Last week in the VegChef kitchen, we had a guest instructor from one of the best bakeries in Sweden, Bageri Leve that’s located in Malmö. It’s an all vegan bakery that proves it’s not necessary to use animal products to make delicious cakes and pastries.
It was a day dedicated to one of the most striking Swedish cakes. You might know it as that dreamy green cake with layers of cream, sponge, and raspberry jam — but Prinsesstårta (literally Princess Cake) has a little royal story behind its name.
Back in the 1930s, a Swedish home economics teacher named Jenny Åkerström was teaching the daughters of Prince Carl of Sweden — three princesses: Margaretha, Märtha, and Astrid. She wrote a cookbook, and in it, one of the recipes was this rich, creamy layered cake. It was originally called “Green Cake” (Grön Tårta) because of its marzipan color.
But it turns out the princesses loved it so much, it became known as “Princess Cake.” The name stuck, and today it’s one of Sweden’s most iconic desserts — delicate, playful, and a little luxurious, just like a fairytale treat should be.
I’ve tried this cake many times before but never attempted making it myself. I always thought it might be too complicated to make. It turns out the the process isn’t very hard and with a few tricks anyone can make their own unique version of this delicious cake.
I’d like to share the step by step recipe with all of you here. Please try making it at home leaving everyone in awe of this beautifully colourful creation.
GENOISE
- 150g aquafaba
- 165g sugar
- 45g oil
- 155g all-purpose flour
- A pinch of baking powder
- Preheat the oven to 175°C. Prepare an 18cm round cake pan by lining it with parchment paper.
- Add the aquafaba and sugar to a bowl. Using an electric mixer, whisk the mixture at high speed until fluffy. It should be flowy like ribbons.
- Add the oil gradually while whisking at medium speed.
- Sift in the flour and fold to combine.
- Transfer batter to the prepared cake pan and bake for 20–30 minutes.
- Allow to cool at room temperature, then in the fridge.
RASPBERRY FILLING
- 300g frozen raspberry
- 2g agar
- Place the raspberries in a saucepan and leave to thaw. Stir in the agar.
- Cook the mixture over medium-high heat until it boils, stir with a whisk to break up the raspberries.
- Transfer to a storage container, press plastic wrap onto the mixture and refrigerate to cool.
VANILLA CUSTARD
- 125g oat milk 3.5% fat (barista)
- 175g oat cream 15% fat
- 60g sugar
- 1/2 vanilla bean
Mix separately:
- 50g oat milk 3.5% fat
- 32g cornstarch
Later:
- 44g vegan butter block, cut into cubes
- In a saucepan, combine the oat milk, oat cream, sugar and scraped seeds of the vanilla bean. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally to keep the heat evenly distributed.
- Whisk together the 50g of oat milk and cornstarch into a slurry. Stir it occasionally to keep it combined.
- Once the mixture starts to bubble, pour the slurry gradually while whisking vigorously. It should thicken immediately. Whisk to combine.
- Stir in the vegan butter until it melts and combines into a homogeneous custard.
- Transfer to a piping bag and refrigerate to set.
WHIPPED CREAM
- 250g whipping oat cream
- 83g vanilla custard
- Using an electric mixer, whisk the oat cream on medium-high speed until you get stiff peaks.
- Whisk the custard to loosen it, fold in half of the whipped cream until combined. Fold in the other half.
MARZIPAN
- 500g green marzipan
- 50g pink/white marzipan
CAKE ASSEMBLY
- Cut the genoise into 3 even layers using a bread knife.
- Start with the bottom layer of the genoise, flip it over so the brown side is facing up. Pipe a ring of vanilla custard as a border on the cake. Fill with 150g of the raspberry filling.
- Take the top layer of the cake and place the crust side down onto the raspberry filling. Add 150g of vanilla custard and spread into an even layer.
- Cover it with a thick layer of whipped cream and put the last layer of the cake on top forming a dome
- Roll out the green marzipan into a thin sheet and cover the whole cake, and cut off the excess.
- Make a rose using the pink marzipan and place it in the centre of the cake.