Tastes Great, Less Punsch

« Runebergin torttu / Runeberg cake - A butter cake topped with raspberry jam and icing named for the Finnish National poet who is remembered each year on the 5th of February. »

Would you bake 15 batches of Runeberg cakes to find one that made a moist, tasty cake? No, you probably wouldn't as you're probably not a frustrated chemist who finds soaking a dry cake in a sweet liqueur to moisten it to be a lame solution to a bad recipe. Food should not be an alcohol transport vector. :) I figured that Cook's Illustrated's test kitchen wasn't going to be deconstructing the Runeberg cake anytime in the near future so I took that as a good excuse to try doing it myself.

Vaasan & Vaasan, the largest producer of baked goods in Finland and the Baltics, issued an interesting press release about Runeberg cakes and their sales statistics (in Finnish) last year on the 200th anniversary of Runeberg's Day which notes that, between New Year's and the 5th of February, over 1.4 million cakes are consumed each year and that number is growing by 5-10% each year. They also note that the "right" recipe is not in anyone's possession, but after having tried a number of recipes myself that I found in Finnish cookbooks and from a few web sites there certainly could be better recipes. The most interesting tidbit was about how the cakes came to be moistened with liqueurs. At some point in 1970s Turku, bakers began moistening the cake and the success of the moistened cakes brought an end to the dry, unmoistened cakes. Even today, there are disagreements about what is the proper moistening solution as Fazer uses rum, Vaasan & Vaasan uses cognac and others use a Swedish specialty known as 'arrakkipunssi' or Swedish Punsch. So, at last we know the where and the when of the addition of the sweet liquors to the cake.

« A 1963 Runeberg cake serigraph by Pertti Pohjola for HOK »

Where to begin the story of my two week odyssey in search of the golden moist ratio of butter, eggs, sugar and flour? Last year, I tried making the classic recipe from Kotiruoka with somewhat disappointing results as they were dry and weren't very attractive. I resolved to make a better cake this year and, after 15 different recipes and lots of research, I think I have achieved that goal. Although, I think Jarkko and my colleagues are a bit sick of eating them by now. :)

« My kitchen helper last year and this year (roll mouse over pic) while making Runeberg cakes. »

I started with the premise that, at heart, the Runeberg cake is basically a pound/bundt cake which is not a dry cake even though the amount of butter in the batter is about the same as the Runeberg cake. Looking through about 100 recipes for various butter, bundt and pound cakes, I settled on three things that might be immediately useful; lowering the temperature from 200C/395F to 175C/350F to keep the cakes from crowning, moving the baking rack from the middle of the oven to the lower third and emulsifying the egg with the creamed sugar and butter to give the cake a better texture and crumb. I also wanted to keep as close to the Kotiruoka recipe as possible since it remains one of the best recipes available and it is a good cake if only a bit too dry.

In the first few recipe variations I used almond paste creamed with the butter instead of ground or chopped almonds and about 1/3 of the flour. The resulting butter almond cake was excellent, but it had too much almond and was far too dense for it to be a Runeberg cake. Ground and chopped almonds were also tried with the chopped almonds winning for both flavour and texture. I increased the butter to 225g/1/2lb, added one more egg and tried various different flours. I even tried a spelt Runeberg cake [picture] that, while tasty, remained dry and had the wrong texture. Finally, I settled on regular, all-purpose flour, bread crumbs and ginger cookie crumbs. Most, if not all, of the commercial brands do not use bread or cookie crumbs in their cakes, but their primary goal is to make a cake that remains fresh for a week or more and so have less latitude in what they can use in their products. Brown sugar was added as well for its hygroscopic and browning properties.

There was one ingredient that was missing and is present in several of the commercially produced cakes that I suspect is the defining taste and aroma of what most people associate with the Runeberg cakes; bitter almond oil. Jarkko pointed out this missing and rather elusive ingredient. I say elusive since I went to four large groceries in downtown, none of which carried it. Stockmann didn't even have it and the clerk there told me that I would find it at my favourite baking ingredient supermarket, the aptekki. It was -30C with a brisk wind, but I hauled my arse down the street to the aptekki only to have the woman in the white coat inform me that it is illegal to sell it since it is a carcinogen. I left annoyed and confused since, although the bitter almond benzaldehyde is toxic in large doses, it is harmless in the amounts we use in baking, not to mention that most of the Runebergin torttu sold in Finland contain this aromatic compound. Jarkko finally located a bottle of it in a supermarket near his office. I am frequently amazed not only by the dearth of decent cooking shops with a reasonable selection of goods in Helsinki (In Rovaniemi, I found a shop in downtown that had a huge selection of stuff that put both of the tiny cook's shops in Helsinki to shame.), but also the difficulty I often have in finding seasonal and traditional ingredients and tools during the season that they are, well, traditionally used. It leaves me with the impression that either nobody bakes anymore or that the shops in downtown just suck.

