cake

From: Telegraph

Note: This is time consuming and difficult, so do it when you have a whole day free.

INGREDIENTS

75g raspberry jam

For the vanilla patisserie cream

1 vanilla pod
500ml whole milk
6 egg yolks
140g caster sugar
45g corn flour

For the cake layers

5 eggs
150g caster sugar
130g plain flour
1 tsp vanilla sugar

For the whipped cream

700ml whipping cream
2tbs icing sugar
1tsp vanilla sugar

To garnish

1 marzipan lid (available at Scandi Kitchen) – or 300g marzipan and green food colouring
1 tsp icing sugar

Marzipan rose

40g marzipan
1 drop red food colouring
1 drop green food colouring

DIRECTIONS

To make the patisserie cream, split the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds and add to a saucepan with the milk. Bring to the boil. Take care not to burn and turn off heat as soon as boiling point is reached.

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until it goes almost white, then turn off the whisk and add the corn flour. Turn the whisk back on medium and slowly add the hot milk to the bowl, whisking continuously.

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and bring back to the boil and cook for 1 minute to thicken. Turn off, sieve the mixture into a bowl, cling film and cool down completely in the fridge before using.

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6

Trace 3 identical circles onto baking paper – approximately 20-22 cm diameter. Place baking paper onto flat baking trays.

To make the cake layers, whisk the egg and sugar until white and fluffy. The key here is to whisk for a long time to incorporate as much air as possible as there are no raising agents in the mixture.

Sift the flour and vanilla sugar into the egg mixture and fold, very carefully, until completely incorporated. Preserve as much air as possible, so fold carefully but thoroughly.

Carefully divide the batter between the three circles and ensure batter fills the circles all the way around, neatly.

Bake in the oven until just golden brown and done – this will depend on your oven, but 5-6 minutes is usually fine.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack. Very carefully remove the baking paper – if it sticks, wet the back of the paper a little bit and it should come off with more ease.

On high speed, whisk all ingredients for the whipping cream until stiff peaks form. The cream needs to be quite firm to hold when decorating the cake – but take care not to over whip.

Place the first layer cake on the plate you wish to serve on. Spread a nice layer of raspberry jam, follow by a 1cm thick layer of the patisserie cream. Add another cake layer and repeat over again and then add the final cake layer on top (You may have a bit of excess patisserie cream left over).

On the top sponge layer, carefully add the whipped cream in a slightly flat “dome” shape – you will need to use a spatula here to get it quite smooth all over. You’re looking for around 3-4 cm “top” on the cake. Then carefully place the marzipan lid on top and over the edge of the cake, making sure the sides are completely covered and smooth. If you make your own marzipan lid, add the food colouring to the marzipan and roll it out into a round shape which you then put on the cake.

Sift powdered sugar on top, then use a piping nozzle and any leftover whipped cream to pipe rosettes of cream around the edge to hide the bottom of the marzipan and any folds.
To make an easy rose garnish, add few drops of food colouring to the marzipan – add icing sugar if it gets too sticky. Roll out a 1 mm thick piece, 2cm wide and around 10cm long. Roll it up loosely, nip the bottom together, spread the leaves a bit and voila: a marzipan rose for the top of your cake.

This cake greatly improves after a few hours in the fridge so all the flavours are soaked into the cake layers.

KAF Hard Rolls

Yield: 12 small rolls.

STARTER

1/2 cup cool water
1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/8 teaspoon instant yeast

DOUGH

all of the starter
3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup lukewarm water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast

EGG WASH

1 large egg white mixed with 1-2 tablespoon cool water

Instructions

DAY 1: Making the starter: (15 minutes)

Mix the starter ingredients together until smooth, cover, and let rest at room temperature overnight.

DAY 2: Making the rolls: (4 hours rise time, 3 hours fridge time, 30 min bake time) — these rolls are an ALL DAY affair.

