Swedish Easter Cake Påsktårta

Happy Easter everybody! No matter where you are, I hope you have a wonderful holiday with family and loved ones. 

To celebrate this year, I did an Easter-inspired take on a truly classic Swedish dessert, Prinsesstårta (Princess Cake). In Sweden this is our go-to cake for any big celebration - birthdays, graduations, weddings, you name it. For me, it tastes like home and brings back so many happy memories with family and friends. 

Oh, and it's amazing.

Princess cake is different from your typical buttercream cake. Between layers of light, airy base (often with a hint of orange or lemon zest) you'll find raspberry jam and vanilla custard. On top of that you have a thick layer of whipped cream. And if that's not enough, the whole thing is covered with marzipan. 

Typically, princess cake is green or pink and decorated with a small marzipan rose. I made mine yellow, and instead of the traditional rose, I built a bird's nest out of layers of chocolate. I then added chocolate candy eggs to the nest with a touch of gold leaf. As a finishing touch, I speckled chocolate around the base of the cake to mimic a bird's egg.

You'll find a recipe and a step-by-step guide for the Princess cake below. It takes a little effort, but it's so worth it. As we say in Swedish, Lycka till (Good luck)!

Glad Påsk vänner! I år gjorde jag en påskinspirerad prinsesstårta. Istället för den traditionsenliga marsipanrosen gjorde jag ett fågelnäste utav smält choklad, som jag sedan fyllde med chokladägg och dekorerade med bladguld. Enkelt, men åh så gott! Jag har gjort en steg-för-steg av tårtan här nedan. Lycka till!

Cake base
from Buffé

4 eggs
180 g sugar
60 g flour
80 g potato starch (Bob's Red Mill carries it)
1 tsp baking powder
zest from half a lemon
zest from half an orange
butter and flour for the cake pan


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 345 degrees.
2. Butter and flour a 9 inch springform pan. 
3. Whip eggs and sugar until fluffy, about three minutes.
4. Mix flour, potato starch and baking powder in a bowl.
5. Sift the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Add the zest. Gently fold with a spatula until a smooth batter.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the lower part of the oven for about 30 minutes.
7. Let cool before slicing into three layers.

Raspberry jam

500 g frozen or fresh raspberries
270 g sugar

Pour berries and sugar into a saucepan. Over medium heat, bring to a boil and let boil for about 10 minutes. Pour into a bowl and let cool.

Vanilla Custard

from Leila Lindholm

500 g milk (3%)

1 vanilla pod

135 g sugar

7 egg yolks

40 g corn starch

50 g butter, softened

 Directions:

1. Split the vanilla pod in half, scrape out the seeds and put both seeds and the pod in a sauce pan with the milk. Bring to a boil.
2.  Whip the egg yolks with sugar and corn starch. Pour in the hot milk, while whisking.
3. Pour the mixture back into the pot and carefully heat the liquid, while whisking. As soon as the vanilla cream has started to thicken, take the pot off the heat and pour the crème into a cold bowl.
4. Add the butter, stir until fully melted, and let it cool in a refrigerator. Stir occasionally to prevent a skin to form.

500 ml heavy whipping cream
1,5 tsp vanilla sugar (small bags by Dr. Oetker sold in many grocery stores by the spices section)

Start whipping the heavy cream, and add the vanilla sugar halfway through. Make sure that the whipping cream is not too lose or too firm. It is made just right when you can turn your bowl upside down and the whipped cream doesn't move.


600 g marzipan (sold in baking isles by brand Odense)
A couple drops of gel food coloring

Knead the marzipan and add the food coloring. Continue to knead until the color has been fully incorporated. Cover the marzipan in plastic wrap until ready to use.

To make the Princess cake:

1. Using a sharp knife, divide the cake into three layers. Insert the knife in the side and gently work your way around the cake until you've reached full circle.

2. Spread the jam on the bottom layer. 

3. Place another cake layer on top of the jam. Spread a generous amount of vanilla custard on top.

4. Add a third cake layer, and top with whipped cream.

5. Once cake is covered, add extra cream on top to create a dome.

6. Make sure the surface of the whipped cream is smooth. This will help you layer the marzipan evenly. Let the cake chill in the fridge for 15 mins to set.

7. In the meantime, melt dark chocolate over a water bath or in the microwave. Using a pastry bag (or ziplock with a hole cut in one corner), pour the chocolate into circles on parchment paper. Refrigerate until set, approximately 10 minutes.

8. Color the marzipan with a color of your choice. Using a rolling pin, roll out the marzipan on a non-stick surface (I use a silicone mat). Remove the cake from the fridge, and cover with marzipan.

