American Raspberry Princess Torte #CakeSliceBakers

The Princess Torte.

A paragon of Scandinavian desserts.

As you can probably tell from the "Americana decor," I made this cake to serve at our Fourth of July cookout.  The cake was already red and white, so I tossed in some blueberries--just because...'Merica.

The Princess Torte is a traditional Swedish delicacy, first published in a cookbook in 1948.  The cookbook's author also happened to be a teacher to three Swedish princesses. It was originally called "green cake"--for the layer of green colored marzipan that traditionally covers this cake. The little princesses liked it so much that its name was changed.  When the marzipan layer is a color other than green, it is not called a Princess Torte.  It's a Prince Cake if it's yellow, or an Opera Cake if it's pink.

This cake does not have a marzipan layer at all. 

At first, I took issue with the author of The European Cake Cookbook for calling this recipe a Princess Torte and placing it in the Northern European section. It looks much more like a French cake called a Charlotte Royale.

This is a traditional Princess Cake:

Not my cake.  This was baked by the Queen of Cakes herself, Mary Berry.  But this is what a Princess Torte traditionally looks like. I have made one before, but I can guarantee Mary Berry's was better than mine.

And this cake is a Charlotte Royale. Also baked by Mary Berry. It is a French confection covered by slices of Swiss roll and filled with a mousse. This looks more like the cake I baked. However, the shiny glaze makes it look considerably more brain-like.

As I did some research, or "cakesearch" as I call it (just kidding I don't call it that), I was a little more accepting of the classification. A Charlotte Royale is filled with a jiggly "bavarois"--a gelatin-set mousse.  A Princess Torte has layers inside of cake, whipped cream, raspberry jam, and custard--similar to this cake. This cake is sort of Swedish on the inside and French on the outside.

It's a European hybrid. 

Like me.

It's a cake made up of components from different places.

It can be an American Princess Cake.

Everyone enjoyed it. It was tasty. However, I felt like it needed a little something different to make it "zing." Something to make it taste distinctive. The recipe used all components from other cakes I've made in the book. The Swiss roll was pretty much the same cake as other sponges in the book, the whipped cream was the same as the one used in the cursed Cremeschnitte that I baked last time, and the custard was the same too.

It was helpful to have made them before, and saved me some headaches. I knew not to follow the written directions exactly and avoided some mistakes that I'd made on previous cakes. I realized that I only used the jam filling and not whipped cream in my Swiss roll, and I didn't have a 13 x 18 pan, so my roll slices got aggressively thinner as I lined the bowl to make sure I had enough. But it's all good.



I mean this in the best possible way, but you know how everything at Taco Bell is the same ingredients put together in different ways? They have a cheesy beefy crunchy taco supreme and start advertising a crunchy supreme quesadilla taco with cheese--and I always fall for it and try it.

Because I'm a sucker for new stuff.

But it always tastes pretty much the same, even though it has been packaged differently.

"Ugh, really.  This tastes similar to the other fabulous European cakes I've tasted."   --Nobody
I'm just being picky with my criticism.

This cake has a show-stopping look, to be sure. So try it out! It is worth making (and eating).

Just not exactly a Princess Torte ;)

Raspberry Princess Torte

(directions adapted from The European Cake Cookbook by Tatyana Nesteruk)

Custard Layer:

1/2 c sugar

2 T cornstarch

2 egg yolks

2 T water

1 T flour

1 1/2 c milk

1 c butter

1 t vanilla

4 t unflavored gelatin

3 T water

Sponge Cake:
6 eggs
3/4 c sugar
1 t vanilla
3/4 c flour
1/2 c almond flour
1 t baking powder
1/3 c melted butter
powdered sugar for dusting

Whipped Cream:
8 oz softened mascarpone
1/2 c melted white chocolate
2 c heavy cream
2 c powdered sugar

Filling:
1 c raspberry jam
1/2 c moscato (or juice or water with 1-2 T vinegar added)
2 c fresh raspberries (and blueberries if you want it to be red, white, and blue)

Custard

1. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together on high for 2 minutes, until they are pale yellow and thickened. Mix the cornstarch and water together in a small bowl until smooth, then add to the eggs. In another pan, mix the milk and flour and cook until the milk is steamy.

2. Slowly temper the steaming milk into the egg/sugar mixture. Stir it constantly over medium heat for 4-5 minutes--until it thickens into a custard. Take it off the heat and add in the whole 'cuppa  butter and vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 20 minutes.

3. In a small microwave safe bowl, combine the gelatin and water. Heat it in the microwave until dissolved (30-45 seconds). Whisk into the cooled custard and keep it out at room temperature.

Sponge Cake
4. Heat oven to 350. Line a 13 x 18 pan with parchment (I used a cookie sheet because I don't have a jelly roll pan.  You'll just have to slice your finished roll thinner:)

5. Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla on high speed for 4-6 minutes. The mixture should be pale and very fluffy. In an other bowl, mix the flours and baking powder.  Sift the dry ingredients into the egg mix and gently fold. Lastly, fold in the melted butter.

6. Pour the batter into the jelly roll pan and bake for about 20 minutes--until it's golden brown. Take it out of the oven, dust it with powdered sugar, and invert it onto a clean tea towel. Removing the parchment, use the towel to roll the cake into a long log and cool.

Whipped Cream:
7. Whisk the mascarpone until smooth.  Mix in the melted white chocolate.  If the mixture is not super smooth and ganache-texture, heat it for 30 seconds in the microwave. In a stand mixer bowl, whisk the cream, sugar and vanilla until semi-whipped. Add in the warm mascarpone mixture, and beat until stiff peaks form. DO NOT OVERBEAT

8. Mix the raspberry jam and wine/juice or water with vinegar (any of those will work--it needs to be tart, though). Unroll the cooled cake and spread the mixture over the whole thing. Spread 1/3 of the cream over the cake and roll it up .

9. Chill the roll for 30 minutes, then use a sharp serrated knife to cut into 1 cm pieces (or thinner if you used a cookie sheet instead of a jelly roll pan

Assembly:
10. Line a 10 inch bowl with plastic wrap. Arrange slices on the bottom and sides of the bowl to form the outer layer. Fill in any gaps between the roll slices with cream. Fill up the bowl, alternating the cake slices, custard, and fruit. Finish with a layer of whipped cream.

11. Allow the cake to set overnight. Serve it by putting the serving platter on top, flipping them over together, and removing the upside down bowl and plastic.

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is The European Cake Cookbook by Tatyana Nesteruk. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes! Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details. The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.

Our choices for July 2019 were ~

1. Apricot Almond Dream Cake
2. Strawberries & Cream Crepe Cake
3. Limoncello Ricotta Cheesecake
4. Raspberry Princess Torte

Strawberries & Cream Crêpe Cake

• Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Karen's Kitchen Stories
• A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sweet Sensations 
• A Little Bit of All Right

Limoncello Ricotta Cheesecake

• Camille Cooks
• All That's Left Are The Crumbs

Raspberry Princess Torte

• Amandie Bakes

Apricot Almond Dream Cake

• Note - this cake was not chosen by any group members