1. Combine all of the dough ingredients and mix and knead them together — by hand, mixer or bread machine — until you’ve made a soft, somewhat smooth dough; it should be cohesive, but the surface may still be a bit rough. It may also stick to the bowl just the tiniest bit.
2. LET RISE 1 HOUR, then deflate and turn over.
3. LET RISE 2 HOURS, then deflate and turn over.
4. Shape dough into 12 balls.
5. LET RISE 1-2 HOURS, UNTIL PUFFY.
6. REFRIGERATE the rolls, covered, for 2-3 hours.
7. Preheat oven to 425 F.
8. MAKE EGG WASH. Brush onto rolls.
9. Slash a 1/4″ deep cut across the top of each roll. Immediately put the rolls into the oven.
10. Bake the rolls for 20 to 25 minutes, until they’re a deep golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and cool on a rack.
11. OR, for best crunch, open the oven door, and allow the rolls to cool in the turned-off, open-door oven.

RLB Cinnamon Bread

Yield: 2 loaves of bread

SPONGE STARTER:

2.25 c + 2.5 tbsp all purpose flour
1.75 c warm water
2 1/3 tbsp honey
3/4 tsp yeast

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a mixer bowl or other large bowl, combine the flour, water, honey, and instant yeast.
2. Whisk until very smooth to incorporate air, about 2 minutes.
3. The sponge will be the consistency of a thick batter.
4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.
5. EITHER:
   1. Let rest 1 hour; OR
   2. Lest rest 1 hour then fridge for up to 24 hours to develop flavor.

DOUGH:

2 c + 2.25 tbsp all purpose flour
1.75 c nonfat dry milk
3/4 tsp yeast
1 stick + 1 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

FIRST RISE:

1. Mix well add above to sponge.
2. RISE 1-4 hours at room temperature.

SECOND RISE:

1. Deflate.
2. Mix in kitchenaid mixer on low.
3. Add 2.25 tsp salt.
4. Add 1 c raisins
5. Let dough rest, covered, for 10 minutes.
6. In small bow, beat 1 egg.
7. In second bowl, beat 1/4 c sugar + 2 tbsp sugar and 4 tsp cinnamon together.
8. Cut dough into half, two loaves.
9. Roll out one loaf, cover with egg wash, add cinnamon sugar.
10. Do the same for the second loaf.
11. Cover both the loaves with plastic wrap and let RISE 1-2 hours.

BAKE:

1. Preheat oven 350 F.
2. Bake 35-40 min.
3. Brush tops of bread with melted butter.
4. Let cool a bit before taking out of loaf pans.

 

 NOTE: This is a fiddly recipe. I wouldn’t make it again, it’s too much of a bother. However, it does taste great, especially lightly toasted with a huge lump of butter.

Hard Rolls (Half Recipe)

Ingredients:

1 packages (1 tbsp) active dry yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1 c warm water
1/2 tbsp kosher salt
1/2 c gluten flour OR bread flour
2-2.5 c soft wheat flour OR cake flour OR pastry flour

cornmeal
egg wash (1 egg white + 2 tbsp water)

Directions:

1. Combine yeast, sugar and warm water in large bowl. Let stand until frothy.
2. Mix salt and gluten flour and add to yeast mixture.
3. Add soft wheat flour, 1 c at a time, until you have a firm dough.
4. Remove to a lightly floured board and knead until no longer sticky, around 10 min, adding flour as necessary.
5. Place in oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface of the dough.
6. Cover and let rise 2 h or until doubled in bulk.
7. Punch down the dough.
8. Turn out onto a floured board and knead for 2 min.
9. Cut dough into 24 pieces and form into balls.
10. Place on baking sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal.
11. Slash the tops of the rolls.
12. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 min.
13. Place 4 custard cups of boiling water on the corners of your oven rack.
14. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
15. Brush rolls with egg wash.
16. Place the baking sheet on the rack and bake for 25 to 30 min
17. Bake until the rolls are nicely browned and sound hollow when tapped.
18. Remove to a rack to cool.

NOTE: Original recipe has a salt water wash, and requires the oven be opened every 5 minutes to reglaze with salt water. Opening and closing the oven so many times increases the cooking time. Glazing with salt water makes the buns ridiculously salty. KAF has the same recipe, seems like they borrowed heavily from James Beard, and just changed his salt wash to an egg wash. Having made the original James Beard recipe, I can totally see why.