9. Gently press down the sides of the cake, making sure to smooth out any bumps. I like using disposable gloves, so my hands don't stick to the marzipan. 

10. Trim the edges of the cake using a sharp knife.

11. To make speckles, mix powdered cocoa with a little water, and using a clean paint brush, splatter onto the bottom of the cake. You should cover up with parchment paper any part of the cake you don't want speckled.


12,  Remove the chocolate from the fridge, and stack them on top of the cake, to create a bird's nest. Fill the nest with chocolate candy eggs.

Happy Easter, and Glad Påsk! I'd love to hear how it turns out for you, so please feel free to comment below.

Mini Double Chocolate Raspberry Cakes Minichokladtårtor med hallon

There's been this recipe by the Swedish master baker, Roy Fares, that I have been eyeing for the longest time. A chocolate cake with a hint of coffee, a to-die-for dark chocolate crémeux with raspberry puree, and a silky smooth milk chocolate meringue buttercream. 

Oh, and a chocolate glaze dripping down the sides. When it comes to cakes, there's no such thing as too much chocolate.

We had two good friends over for some late night fika this weekend. One of them, Charles, had just celebrated his birthday, and our friend Paul is moving back home to Los Angeles for a new job opportunity. This seemed like the perfect time to try out the recipe. Usually I would make one big cake, but I thought it would be fun to do something different and more personal.  (Besides, having a half leftover cake in the fridge when you're a stay at home mom is not the best idea...)

I'll be honest, mini cakes can be pretty time consuming, but they make for a beautiful presentation. Besides, doesn't it feel more special to get your own little cake?

Also, can we stop for a minute and talk about the chocolate crémeux? I'd never heard the term before, but learned that it means 'creamy' in French. I would describe it as a silky, smooth, and rich chocolate filling. It has a dark chocolate taste, almost bitter, but a sweet raspberry finish. I'm in love.

Big cake, little cake, doesn't matter. You'll love it!

Vi hade våra vänner Charles och Paul över på en fika i helgen för att fira en födelsedag och ett nytt jobb. Jag har länge velat baka Roy Fares berömda Double Chocolate Raspberrytårta, så det blev ett perfekt tillfälle! Istället för att baka en stor tårta, gjorde jag miniversioner som blev väldigt uppskattade. En fantastiskt god tårta som kommer att bakas igen. Receptet hittar du här nedan - du kommer att älska den!

Double Chocolate Raspberry Cake

by Roy Fares

Dark Chocolate Cremeux 

200g dark chocolate 64%

45g sugar (1/2 dl)

60g egg yolks (4st)

175g heavy cream (1 3/4 dl)

150g raspberry puree(1 1/2 dl)

(35g Cognac (2 msk) if you like)

1. Chop the chocolate and put in a bowl. 
2. Mix the egg yolks with sugar in a separate bowl. 
3. In a saucepan, boil the heavy cream and raspberry puree. Add it to the egg yolk mixture and stir. 
4. Pour it back into the saucepan, and on low heat, stir until the mixture thickens. Pour over the chocolate. (If using cognac, add to the chocolate mixture.)
5. Let stand for a few minutes and stir until a smooth creme.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Cake

330g flour (5 ½ dl)

510g sugar (6 dl)

120g cacao (3 dl)

15g baking soda (1 msk)

7g baking powder (1 ½ tsk)

10g salt (1 ½ tsk)

10g vanilla sugar (1 msk)

165g eggs, room temp (3)

350g milk, room temp (3 ½ dl)

180g vegetable oil (2 dl)

350g hot coffee(3 ½ dl)

1. Preheat oven to 310 degrees. Butter and flour four 8" cake pans, and cover the bottoms with parchment paper. 
2. Sift together all dry ingredients into a bowl. 
3. In a seperate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and oil. 
4. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and blend until a thick and smooth batter. Add the coffee and mix well. 
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pans (about 410 grams in each) and bake on the center oven rack for about 40 minutes.
6. Check with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean and the cake is ready.
7. Let the pans cool.
8. If you can'r fit all of the pands in the oven at the same time, it is fine to let it sit until the first batch is done.
9. Let cool completely and remove from the pans. 

Milk chocolate meringue buttercream 

300g milk chocolate

450g unsalted butter, room temp 

10g vanilla sugar (1 msk)

150g egg whites (4–5)

220g sugar (2 ½ dl)

1 pinch salt

1. Chop the chocolate, and in a bowl, melt over a water bath. 
2. Set aside and let cool to room temp. 
3. Put egg whites, sugar and salt in a bowl, and heat over a water bath until the sugar crystals have melted. Whisk every now and then. Lägg äggvitor, socker och salt i en skål. 
4. Remove from heat, and with a whisk or kitchen aid, beat the meringue until it has cooled and stiff peaks form.
5. Add the butter while whisking, a little at a time, and then add the chocolate.

