I have been making this cake for a while now. It all started when a friend who is from Sweden asked me if could make one for her birthday. And since then I have been changing the recipe and making changes to it so that it’s liked by the Indian palate.

So what’s the Swedish cake all about- its vanilla genoise (sponge cake) soaked with kirsch/rum/vanilla layered with vanilla custard, raspberry jam and vanilla whipped cream. The whole dome arrangement is then covered with marzipan. The resulting cake is splendid, as soft/smooth and gorgeous as a fondant-covered cake yet with a marzipan exterior that’s as delicious as it is attractive. The marzipan placed on top is normally green, sprinkled with powdered sugar, and often decorated with a fresh/marzipan pink rose.

I have often wondered why the cake is covered with green marzipan and I researched around a lot, also asked my friends in Sweden too. There is no specific reason per se. The original recipe first appeared in the 1930s “Prinsessornas Kokbok” cookbook, which was published by the teacher of Prince Carl, Duke of Västergotland’s daughters. The cake was originally called “Gron tarta” (green cake), but was given the name “prinsesstårta” or “prinsessakakku” or “princess cake” because the princesses were said to have been especially fond of the cake.

I have also sometimes covered with other pastel colours such as pink, white, lavender to suit the occasion.