In the same vein as the Cornish Pasty and the Sachertorte this Princess cake appears to be a well know and well-loved dessert. According to food historians and google alike the Prinsesstårta (which I will be calling the princess cake because I can’t figure out how to get that little circle above the a) is a Swedish tradition. The cake originated sometime in the 1930-40 as a favourite of one or all of the three Swedish princesses, Margaretha, Märtha, and Astrid, daughters of Prince Carl. All that is to say that I will no doubt disappoint and possibly offend an entire nation with my retelling of this bake. Oh boy!
Tag: custard
Hazelnut Dacquoise
Phew, I am exhausted! Seriously so tired. I know everyone with real reasons to be tired like: work, children or doing something useful with their time may want to punch me in the face but this bake was intense. I still don’t think I’ve recovered. This probably doesn’t bode well for me as a parent but this sugar baby kicked my butt. I’m too tired to keep complaining and there is so much to discuss. Like how blanched hazelnuts are always worth the investment.
Egg Custard Tarts
Arguably one of my all-time favourite desserts, other than that isn’t my Mom’s lemon pound cake (that I still love in the face of my current disdain for lemons), my Mom’s Rice Krispie squares, or really anything my Mom bakes, is a Portuguese Custard Tart or pastéis de nata. Sadly I’ve never been to Portugal and tried an authentic pastéis de nata but I have sampled as many as I can get my hands on from various bakeries and they are all delicious. The bright yellow egg custard is lightly flavoured with cinnamon and perfectly bruleed on top.
Now that I’ve got you salivating over Portuguese Custard Tarts it’s time for me to tell you these are not the same. As sad as I was to learn that I wasn’t going to be mastering the Portuguese classic I did find out that the UK Egg Custard Tarts have a following of their own. And who doesn’t love a bit of food history with their baking? These tarts date back to the middle ages! Although I would have to wait to try my hand at the Portuguese version I was happy to be moving onto another British classic.
Sinking Islands
Lets be honest this was never going to go to plan. Poached meringues? Come on! I had always believed that the challenges in the series increased in difficulty as the weeks past. But if this is week two I’ll be crying, huddled with my cats, before we reach pastry week.
There is nothing to do but confess my dessert sins and hope I never have to poach meringues again.
A Good Bake 