Chocolate Glaze

100 g unsalted butter

50 g water (1/2dl)

140 g dark choclate

1. Melt the butter and water in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add the chocolate, and stir until the choclate is completely melted. 
3. Take off heat, set aside and let cool.

Pokémon Birthday Cake Pokémontårta

This weekend we got to celebrate our sons' buddy, Dany, who turned six years old. Dany loves Pokémon, so I made him a cake with his favorite character, Pikachu. (That's the yellow little creature, for all of you who don't know.)

It's funny, I talked to some parents at the party, and we realized we know nothing about Pokémon, even though it was a big hit in the late 1990's. We do, however, remember the Tamagotchi. We all had key chains with our own little pet that we had to feed, put down for naps, and potty train. Basically, we all unknowingly got ready for parenthood!

Instead of a regular vanilla cake, I tried a new recipe for a buttermilk cake from The Sweetapolita Bakebook, and I really liked it. I filled the cake with a strawberry mousse and covered it with a vanilla bean buttercream and fondant. The number six and Pikachu were made out of fondant as well.

Happy Birthday once again, Dany!

I helgen firade vi pojkarnas kompis, Dany, som fyllde sex år. Han älskar Pokémon och speciellt Pikachu, så jag gjorde en Pokémoninspirerad tårta till honom. Tårtan hade buttermilkbottnar (ungefär som filmjölk och kärnmjölk) och var fylld med jordgubbsmousse och täckt med vaniljsmörkräm och fondant. Figurerna var även gjorda med fondant.

First Day of School Party

It's a strange feeling when all of the sudden you have a kid in school. My little 'baby' now picks out his own clothes when we're out shopping, loves to eat 'fancy' cheese and smoked salmon, makes up his own jokes (they never make sense), and watches family game night shows. It's been a joy to have him home with me for the past five years, and to see him grow up to be this funny, little person with a heart of gold.

Needless to say, there were some watery eyes on first day of school. Mommy's eyes, that is. Thankfully, I kept myself busy by putting together a First Day of School Party for the kids and parents from the playground. The kids got to play and have fun, while we parents celebrated that we survived the first day!

I made two cakes, one vanilla cake with a chocolate buttercream and fresh strawberry filling, covered with a vanilla buttercream and chocolate ganache. The second was the traditional Swedish gooey chocolate cake, topped with a chocolate buttercream and an Italian meringue, that I garnished with white raspberries.

This was such a fun party, I think it needs to become a tradition! That is, until it's not "cool" any more...

Hawaiian Birthday Cake

I recently had the great honor of making a surprise birthday cake for the Swedish Ambassador's Chef, Frida, whom I've become friends with through the Swedish community here. This is an incredibly talented woman who, before the age of 30, had already served her amazing dishes to both royalty and celebrities. No pressure, Eve!

Frida has always wanted to go to Hawaii, so her closest friends had planned a surprise Hawaii themed birthday party at Archipelago, a cool new tiki bar here in D.C. I was asked to make a cake to go with the theme, and the result was this coconut cake with a coconut and pineapple filling.

I had so much fun working with the design on this one, which included a few new "firsts" for me. The bottom tier is hand painted palm leaves on fondant. I used edible dusts that I mixed with vodka to create a watercolor consistency, and it definitely gave me an itch to try to paint more cakes. The second tier is a fondant cake that has been covered with confetti sprinkles, and then painted with a mixture of gold dust and vodka using a painting brush. Now, before you think "that's one boozy cake!", I should let you know that the alcohol evaporates and leaves no taste at all.

The Hibiscus flowers are made out of gum paste, which is a sturdier, more elastic and faster drying version of fondant. I  got a book by Alan Dunn, called Sugar Flower Skills, that has detailed step-by-step instructions. It is a little intimidating at first, but I can't wait to learn more!

Once again, Happy 30th Birthday, Frida!

Carolina's Baby Shower Cake

This past weekend has been filled with baby celebrations. One of my amazing sisters, Hanna, gave birth to a little baby boy, two of my friends announced that they are pregnant, and my dear friend Carolina had her baby shower. A total baby extravaganza!

I had the honor of making Carolina's baby shower cake. Carolina is Swedish just like me, and we first met five years ago at a Swedish baking event here in D.C. One fika, and we've been friends ever since.

