Happy Birthday Dear Blog!

Yes - it's time for Anne's Food's first birthday! I posted my first post exactly one year ago. Exciting, isn't it? I can't believe how fast time has passed...

Well, a celebration is in order, of course. So, I decided to make a classic Swedish cake - Prinsesstårta. This translates to Princess Cake, and the rumor is that once upon a time, three Swedish princesses had a teacher - Jenny Åkerström - who taught them how to cook and bake, and she invented this cake. Well. I don't know. But I do know that you can find it any Swedish café or bakery. Opinions differ on whether or not you should include jam. I like jam, so I include it. You can do as you please. However, you can not bargain away any of the other components - the very light and fluffy cake, the creamy vanilla custard, the whipped cream, or the very important bright green marzipan lid. (You can buy this ready made, or roll out your own. Guess what I did?)

For the cake:
200 g eggs - about four
100 g sugar
100 g flour

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Butter and line a 24 cm springform. Beat the eggs and the sugar lightly, then place over a hot water bath and beat vigourously until very very fluffy, and slightly hot to the touch. (This takes quite a while, even with electric beaters.) Carefully fold in the flour. Place in springform, and bake for 15-20 minutes, use a cake tester or the tip of a sharp knife to check for doneness. Take out, release from springform, place on a rack and place the springform inverted on top while it cools.

For the custard:
3 egg yolks
250 ml milk
1 vanilla bean
20 g cornstarch
60 g sugar
15 g butter

Score the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds into a saucepan. Add the milk - and the bean - and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and let the milk infuse for ten minutes. (Put a lid on top.) Meanwhile, mix the egg yolks with cornstarch and sugar. When the milk is done, remove the vanilla bean, and pour the hot milk over the egg mixture. Mix well, and pour back into the saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring CONSTANTLY. It will thicken a lot all of a sudden. Remove from heat, and quickly beat in the butter. Then press through a sieve into a clean container, straight away. Cool quickly, preferrably in a cold water bath.

You also need:
300 ml whipping cream, whipped with a tiny bit of sugar to fairly stiff
1 marzipan lid
a couple of tablespoons of jam

Assembly:

Divide the cake into two layers. (Or three, if you're up to it.) On the bottom layer, start with a very thin layer of jam. (Use your favorite - I'm using a seedless raspberry-violet jam from Christine Ferber.) Follow with a thick layer of custard. Add a little bit of whipped cream. Top with the second layer. Again, use a little bit of jam. Mix the remaining custard with a little bit of whipped cream. Spread this on the second layer. Try to make it slightly rounded, higher in the middle. Top this with the whipped cream. This time, be very careful about shaping. Top - careful, careful - with the marzipan lid. Decorate as you wish.