Monday, December 10, 2007

A Delicious Gift

This weekend we drove a couple of hours to finally celebrate Natasha's birthday. It was a beautiful, sunny, cold day in River City area, but the warmth of the welcome received made it a special day.

As a special birthday treat, we brought a Swedish Princess Cake made at nearby bakery, Village Bakery in Sebastopol. The owner is from Scandinavia and their version is light, rich and delicious. The traditional Princess Cake is covered in a pale green cloak of marzipan, but for the holidays the bakery is decorating the cake like a gorgeous present, right down to the bow. It was almost too pretty to cut into, but too delicious not to.

The Princess Cake is a Swedish national passion. It seems that the cake was created in the 1930s for the birthday of a Swedish princess. It is often served as a graduation cake, but apparently can be found throught the country and can be found as a treat to go with tea or coffee, usually as a slice of cake. The distinctive thing about this cake, other than the marzipan, is the rounded top of the cake, usually created by mounding pastry cream or whipped cream in the center of the top layer, then smoothing the cream to make a dome shape on the top.

Although we did reserve a piece to bring home to our nephew, somehow the four of us managed to polish off the rest. It was the small version, but still quite a dose of cake, jam, cream and marzipan. You would think that it would be very sweet, but it isn't. With some coffee and good conversation, it was the perfect dessert for celebrating the birthday of a wonderful sister.

11 comments :

  1. I may just have to get one of these for my birthday next week! Looks luscious, and I've had the green kind before. Would love to get together again, and understand the holiday hustle! I'm in it myself!

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  2. What a beautifully done cake. That is one tradition I would like to start taking part in.

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  3. OH - MY - Goodness! What a gorgeous cake!

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  4. Oh...my...gosh. That cake! Wow.
    What a wonderful way to celebrate a birthday!

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  5. That is an astounding cake. Have you ever seen a recipe? I must look for this one!

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  6. Spectacular! My b-day's in May, just in case you're wondering what to get me. ;)

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  7. What a stunningly beautiful gift! Who would not want to be at the receiving end of such a gift.

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  8. Anna, They have these at bakeries in Marin County, but sometimes they don't make them in the winter. I would love to get together, too, question is when??

    Cheryl, It does make a good tradition.

    Veron, And..it was yummy!

    Tanna, Yes, I might try to make it myself next time.

    Susan, I'll have to remember that in May :)

    Cynthia, My sister is worth such a gift...and it's her favorite :)

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  9. That is soooo beautiful.

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  10. Anonymous8:42 AM

    oh my! That photo caught my eye and I forgot what I was reading! Great photography.

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  11. That is one very beautiful cake!

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