The momma-to-be wished for a classic white cake with gold baby chucks on top. I had made the fondant baby shoes once before, after finding this great tutorial online, but this gold glitter version was so much fun to make. I kind of wish I had a pair in my size.

Congratulations to this beautiful couple! Our family can't wait to meet your little guy!

Penguin Cake

This weekend I got to do this cute chocolate cake for our sons' buddy Tristan, who's favorite animal is penguins. I love making surprise cakes and seeing those happy smiles!

This cake was all chocolate, which is Tristan's favorite. I dressed it with fondant and piped a fuzzy fur with buttercream that I had colored. I also made a glittery snow base for the cake using fondant and clear sprinkles.

Wilton has come out with a new set of colors to color fondant and buttercream with, called Color Right Performance Color System. It includes eight ultra-concentrated colors that can be mixed into any hue you want, and you only need to use a tiny amount. This was my first time using it, and I love it! I can't wait to try and blend my own colors, especially those hard to find pretty pastels.

If you're looking for a great chocolate cake recipe, check out this recipe I posted a while back!

Buttercream Rose Cake

With all of the snowy and rainy weather we've been having this past week, it feels like spring can't come soon enough. So, as a Monday pick-me-upper, I thought I'd share this colorful buttercream rose cake I made a little while back for our friends Jim and Andrea's engagement party.

Aren't these roses pretty? Wilton has a great tutorial on their website on how to make buttercream roses. This was my first time making them, and it's actually not that hard to make with the instructions at hand. You will need a so-called flower nail, but they are super cheap and can be purchased at any craft supply store or baking store. Now, imagine how pretty these roses would be on mini cupcakes! 

Fiery Wedding Cake

I had the great honor to make my first wedding cake this weekend! My friend Millie wanted to surprise her best friend, who married a firefighter in a small ceremony. Since a big part of their new life together has to do with a move and a new fire station, Millie wanted the cake to have a fire theme.

I have to be honest, I was just as much terrified as excited to make this cake. As a self-taught baker, making a wedding cake feels like the ultimate challenge, because you want it to be perfect. I can't say it was, but I'm happy overall with how it turned out.

This was my first time making ruffles, and even though it's time consuming, it's not that hard. You start by covering your crumb-coated cake with a base of white fondant. To create the ombre effect ruffles, take some additional fondant and color it the colors you want to use. I made red, orange and yellow. Then, take some of the colored fondant and add plain white to create the lighter hues. Roll out the lightest color you are using and cut long strips. Using a ball tool, roll it along one side of the edges to thin out the fondant, and create the ruffle effect. Brush some water on the cake where you would like the ruffles to start (you will want to go top to bottom of the cake) and add the fondant strip. This will work as glue. Continue with the darker hues until you have covered the cake, but make sure you let the last row of fondant ruffle downwards to cover the cake base. 

Making cakes is a humbling experience, and I learn something new every time I make one. This cake was a lot of fun to decorate, and I'm looking forward to making more wedding themed cakes in the future!

Aron's Birthday Cakes

 

 

Yesterday was my nephew Aron's 9th birthday, and I surprised him by making a LEGO themed cake and a m&m cake. This is a kid who absolutely loves Legos, so you can imagine how excited he was when he saw it!

 

 

Since we're still in Sweden, I don't have access to all of my baking gear I normally use when making fondant cakes. The good thing is that you can get far by improvising and using regular kitchen utensils. However, I owe a huge thanks to my awesome hubby for shipping the Lego mold that I purchased from Amazon a couple of weeks back, all the way to Sweden, just so I could get it in time for making the cake. Not having to shape the big blocks by hand saved me a lot of time. The rest of the cake was a whole other story. It involved a small pairing knife and going to bed at 5 am in the morning.

This was the second themed birthday cake I have ever made, and it was so much fun. I found a lot of inspiration online, and just had fun with it! I'm one of those parents who love to use my kids as an excuse to play with their playdough, and working with fondant is just about the same.

 

 

The m&m cake was also a lot of fun to put together. I have been wanting to try it ever since I saw it on Pinterest, and was amazed at how easy it was to make. All you need is a straw, some glue and a bag of m&m's. And a cake, of course! Glue the m&ms on to the straw (leaving some empty space at both ends), stick it in to the cake, and place the empty bag on top. 



 

 

 

The cake had a gooey chocolate base made from two milk chocolate kladdkakas and a layer of strawberry mousse in between. I didn't use any frosting on the sides of the cake, instead I melted some chocolate and brushed some on each chocolate finger to make sure they would stick. The tastiest kind of glue there is, if you ask me.

 



 

 

The kids all loved the surprise, and I had so much fun making it. Once again, Happy 9th birthday, sweet Aron!