Finally, I began to notice that the Runeberg forms weren't baking the cakes as well as I had expected them to so I decided to try a few baba forms which were about the same size only with a closed bottom and slightly tapered sides. The difference was like night and day as the cakes in the baba forms baked faster and browned nicely on the outside as they should. I tried to blame the problem on my oven, but no matter where I put the forms in the oven in various combinations, the baba forms consistently performed much better than the Runeberg forms I bought from Stockmann last year. I even tried baking them in a muffin tin with better results than the round forms. What's the difference? The baba forms are a heavier non-stick aluminum with a bottom and the Runeberg form is a lighter sort of aluminum without a bottom. I don't know who manufactures the forms, but since this is a small country maybe someone who knows someone who knows someone will read this and see if they can try altering the material and putting a bottom on them for better baking results. In the interim, Fantes sells a 2"x2" round cake form that is made of the same material as the baba forms. Unfortunately, they only ship within the US. The right pan can make all the difference. You could also pour the batter into a tube pan to make a lovely cake and serve it with an orange glaze and fresh raspberries any time of the year.

It's important, although not disastrous if you don't, to have the butter, eggs and orange juice at room temperature or roughly 21C/70F. Set them out on the kitchen counter for an hour or two before you plan on baking. Having them all at the same temperature will make the butter light, fluffy and airy which is what makes for a beautiful texture and crumb. If you don't have an oven thermometer, it would be a sound investment for less than 5 euro as ovens often have temperature variation. My oven had to be turned up to almost 200C to have a consistent 175C temperature in the lower third of the oven. Consistent portions and temperature result in even baking every time. Also, after trying numerous kinds of raspberry marmalade (just a really thick jam, no citrus) and jelly, the best one for the job is Ekströms vadelmahillo which comes in a squeeze bottle and has the perfect consistency. I had used a melon ball scoop with the marmalade and it worked well, but the squeeze bottle made quick work of dispensing the jam in perfect blobs on top of the cakes. Once you have a fresh, warm, moist Runeberg cake, you'll never have the same feelings for the Fazer Runeberg cakes again. :)

Paras Runebergin torttu / The Best Runeberg Cakes

Makes: about 18 cakes
Time: prep 25-30 minutes + baking
Special equipment: a 2x2-inch cake form, Runeberg form, baba form or muffin tin
Source: HFB, Ltd. test kitchen

• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 225g or 2 sticks butter, room temperature
• 1,2 dl or 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2,25 dl or 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon bitter almond oil
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1 teaspoon finely ground cardamom **optional
• 4,75 dl or 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1,2 dl or 1/2 cup finely crushed piparkakut or crisp ginger snaps
• 1,2 dl or 1/2 cup plain fine bread crumbs
• 1,2 dl or 1/2 cup unsweetened 100% orange juice, room temperature
• 1-2 dl or 1/2-1 cup chopped or ground almonds

topping:

• raspberry jam or marmalade
• a dash or two of orange juice (if marmalade is too thick)

icing:

• 2 dl or 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• about 1/2-1 tablespoon milk or light syrup

Position baking rack to lower third of the oven and preheat to 175C/350F.

Lightly butter the sides of the runeberg cake forms and place on baking sheet covered with baking paper.

Break the eggs into a medium-sized measuring cup with a pour spout and whisk with a fork until the yolks and whites are combined. Set the cup in a bowl of warm (not hot) water to bring them up to room temperature. Zest and juice one large or two small oranges.

Place sugars and butter into a bowl and cream together until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Add in baking powder, baking soda, salt, bitter almond oil and zest. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl down.

With the mixer on a medium speed, pour the eggs into the butter mixture very, very slowly, about 1 tablespoon at a time, allowing the egg to be incorporated fully before adding more. If the butter appears watery at any point, increase you mixer's speed a notch and beat until it is smooth and fluffy again, and only then decrease the mixer's speed and resume adding the egg mixture. Continue until the eggs have been fully incorporated and beat for another 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Measure flour, crushed piparkakut and breadcrumbs and mix together in a bowl and add 1/3 of the flour mixture over the dough mix until incorporated. Repeat until all the flour is mixed into the dough and it looks smooth. Slowly pour in orange juice until well blended. Add ground almonds and mix well.

