Saturday, October 22, 2005

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.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

happy birthday to you!!!

Kalyn Denny said...

Hey, congratulations. That's a lot of posting.

Mona said...

Happy Birthday to your blog! That's really exciting, and time is flyin by. I can't believe it's almost November!! Love the color of the cake :)

Anonymous said...

Congrats! Time flies by.. Puh.. One whole year. Keep up the good work Anne!

Cerebrum said...

Happy birthday Bloggity Blog! Did you get a present? Something along the lines of a big, red espresso maker??;-)

The cake looks gorgeous - I think Prinsesstårta was one of the first "pretty cakes" I ever tried making - I remember because I colored the marzipan myself and it took FOREVER to incorporate all that food coloring into the pretty large amount of marzipan... it tasted superb though!

Niki said...

Happy birthday Anne; I'm happy to be one of your readers right from near the start, when you sent me a comment just after the IMBB Christmas Cookie swap - which alerted me to your existence. It was so exciting for me to have a reader (and blog to read) in 'exotic' Sweden. I even remember when your blog was known by its former name! :-)
I hope to keep reading for a long time to come; I do love popping to read what you're up to.
(PS - our food channel has just started screening a Swedish cooking show (in English) hosted by Tina Nordstrom (?). I've only seen one episode but she was cooking for the midsummer festival - making her own flavoured schnapps and all!!)

Anne said...

Thanks everyone! :)

Zarah Maria - still very much thinking about it... haven't bought it just yet though! And I could NOT bear the thought of rolling my own marsipan for this.. sigh, next time. Or not.

Niki - aww, exotic Sweden indeed. :) I love reading your blog too, and I hope we'll both keep going for a very long time! Cool - Tina has a show here in Sweden too, and I'm actually not so fond of her, but some of her recipes are very nice. I hear that the international show has been pretty successful!

Elin said...

Hipp hipp hurra! You are the Queen of all Swedish Foodblogs!

Lena said...

Grattis Bloggen! Blev det någon present?

Nic said...

Niki isn't the only one who remembers the original name! Happy Blog Birthday, Anne. I hope you keep it going to a long time yet.

Cissi said...

Massor med grattis på din bloggfödelsedag! Jag fattar inte hur du orkar hålla tempot uppe med nya inlägg varje dag - starkt jobbat!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!! Here's to many more posts.

I just started last week, myself.

Maria said...

Grattis i efterskott! Din blogg rockar! :-D

Anonymous said...

Happy Blog Birthday, Anne!!! You're doing a fantastic job with your daily posts and great recipes!!!

The cake looks wonderful!

debbie koenig said...

Happy blogbirthday, Anne! Your beautiful cake is so much more celebratory than my crummy Alphabits...

Anonymous said...

Midsommar is soon and i'm a Swede lover!! (lived there last yr for one yr)
i am making princesstarta today ;)

thank youuu for the recipe!!!!!
Glad midsommar till dig Anna!!!!
ALSKAR DIN BLOG!!!!

Anonymous said...

Jag älskar prinsesstårta! Måste vara den godaste tårtan i hela världen. Jag åt negelsk födelsedagstårta en gång (vet dock inte hur traditionell den var) som smakade förjävligt...

Emilie said...

I've just dscovered your website by searching this recipe.
I love scandinavian food therefore am I so happy to add your site to my faves :-)