An Almond-Loaded Princess Cake

This March, my husband and I are celebrating our 9th anniversary. Our wedding was nothing but traditional, yet we have a very strong tradition we follow each year to celebrate another happy year together. For our wedding, we had ordered a Princess Cake from Albermarle Baking Co. in Charlottesville VA. Every year, we would buy a slice and eat it together. When we moved to Atlanta, the tradition became quite difficult as, four year later, I still haven’t found a bakery that makes Princess Cake. Our first year in Atlanta, I tried making one, then started buying a similar version sold at Ikea.

“Le bonheur nous va bien” meaning “Happiness suits us well”

Since Jeff had his heath issues two years ago, the tradition became more difficult as he can’t eat grains and dairy products anymore. He would usually have a bite out of tradition, without being able to really enjoy the cake. This year, I decided to try making a hubby-friendly version of the cake.

I have to say, this is based on the version we had at our wedding, not the traditional Swedish princess cake. It is described as a sponge cake, with a layer of Bavarian cream, and covered in marzipan. I found recipes online for the cake and the cream and modified them to create my own version. Here are the sources I based my sponge cake and pastry cream on. I basically used the basic recipes and replaced some of the ingredients. I wanted the recipe to be wheat-free and dairy-free, but not necessarily sugar-free like both recipes.

Almond-Loaded Princess Cake

Servings: 6
Source: Inspired by Ruled.me and TastyKitchen.com, with modifications
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This recipe is gluten free, wheat free, grain free and dairy free. The recipe makes 6 small cakes but the recipes could be modified to make one larger cake, simply by adjusting the baking time.
I used maple sugar, but it could be substituted by brown sugar. 

Ingredients

Sponge Cake:

1 cup of almond flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
5 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of almond extract
1/4 cup of maple sugar
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar

Pastry Cream:

1 cup of Sweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup of maple sugar
2.5 tablespoons of cornstarch
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Decoration:

Marzipan (Almond paste)
Powdered sugar

Directions

For the cake:

In a large bowl, mix the almond flour, salt, and baking powder.
In a medium bowl, mix the egg yolks, vanilla and almond extracts, the maple sugar and the olive oil.
Incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry mixture.
Whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar with a handheld mixer, until peaks form and the mixture is stiff.
Mix a third of the egg whites into the batter. Then add the rest by gently folding it in.
Pour the batter into greased ramekins or cupcake molds.
Bake at 325F for 25-30 minutes. (Poke with a toothpick to see if it is cooked all the way through)
Cool for a few minutes, then remove from molds. Cool cakes completely on a cooling rack.

For the pastry cream:

In a small saucepan, hear up the milk until it starts boiling. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the sugar, using a handheld mixer. Mix until it becomes pale yellow.
Add the cornstarch to the eggs and whisk until homogeneous.
Whisk in a little bit of the warm milk, mix completely.
Slowly pour the rest of the milk, as you keep whisking.
Pour the egg mixture through a strainer, back into the sauce pan.
Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the sauce thickens into a cream.
Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract.
Cool completely before using on the cake.

Putting the cake together:

Cut the cakes in half, horizontally.
Add a thick layer of pastry cream between the two cake layers. You can also add a layer on top of the cake, if desired.
Roll the marzipan as thin as you can and cover the cakes. Use a knife to remove the excess marzipan at the bottom of the cake.
Dust with powdered sugar (optional).