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Princess Cake Class
A private hour and a half in a Stockholm kitchen, building and decorating your own small prinsesstårta, Sweden's green marzipan cake.
A cake under green marzipan
Prinsesstårta is the cake Swedes order for birthdays, name days and no particular reason at all: light sponge, vanilla custard and a high dome of whipped cream, usually with a layer of raspberry jam, the whole thing covered in a thin sheet of pale green marzipan and finished with a pink marzipan rose.
In this class you make a small one of your own, in a private session for your party alone, with a baker who shows each step and then hands it over. Ninety minutes is not long enough to bake and cool a sponge and set a custard, so those are ready when you arrive. The time goes on the parts that decide how the cake looks: layering it, shaping the cream into its dome, and rolling the marzipan thin enough to drape without tearing.
Covering the dome is the moment of truth. Marzipan rolled too thick gathers in folds at the base; too thin and it splits over the top. Everyone's first attempt is slightly uneven, which nobody minds once the rose is on.
Where the name comes from
The cake is tied to Jenny Åkerström, a Stockholm cookery teacher whose pupils included three young princesses, Margaretha, Märtha and Astrid. Her recipe was first called grön tårta, simply green cake, and the story goes that the princesses loved it so much that it took their name instead.
Stockholm tells that story with pleasure, though the year the recipe first appeared in her books is still argued over. The jam came later, which is why some bakeries leave it out.
The last week of September is Prinsesstårtans vecka, Princess Cake Week, when bakeries across the country fill their windows with green domes. The class itself runs all year.
Then sit down with it
A princess cake is fika food, and the class ends the Swedish way: coffee or tea at a table, and a slice of what you have just made. It is a cream cake, so if you would rather carry it away whole, it wants a fridge within a couple of hours.
The traditional cake contains wheat, eggs, milk and cream, and marzipan is made from almonds. Tell us about allergies and intolerances before booking. Some can be worked around; an almond or nut allergy is hard to, because the marzipan is the cake.
Children who like getting their hands into something do well here. There is cream to shape, marzipan to roll and a rose to place, and the result is theirs.
Before you ask
Princess Cake Class: common questions
Anything not answered here, ask us directly — we'd rather you did.
What is Swedish princess cake made of?
Light sponge, vanilla custard and a high dome of whipped cream, usually with a layer of raspberry jam, all of it covered in a thin sheet of pale green marzipan and finished with a pink marzipan rose.
Do you bake everything from scratch in ninety minutes?
No, and no honest class could: the sponge has to bake and cool and the custard has to set. Those are ready when you arrive, and the time goes on the parts that decide how the cake looks — layering it, shaping the cream into its dome and covering it in marzipan.
Why is it called princess cake?
It is tied to Jenny Åkerström, a Stockholm cookery teacher whose pupils included the three young princesses Margaretha, Märtha and Astrid. Her recipe was first called grön tårta, green cake, and the story goes that the princesses loved it so much that it took their name instead.
Can the class work around allergies?
Tell us before booking. The traditional cake contains wheat, eggs, milk and cream, and marzipan is made from almonds. Some needs can be worked around; an almond or nut allergy is hard to, because the marzipan is the cake.
When is Princess Cake Week in Sweden?
The last week of September, Prinsesstårtans vecka, when bakeries across the country fill their windows with green domes. The class itself runs all year.