Swedish Princess Cake

YouTube popped this into my recommendations.  I watched about four videos of how to make one of these gorgeous cakes and decided I was up to it.  You can watch this one to see the procedure I followed, and where I deviated from the video.

I'm not using any of the recipes the videos provided, just the method.  This is what the last two posts were building up to.  I'm not using raspberry jam because I don't like it, and because I have a pantry full of other jams I haven't finished from last year's canning.  I'm also using fondant instead of marzipan because I don't like almond extract flavor.  The marzipan is probably easier to use, and has a better taste if you happen to be a fan.

The common theme I found in the videos was that the smaller the cake, the prettier the dome effect.  Single-serve ones, about 3" in diameter, were too cute.  It's also a lot of work, and produces a lot of cake scraps, but so worth it for the applause.  I made a 6", about eight servings if no one is greedy.  It's a 3-layer cake!  When you get into 8" cakes, the height to diameter ratio starts to work against the effect.  It would still serve a party of 12-16.  I wouldn't go bigger than that, or you're making triple batches of buttercream.

3 8" layers of Vanilla Chiffon Cake
Double batch of Buttercream icing
*1 C smooth jam of choice (as opposed to whole preserves, which I used)
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C water
1 Tb sherry (optional)
approx 24 oz (small box) white fondant
food coloring
corn starch for dusting work surface

1.  Stir together the sugar and water in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil and continue to cook until sugar is completely dissolved.  If desired, stir in a bit of sherry.  Allow to cool completely.  This is your simple syrup.

2.  Trim the the cake layers even.  Place a small dollop of buttercream on a cake circle and center the bottom cake.  Drizzle with a bit of simple syrup, then spread the jam on the cake.  I should have piped a dam of buttercream around the edges first.  Fondant hides a lot of bad choices.

3.  Place the next cake layer on top of the first.  Drizzle with some more syrup, then spread a thin layer of buttercream on the cake, about the same thickness as the jam layer.

4.  Center the last cake layer on top.  Sprinkle with a bit of syrup (you may not have used all of it.)  Top with about half of the remaining icing.  Use this to frost the cake as you would any other, up the sides and over the top to make a smooth look.

5.  Spoon the remaining icing on top of the cake and mound into a dome.  This is why the fillings are so thin.  Get the dome and sides as smooth as you can, and much smoother than the photo below.  At this point, the cake is going to get very heavy.  Put the whole cake in the freezer until firm, at least 2 hours or up to a week in advance.

6.  The day you serve the cake, decorate it.  The box says not to freeze fondant.  You can do it a day or two ahead, but more than that and the cake will fall under its own weight.  Start by pulling aside about an ounce of white fondant for later, then kneading food coloring into the main fondant until there are no streaks remaining.  I chose lavender, but you can do any color you want.

7.  Dust a large work surface with cornstarch.  Roll out the fondant into a large "circle", about twice the diameter of the cake.  Get the cake out of the freezer.  If desired, heat an offset spatula over the stove and use it to smooth out any dings.  One thing I learned with this cake is that fondant hides a not-great icing job, but not a terrible one.

8.  Drape the fondant over the cake.  Let gravity do as much of the work as possible.  Press the fondant lightly into shape and stretch it as necessary.  Think of it as cling wrap that can reshape itself.  Once the fondant is smooth over the whole cake, trim off the frilly skirt it has formed at the bottom.  If there's no buttercream or cake crumbs stuck to it, you can save the fondant in an airtight bag for another project.

9.  For the rose decoration, color a small pinch of fondant pink.  Roll into a sausage, then flatten into a strip that is thinner on one long side than the other.  Roll in a spiral, with the thicker part as the base and the thin as the petals.  Pinch the bottom shut and flare out the petals a little.  Knead another pinch of fondant with green food coloring and press into the leaves.  Attach decorations to top of cake with a touch of water.

10.  Refrigerate cake until half an hour before serving.  That will give the buttercream time to soften without melting everywhere the instant you cut the cake.

Makes one 8" triple-layer cake

Difficulty rating (including sub-recipes) $@%!