May 2013 Daring Bakers' Challenge - Prinsesstårta

Korena of Korena in the Kitchen was our May Daring Bakers’ host and she delighted us with this beautiful Swedish Prinsesstårta!

Sometimes when we get a challenge, I immediately start thinking of ways to change it and make it unique. I made all kinds of plans for this one, especially after reading a bit of history about it. Korena gave us some nice background information which I will share.

A little research revealed that the original recipe was created in the 1930s by a Swedish home economics teacher named Jenny Åkerström, who taught the three Swedish princesses of the time. She published a series of four cookbooks called “The Princess Cookbooks” and in one of the editions, there was a recipe for “Grön Tårta” (green cake). One story is that this later became known as “princess cake” (prinsesstårta) because the three princesses are said to have loved it so much. Another story is that Ms. Åkerström actually created three very elaborate “princess cake” recipes – a different one for each princess – and that the current version is a simplified combination of all three. That explains the princess connection, but the reason for the cake being green still seems to be a mystery. Today, prinsesstårta is popular in Finland as well as Sweden – so much so that the third week in September is officially Prinsesstårta Week!

I have a beautiful book called A World of Cakes by Krystina Castella in which Prinsesstårta is featured. She writes that , in Sweden, you can find the Prinsesstårta everywhere, in every variation and for every holiday:birthdays, anniversaries, national holidays, and more.
The Prinsesstårta is commonly made with sponge cake, apricot preserves, pastry cream and whipped cream. It is usually covered in marzipan that has been colored green for reasons that are not verified.

The results are "over the top" delicious and I can see why this is a celebratory dessert.It is very rich tasting, looks beautiful on the plate and gives a festive feel to the occasion of eating it.  I can just imagine the nostalgic, homey feel it gives those who grew up with birthdays celebrated with a Prinsesstårta
So, create an occasion to makePrinsesstårta and find a group of people too share this wonderful traditional treat of a dessert. 

Start by making the components. You can make the pastry cream and cake the day before to ease the workload.

I decided to make my Prinsesstårta with devils food cake and raspberry preserves as my variations. I love my Devils food cake recipe and look for any opportunity to make it.The cake is soft and moist and not too sweet, perfect with almost any type of icing. I covered the cake with rolled fondant mixed with pink modeling chocolate. I find that modeling chocolate gives fondant a nice sheen and wonderful taste. You can use rolled fondant, or modeling chocolate or the traditional marzipan instead.. 
Korena gave us some wonderful recipes for guidance. I have a pastry cream that I have used for years. It makes a lot of pastry cream but a friend of mine was making Boston Cream pie and promised to take the extra pastry cream. 
Here are the recipes with pictures.

Pastry Cream

Ingredients:

6 large egg yolks

¾ cup (170 gr.)  sugar

1/3 cup (75.6 grams)cornstarch

2 cup (480 ml)milk

½ vanilla bean

 

Procedure:

Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and add to the milk.

Heat the milk gently to scalding.

Remove the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the milk mixture using a knife or small metal spatula.

Stir the egg yolks with the sugar and cornstarch.

Add the milk, a few drops at first to temper and then the rest.

Return the mixture to the heat (medium) and cook, stirring continuously with a wire whip until the

mixture bubbles for about 10 seconds.

Strain into another container through a fine mesh strainer. I like to use a ladle to swirl around the strainer to push the pastry cream though easily.

Cover with plastic wrap flush against the pastry cream and chill.

Devils Food Cake:                                                   (Sorry I do not have the conversions) 

Ingredients:
2 Cups  All-purpose Flour
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
3/4 Teaspoon  Salt
12 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, room temperature
2 Cups  Sugar
3/4 Cup Cocoa Powder, non alkalized
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
3 Large Eggs
1 1/4 Cups Water
1/4 Cup Milk

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 -inch spring form pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Cover the outside of the pan with aluminium foil to catch any seepage.

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside,

3. In a mixer fitted with the paddle, cream butter adding sugar slowly continuing to beat  for about 4 minutes. Turn off mixer and scrape down sides.

4. Add the cocoa powder and the vanilla and beat at low speed until smooth.

5. Add the eggs one at a time beating well in between on medium speed and scraping the sides constantly.

6. Combine the milk and water in a saucepan and bring just to a boil. 

7. Add the flour a 1/4 cup at a time on low speed. Add hot milk mixture slowly in a stream alternately with the flour beginning and ending with the flour and mix until smooth.