Spoon 3-4 tablespoons of dough into the bottom of each runeberg cake form taking care not to get the dough down the sides of the form as you drop it in. Even the dough out on the bottom of the form, smooth the top and, if necessary, scrape dough caught down the side of the form with a small spoon.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the top of the cakes are golden brown.

Place baking sheet on a rack to cool for about 15-20 minutes and check to see if the cakes have pulled away from the sides of the forms. Run a small, thin knife or spatula around the edge of the form if any of the cakes have stuck to the sides in places to release them. Allow them to cool for a bit longer, remove from the forms and place on a rack to cool completely before decorating.

When cool, pipe, squirt or spoon a dollop of raspberry jam onto the top of the cake and pipe a ring of stiff confectioners' sugar icing around the jam. If you dare, soak in cognac, rum or 'arrakkipunssi', a sweet Swedish concoction.

Cake or Torte?

« Aleksanterinleivos ( Alexander's Cake ), raspberry jam sandwiched between two layers of shortbread topped with pink confectioners' sugar icing. »

In my search for something different recently, I found a reference to something called "Alexander's Cake" that I hadn't heard of or seen before so I started looking around for a recipe for it. I had to get a bit creative as the original name is "Aleksanterin torttu", but over the years it has been changed to "Aleksanterin leivos" for some reason that only Finnish linguists could explain since the nuance between leivos and torttu is a mystery even to many native speakers.

The cake is basically raspberry jam between two layers of shortbread that is topped with a sweet confectioners' sugar icing. One of the bakeries claim to to be 'Finland's oldest cake' though I'm not certain how they arrived at that conclusion. Perhaps it is the oldest cake named for a famous figure since it is named for the Russian Tsar Alexander I as he allowed Finland to become an autonomous Grand Duchy of Russia in 1809 with the Treaty of Fredrikshamn after the Russians defeated the Swedes. The treaty would later be credited for reviving Finnish culture leading to the Finnish language gaining official equal status. I'm still not sure if the cake is, in fact, a Finnish creation as it appears in Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian cookbooks under the same name, but all of the Baltics were similarly occupied by Russia in the 19th century though it seems less likely that they would have named any of their cakes after a Russian Tsar.

Making the cake is easy as long as you handle the shortbread layers with care as they are dry and reasonably delicate. I can't recommend the strawberry flavoured (a.k.a. pink) confectioners' sugar as though it has the appropriate intense pink colour, the strawberry flavour is rather strong and overwhelms the subtle shortbread and jam.

Aleksanterintortut

Makes: about 16+ servings
Time: about an hour
Source: Kotiruoka

• 200g or 1 3/4 sticks butter, softened
• 1 dl or 0.45 cup superfine sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 4 dl or 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla or vanilla sugar

filling:

• 2 dl or 3/4 cups raspberry or apple jam, marmalade or puree

frosting:

• 3 dl powdered sugar (pink or regular)
• about 1,5 tablespoons warm water or orange juice
• (tiny amount of red or green food colouring)

Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add egg and mix well. Mix together flour, sugar and baking powder in a small bowl and add gradually to the dough. Place dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 175C/350F.

Split dough into two equal parts and press into the bottom of two round 8-9"/20-23cm cake pans lined with baking paper (you can use a third round cake pan to press the dough firmly and smoothly into the bottom of the pans). Bake one at a time for about 15 minutes each. Allow to cool until firm.

Gently place bottom layer of cake onto a serving plate, spread jam on top and carefully lower the second layer onto the jam. Decorate with pink or green coloured frosting. (Wrap a strip of baking paper around the edge of the cake to keep the jam and icing from oozing over the sides if you like.) Place in fridge for about 30 minutes and cut into 16 thin wedges. (Traditionally the cake is rectangular and cut into small squares, but the round cake is easier to deal with and the wedges make it look like a nice cake slice.)

May the Cream Be With You

« A princess cake / prinsessakakku / prinsesstårta in a Yoda-green marzipan robe. »

I was working hard on my sofa coma on Friday evening by drinking a beer and scanning my newsfeeds when I saw that someone had made one of those funny green cakes from possibly the most pointlessly complex cake recipe I've ever seen. One of the reviewers of the cookbook the recipe was taken from, Birthday Cakes: Recipes and Memories from Celebrated Bakers concurred with my dim view of the recipe:

Finally, several of the recipes are ridiculously complicated for the home baker. "The Princess Cake," for example, requires following four lengthy pages of instructions!

