How to Nail Princess Cake on Your First Try

including one that, apparently, looks like a flower-clad coffin (or so I’ve been told).

May 23, 2025

Princess Cake (Prinsesstårta) has been one of my favorite cakes since I was a kid. We ate it on special occasions (including birthdays, my sister's baptism, graduations, etc), and it was always my first choice at a fancy bakery with my grandma. I’m not sure why I’m speaking in the past tense, because that’s all still true. It’s still almost always my first pick at a bakery.

It’s been so fun seeing this Swedish dessert finally getting some attention on social media. Because no doubt it deserves the spotlight. You might already be familiar with it, but in case you’re not: a princess cake is a layered sponge cake filled with raspberry jam and vanilla custard, then topped with a thick layer of whipped cream. And the more cream, the better. It’s then wrapped in a thin sheet of green or pink marzipan and finished with a dusting of powdered sugar and a marzipan rose.

The sponge itself is a classic Swedish sponge (fairly similar to a genoise) made only with eggs, sugar, a bit of flour, and baking powder. While raspberry jam is traditional, I like playing around with the filling depending on the season and what I’m in the mood for. Strawberry, blackberry, and blueberry all work really well. The whole process can feel a bit intimidating, but there are a few tricks to help you get a perfect dome cake on the first try.

I developed a princess cake for

Food52

back in early fall, and it’s the base recipe I come back to every time. That said, I love switching it up depending on what look and taste I’m going for. This time, I baked the sponge in a standard loaf pan, which gives it a long, rounded shape (or, as a few of you said on Instagram, a “coffin” shape). This loaf (or tube) style version is actually something you’ll often see in Swedish bakeries.

If it’s helpful, you can also watch my YouTube video on Food52, where I walk through the full process.

How to Make the Perfect Princess Cake on Your First Try

The best thing about the sponge is how few ingredients it uses. Most of the rise comes from whipping the eggs and sugar properly–it should pretty much triple in volume and fall in thick, slow ribbons. When you think you’ve whipped it enough, give it another minute or two just to be safe.
Cook your custard until it's very thick. The pastry cream should look like thick pudding before you take it off the heat, which will then firm up more as it cools. If it’s too loose, it won’t hold up in the cake and you’ll end up with a very thin layer of pastry cream.
You won’t use all the custard in the filling, so fold the rest into the whipped cream (don’t worry too much about exact amounts). This helps stabilize the cream and keeps it from splitting or curdling when you shape the dome.
To bounce off that last tip, make sure to whip the cream and custard together until it’s super thick (which will be possible because of the custard). This is key for building the tall dome and making sure the marzipan doesn’t collapse the whole thing.
Unless you live in Europe and can buy pre-rolled marzipan sheets, you’ll have to roll it yourself. I like to use pre-colored marzipan from Amazon (pink or green), but you can also color it by hand (tbh, this is the sometimes the better choice because the pre-colored green is slightly dull looking). When rolling, dust your counter and rolling pin with powdered sugar like you would with flour and dough. Aim for the same thinness as when you make cut-out sugar cookie. Thin but not too thin that it’ll easily tear.
When draping the marzipan over the cake, use a rolling pin to gently roll up your marzipan like you would with pie dough, dusting with powdered sugar so it doesn’t stick to itself. Then unroll it over the cake and smooth it down gently. You can use your hands to smooth away any cream bumps.
To avoid wrinkles along the edges, very gently pull on the marzipan to stretch it out. Use a knife to cut away any leftover marzipan along the edges.
If the idea of draping marzipan over the cake feels too much or if you want a genius hack to building the whole cake,
Nicola Lamb
also has a great version on NYT Cooking where you build the cake in a bowl and invert it onto a plate.