8.Bake for about 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack for about 10 minutes, remove outside ring and cool to room temperature.

Prinsesstårta Assembly

 I am including a diagram that Korena gave us. It is very helpful in assembly. 


Ingredients

2 cups (480 ml) heavy cream, chilled
granulated white sugar, to taste used 2 tablespoons because the devils food cake is not super sweet
 Cake, cooled
1/3 cup (80 ml) seedless raspberry jam 
Vanilla Custard, chilled
Covering and Rose

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add sugar to taste and continue whipping the cream until stiff. You want it to be sturdy enough to provide structure to the cake, but not over-whipped enough to make butter. Set the whipped cream aside.
2. With a long serrated knife, slice the sponge cake into three even layers. I used a cake leveler that I got from Wilton as shown in picture. Set aside the middle layer – this will become the top layer of the assembled cake as it is the most flexible and therefore easiest to bend into a dome over the whipped cream.

 



3. Place one of remaining layers on a cake board or serving platter and spread it evenly with the raspberry jam. Spread or pipe one  cup of the chilled custard over the jam in an even layer, leaving enough room around the edges so that it doesn’t spill over the sides of the cake.
4. Top the custard with another layer of cake. Spread with one cup of the custard evenly over it, again leaving some room around the edges.

 



5. Reserve ½ cup (120 ml) of the stiffly whipped cream. Pile the rest into a mound on top of the custard. Spread it into a thick layer with a thin, flexible spatula or off-set spatula, then hold the spatula at an angle to shape the whipped cream into a dome, piling it up in the middle of the cake as much as possible.
6. Place the final layer of sponge cake (the one cut from the middle of the cake) on top of the whipped cream. Do not press on the top of the cake – instead, gently tuck the edges of the cake layer into the whipped cream, so that they are flush with the cream. This will create a smooth, seamless dome on top of the cake.
7. Gently spread the reserved ½ cup (120 ml) of whipped cream over the entire cake to fill in any cracks and even out the surface. If necessary, refrigerate the cake to firm it up before continuing.

 I got very nervous at this point as the cake was wobbly form all the creamy parts and I chilled it, rolled out the fondant and covered it without taking a picture. I am showing Korena's wonderful picture here so you can see what it should look like at this point.

Korena's beautiful cake covered with domed whipped cream

8. Dust your work surface with icing (confectioners) sugar and press the marzipan or other covering into a 6-inch (15 cm) disc (knead it a bit to warm it up first). Coat both sides with icing sugar and roll it out into a 14” (35½ cm) diameter circle less than 1/8” (3 mm) thick. Use plenty of icing sugar to prevent it from sticking. Alternatively, you can roll the marzipan out between two wide sheets of parchment paper (still use plenty of icing sugar).
9. Use the rolling pin to drape the rolled-out marzipan sheet over the cake and smooth it around the cake gently with your hands.
If it seems like it wants to fold or buckle around the cake, gently lift and stretch it away from the cake with one hand while smoothing it down with the other.
Trim the excess from the bottom of the cake with a paring knife or spatula blade.



These were great instructions from Korena and can be used for modeling chocolate or fondant.

I decorated the top of the cake with a rose and leaves done in modeling chocolate. I covered the bottom with a border of green modeling chocolate and used a modeling tool to press a pretty design.
I will post a tutorial about the rose  in my next post!
The rose is a traditional garnish and looks very pretty.
Thanks Korena! This challenge was a lot of fun and deeelish!

My slice !! And now off to the gym for some calorie burning!!

June Daring Bakers Challenge - Battenburg Cake

Mandy of What The Fruitcake?! came to our rescue last minute to present us with the Battenberg Cake challenge! She highlighted Mary Berry’s techniques and recipes to allow us to create this unique little cake with ease. If you want Mandy's wonderful recipes, click here.

The challenge this month was one of my favorites. Although we were given quite a specific item to make, Mandy gave us all kinds of creative freedom.  First here is a little background about Battenberg cakes that I am quoting from Mandy's challenge.