Many of the other reviewers remark at how pretty the book is to look at which I had to laugh at since you know right there they are just in it for the picture porn, not the practicality of the recipes. The princess cake is, in spite of its looks, a simple cake: sponge cake layered with pastry cream and topped with a marzipan shell. Why on earth anyone would put themselves through such torture for something that should be rather simple? I was surprised the recipe didn't also encourage the baker to make their own raspberry jam from hand-picked organic berries or grind their own flour. It's a bad recipe if only for the silly rum 'moistening' solution for the cake since it boils off the alcohol in the rum and then adds more sugar to, perhaps they forget, distilled cane sugar. If the cake wasn't bone dry in the first place it wouldn't be necessary but not only that, rum is not a flavour associated with traditional cakes in the Nordic countries. If you want rum flavour, add a bit of extract to the cream or just brush some of the dark rum right onto the cake. If you've got a good bottle of Meyer's Dark Rum and feel the urge to boil it, please come to my house and don't forget to bring the bottle. :) The Finnish recipes occasionally mention using a wee bit of orange juice for the same purpose but it seems highly optional and up to the discretion of the baker.

So, I went hunting for a recipe since I see these cakes all the time but, aside from getting intense flashbacks to Hostess Snoballs, I've never actually tried one. It's also a cake I can share without regret since I'm not overly fond of marzipan. :) In the late 1920s, Jenny Åkerstr�m, who ran a cooking school for young ladies, published the Prinsessojen Kokbok which featured three cakes, one for each princess; Margaretha, M�rtha and Astrid [a copy of the recipes and illustrations from the 1951 printing in Finnish - 1.6mb pdf]. They were very elaborate cakes, not terribly suited to the home baker. Astrid's cake most closely resembles the princess cake in its current form and even features canned pineapple which was just becoming popular at the time. Annika Larsson, a baker at the Grillska Konditoriet in Stockholm, is credited with combining features from the three cakes and creating the princess cake [pdf, swedish] that has become a tradition. It appeared in Finland not long after it became popular in 1930s Sweden and has remained a traditional cake ever since, particularly for graduation and end of school year parties. The cake may also be known as the operat�rta.

Surprisingly, online there are more recipes for the cake in Finnish than there are in Swedish. And one of the MTV3 cooking shows featured a princess cake recently as well. None of my cookbooks at home had a recipe for it and I even went looking through the cookbooks at Akateeminen and found only two books that had a recipe and neither of them looked very good. I compared all the recipes I could find online and there was little difference save for the cream where there were two camps: pastry cream and plain whipped cream with one Swedish recipe mixing both together which is properly known as "diplomat cream". I turned to CI to compare both the sponge cake and pastry cream recipes and they featured the same ingredients only with far more detailed instructions and perfected technique so I used theirs instead. The sponge cake recipe is ace and, since such cakes are common components in Finnish desserts, I can't recommend it highly enough as it was tasty, moist and spongy just as a good cake of its kind should be.

There are also a few different styles of cake construction. Two layers or three layers, round or rectangular log, cream dome or sponge cake covering the dome as the top layer. It doesn't seem to matter as long as all of the key ingredients are there. The log looks interesting and easier to slice, but getting a sponge cake to bend like that without breaking or popping out of shape would require a few tricks I suspect.

The cream filling is where things get a bit dodgy in many of the recipes since the instructions are vague and don't mention the time needed. I tried the Swedish version of the pastry cream which featured gelatin as a thickener and, from a structural standpoint, I thought it might be the most successful at providing needed firmness to hold the shape of the cake. It eventually set, but the directions were limited and somewhat misleading. The pastry cream should be made the night before as it needs five hours or more to set. It's not difficult to make and it's good to have one less thing to juggle in the kitchen. Americans averse to dairy and/or cream could likely just use Cool Whip™ to replace the pastry cream and whipped cream thus making the cake even easier. We've got so many cream and dairy products that there must be a state embargo on non-dairy products like Cool Whip™.

It's all smooth sailing once you've got your cake layers, pastry cream, jam and marzipan all ready to go. Unless you've got some complex about using organic almonds, don't make the marzipan yourself as it's ready-made in all the usual colours for far less money than all the time and effort you would spend making it. The only drawback to using prepared marzipan is that it can be somewhat dry which makes manipulating it an exercise in patience. It also makes your life easier if you have 2 or preferably 3 round cake pans since this reduces the number of cakes you have to cut from a larger one. I like chocolate layer cakes so I've learned to make my life easier by making the layers at bake time since I suck at slicing cakes evenly or unevenly.

So that's all there is to it. Follow the recipes and make your own princess cake for a graduation party instead of paying 40 euro or so for one from a bakery in town. The 30 euro you save can buy a reasonable amount of beer instead. :)

Prinsesstårta / Prinsessakakku / Princess Cake

makes: 1 cake with 12 servings
special tools: good mixer for whipping, round cake pan[s], pizza cutter
time: about 2 hours total preparation time for cake, cream and marzipan

Preparation steps and approximate time

1. Prepare pastry cream (if using), make it the night before or before leaving for work in the morning. (30 mins)
2. Make sponge cake. (45 mins)
3. Make whipped cream and rahka cream (if using).(20 mins)
4. Assemble cake and chill. (10 mins)
5. Roll out marzipan. (15 mins)
6. Cover cake with marzipan. (15 mins)
7. Chill and serve. (1-2 hours)

Sponge Cake:

makes: two 8- or 9-inch cakes
time: about 45 minutes
source: CI

Sift together

• 1/2 cup or 1,25 dl cake flour
• 1/4 cup or 0,75 dl unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt

Heat together, cover and set aside

• 3 tablespoons whole milk
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla sugar

separate and mix

• 5 eggs room temperature
• 3/4 cup or 1,75 dl granulated sugar

1. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 350F/175C degrees. Generously grease and flour two or three round 8- or 9-inch cake pans and cover pan bottoms with a round of parchment paper. Whisk flours, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl (or sift onto waxed paper). Heat milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until butter melts. Remove from heat and add vanilla; cover and keep warm.
2. Separate three of the eggs, placing whites in bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment (or large mixing bowl if using hand mixer or whisk) and reserving the 3 yolks plus remaining 2 whole eggs in another mixing bowl. Beat the 3 whites on high speed (or whisk) until whites are foamy. Gradually add 6 tablespoons of the sugar; continue to beat whites to soft, moist peaks. (Do not overbeat.) If using a standing mixer, transfer egg whites to a large bowl and add yolk/whole egg mixture to mixing bowl.
3. Beat yolk/whole egg mixture with remaining 6 tablespoons sugar. Beat on medium-high speed (setting 8 on a KitchenAid) until eggs are very thick and a pale yellow color, about 5 minutes (or 12 minutes by hand). Add beaten eggs to whites.
4. Sprinkle flour mixture over beaten eggs and whites; fold very gently 12 times with a large rubber spatula. Make a well in one side of batter and pour milk mixture into bowl. Continue folding until batter shows no trace of flour, and whites and whole eggs are evenly mixed, about 8 additional strokes.
5. Immediately pour batter into prepared baking pan[s][makes 9-10dl of batter so ~3dl per cake layer]; bake until cake tops are light brown and feel firm and spring back when touched, about 16 minutes for 9-inch cake pans and 20 minutes for 8-inch cake pans.
6. Immediately run a knife around pan perimeter to loosen cake. Cover pan with large plate. Using a towel, invert pan and remove pan from cake. Peel off parchment. Re-invert cake from plate onto rack. Repeat with remaining cake[s]. Cover with clean cloth until ready to assemble cake to keep the cake moist. **If assembling the cake with the cake layer on top style, you may want to place a layer of cake over a bowl about the size of the cake while it is still warm to make it easier to fit over the cream later.

Pastry cream:

time: about 30 mins - Make at least 5 hours ahead or the night before!
source: CI

Heat until simmering/near boiling

• 2 cups or 2,25 dl half-and-half (half whole milk, half cream)
• 1/2 cup or 1,25dl granulated sugar
• pinch table salt

Whisk together until thick

• 5 large egg yolks, chalazae removed*
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch or arrowroot

Stir in last

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold), cut into 4 pieces
• 1,5 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

1. Heat half&half, 6 tablespoons sugar, and salt in medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat until simmering (near boiling), stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar.
2. Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks in medium bowl until thoroughly combined. Whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and whisk until sugar has begun to dissolve and mixture is creamy, about 15 seconds. Whisk in cornstarch until combined and mixture is pale yellow and thick, about 30 seconds.
3. When half&half mixture reaches full simmer, gradually whisk simmering half-and-half into yolk mixture to temper. Return mixture to saucepan, scraping bowl with rubber spatula; return to simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly, until 3 or 4 bubbles burst on surface and mixture is thickened and glossy, about 30 seconds. Off heat, whisk in butter and vanilla. Transfer mixture to medium bowl, press plastic wrap directly on surface, and refrigerate until cold and set, at least 3 hours or up to 48 hours.