The first Battenberg cake was made to celebrate the marriage of Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, Princess Victoria, to husband Prince Louis of Battenberg.
It’s traditionally flavoured with almond and has the signature Battenberg markings, that is, the yellow and pink squares (said to represent the four princes of Battenberg). The strips of sponge are glued together using jam (normally apricot) and the whole cake is covered in marzipan. Sometimes the edges are crimped and the top is patterned with a knife.

The cake is thoroughly English but being thoroughly American, I looked around for something that would appeal to my crowd.  I had a copy of Better Homes and Gardens magazine (yes, I am a magazine addict) that featured a Pink Lemonade Cake on the front cover. The cake looked so refreshing, light and summery that I knew I would have to make it. The recipe is courtesy of Karen Tack who along with Alan Richardson, has written some fun books about cupcakes and most recently cookies and cake pops. Although I was not fond of the recipes in their books, I found their creative ideas of decorating wonderful and accessible. Looking at the recipe, I was dismayed that it used red food coloring but I decided to go ahead and try it but use frozen pink lemonade and as little pink food color as possible.

The cake was really easy to make and I loved that the Battenberg is not a large cake. The recipe actually makes two cakes and that was great for sharing. Also, I felt like it was gone before it had a chance to go stale. I strayed from the traditional technique quite a bit so don't go looking for authenticity here. I used a cream cheese icing to glue everything together and covered the whole thing in fondant. I used Albert Uster's Massa Grischuna Neutral fondant. I LOVE this fondant. You can roll it thinly and it has a lovely buttery taste to it. You will also notice that I used an impression mat to make a pretty floral design on the fondant. Wilton makes several designs in impression mats and I love working with them as they are large and easy to use. I am going on and on so I should just shush up and give the recipes with pictures.

 Don't be afraid to try this cake. You will be surprised, I think, how easy, delicious and dramatic a dessert the Battenberg is to make. Mandy, please forgive this Yank but I believe I am going to use my stars impression mat and make this cake red, white and blue for Independence Day! Living in Boston has made an upstart of me.

One Batter...Two Colors

Pink Lemonade Cake

1 cup unsalted butter, or 2 sticks
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 1/3 cups milk, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon pink food color Grease and line the bottoms of two 8-inch square cakepans with parchment paper cut to fit. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees farenheit.
 Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside for later.
In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed. add sugar slowly and continue to beat approximately five minutes. scrape the inside and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
 Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition, scraping the inside and bottom of bowl often.
In a separate bowl, stir together the milk, lemon extract and pink lemonade concentrate. The mixture may look curdled.
 Alternately add the flour mixture and milk mixture to the butter mixture on low speed until just combined. Add 1/8 teaspoon pink food color.
Pour half the batter into prepared pan. Add another 1/8 teaspoon food color to the remaining batter and pour into other prepared pan.
 Bake approximately 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack and cool 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pan onto wire rack and cool completely before decorating.

Thin consistency Icing is best for frosting a cake!

Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted, if opened package
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch salt
Heavy cream - optional
Beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy; beat in the sugar, salt and vanilla until smooth. Thin with heavy cream, if necessary, to achiece a spreadable consistency.

Wilton's Floral Expressions Impression Mat

Once the cake is completely cool, trim the edges of the cake with a long serrated knife.Cut each colored sponge in half lengthways so that you are left with four long strips of sponge Neaten the strips and trim as necessary so that your checkered pattern is as neat and even as possible. Spread the frosting onto the strips of cake to stick the cake together in a checkered pattern (one light pink next to one darker pink. On top of that, one darkeer pink next to one light pink).

Cover the entire cake in frosting and chill. Covering the cake in fondant is easier if the frosting is firm.
Roll the fondant about 1/8 to 1/16 inch thick and cover the cake. Smooth the sides with a fondant smoother working from the top downward. If you want to use an impression mat, roll the fondant a little thicker, transfer to the mat, press firmly with your hand or fondant smoother. Invert the impression mat over the cake, centering it so the fondant drapes evenly over the cake, and peel away the mat. Smooth gently so as not to remove the impression detail.

To smooth any wrinkles at the bottom, lift the fondant away gently fluffing as you would a tablecloth. Never pull on the fondant. Don't stress if there are a few wrinkles at the bottom though. The cake will taste just as yummy and you can hide them with a lovely garnish of edible flower petals, mint or perhaps some handmade sugar flowers.

Completed Cake with Royal Icing Flowers on top