*Chalazae are cordlike strands of egg white protein that are attached to the yolks--removing them with your fingers is easy and eliminates the need to strain the pastry cream after cooking.

rahka-Fra�che Cream:

• 250g plain lowfat rahka
• 250g vanilla fra�che 5%
• about 1-2 dl fine sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons cornstarch or arrowroot

1. whip together rahka and fra�che
2. add sugar to suit your taste
3. add cornstarch if a bit too moist
4. mix half of the rahka cream with the whipped cream
5. refrigerate

note: since neither of these products are likely available to people outside the Nordic region or the EU, they are basically thick sour milk products that might be substituted by using thick vanilla yogurt and lowfat sour cream.

Whipped Cream:

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
• 1/3 cup or 0,75 dl confectioners' sugar (use half of sugar if you prefer less sweetness)
• 3,5 dl or 1.5 cups heavy cream

1. Beat cold heavy cream at medium speed in an electric mixer until thickened. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla and beat until thick.

Assembling (see also diagram):

• pastry cream or rahka cream
• whipped cream
• raspberry jam or low-sugar/just fruit jam for less sweetness

There are two methods of assembly: the cream dome on top method:

1. Slice cake to create 3 evenly sized layers unless you bake with 3 round pans in which case you already have three cakes ready to use.
2. Place the first layer on top of a sheet of baking paper and spread a thin layer of raspberry jam on top of the cake.
3. Spread a layer of pastry cream/rahka cream on top of the jam and place another cake layer on top and repeat jam and cream application.
4. Place the third cake layer on top and with a serrated knife, trim off edge to round off the top. Mound the whipped cream on top of the cake and smooth with a spatula. You can also mix part of the remaining pastry cream with the whipped cream if you like. Coat the sides of the cake if you have any cream leftover as well.
5. Lift cake onto a plate or baking tray and chill in the refrigerator while you prepare the marzipan shell.

and the cake layer on top method:

1. Slice cake to create 3 evenly sized layers unless you bake with 3 round pans in which case you already have three cakes ready to use.
2. Spread a layer of pastry cream/rahka cream on top of the jam. Place the second cake layer over the cream and make a dome of the whipped cream/rahka-whipped cream mix leaving a thin margin around the edge for where the top layer will rest on the lower layers.
3. Remove the third cake layer from the bowl and spread a very thin layer of jam on top which will serve to anchor the marzipan to the cake. Place the cake layer on top over the cream and smooth into a rounded shape. Witha serrated knife, trim off edge to round off the top if necessary.
4. Lift cake onto a plate or baking tray and chill in the refrigerator while you prepare the marzipan shell.

Marzipan shell:

• 350-400g or 14oz green (or pink or yellow) marzipan
• confectioners' sugar

1. Roll marzipan between 2 sheets of baking paper or plastic wrap so that it doesn't stick to your rolling pin. Mark center of the marzipan and remove it from the baking paper. Dust rolling pin with confectioners' sugar and roll part of the marzipan onto it to make it easier to maneuver the marzipan on top of the cake.
2. Cover the cake with the marzipan. At this point, the dome of the cake will be smoothly covered, but there will be folds or creases on the sides. To remove the folds and creases, smooth the marzipan gently with your hand from the top of the cake to the bottom. This requires some patience so don't try to rush it.
3. Work your way around the cake. Once all the folds are eliminated, rub the palm of your hand around the sides of the cake to further smooth it and eliminate air pockets.
4. With a rolling pizza cutter or small, sharp knife, carefully cut off the excess marzipan along the bottom edge. Reserve excess for making leaves.
5. Dust top with confectioners' sugar. You can make a stencil for the confectioners' sugar to decorate with a crown or add a single marzipan/real rose on top.
6. If you choose a rose as garnish, cut two or three elongated ovals out of the remaining marzipan to make leaf shapes. Lightly score the top of the leaves with a knife to create veins and place on top of the cake. Garnish with real pink rose or make your own marzipan rose.
7. Chill until serving.
8. Slice with a sharp knife with a slow, firm pressure.