Swedish cakes: Margaretatårta

It was birthday time this week in the Bridgestone household and I took some time to document the Swedish-style birthday cake I baked.

This is a Margaretatårta (or, “Margareta cake”). Its distinguishing features are: sponge cake layers, vanilla custard, almond paste, sliced almond-coated edges and fresh fruit. While perhaps not the no. 1 choice of birthday cakes in Sweden (an honor going to the princesstårta (or “Princess cake”), it’s still a pretty popular cake.

Start by making the sponge cake. You’ll need:



That’s (from left to right): 6 1/2 tablespoons potato flour (cornstarch would work fine but, hey, this IS Sweden after all…), 13 tablepoons sugar, 2 eggs, 2/3 cups flour, 6 1/2 tablesppons hot water and 2 teaspoons baking powder.

(I'm very sorry for the strange measurements but the conversion from metric to US was tough...)

Break the eggs into a mixing bowl and add the sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. In other words, you want to go from this…



…to this:



Next, add the flours and the baking powder and mix:



(I probably should have folded but it honestly didn’t seem to make much of a difference…)

Finally, add the hot water and mix once more.



Pour the batter into a buttered (and floured if necessary) baking pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.



While the cake is baking, go ahead and make your vanilla custard. The ingredients:



One vanilla pod, 1 cup of half-and-half, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 2 egg yolks (save the whites for later!) and 2 teaspoons sugar.

Start by splitting and scraping the vanilla pod and adding it and the half-and-half to a saucepan. Bring to a boil.



Remove the pod from the milk. Add the egg yolks to another sauce pan and gradually add the hot milk while whisking. Add the sugar and the cornstarch and carefully bring to a boil while whisking. When thickened, remove from heat and cool.







Your cake should be done baking by now so remove from the oven and let cool.

To assemble the cake, start by dividing the baked sponge cake in two. Spread the vanilla custard on top of one half…



… and cover with the other half.

Next, gather the final group of ingredients:



That’s the reserved egg whites, about 1/3 cup of peeled and sliced almonds, fresh fruit (I’m all for purchasing locally but the words “local” and “fruit” just don’t go together in early-spring Sweden…) and almond paste (about 2/3 of a pound).

Grate your almond paste finely:



Mix while adding enough of the reserved egg whites to make a spreadable paste.





Spread the paste over the entire cake:



Save enough to pipe a ring around the outer edge of the cake. Press the sliced almonds onto the cake’s sides.



Bake in a hot oven until browned (a convection oven really helps).



Finally, top with fresh fruit and serve!



(I cheated – nature and the camera – by brushing the strawberries with a little simple sugar before serving…)

For the recipe index:

Margaretatårta

Sponge cake:
6 1/2 tablespoons potato flour or cornstarch
13 tablepoons sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cups flour
6 1/2 tablesppons hot water
2 teaspoons baking powder

Vanilla custard:
One vanilla pod
1 cup of half-and-half
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 egg yolks (reserve the whites)
2 teaspoons sugar

Decoration:
the reserved egg whites
about 1/3 cup of peeled and sliced almonds
fresh fruit
2/3 of a pound almond paste

Start by making the sponge cake. Break the eggs into a mixing bowl and add the sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the flours and the baking powder and mix. Finally, add the hot water and mix once more. Pour the batter into a buttered (and floured if necessary) baking pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

While the cake is baking, go ahead and make your vanilla custard. Start by splitting and scraping the vanilla pod, adding it and the half-and-half to a saucepan and scalding it. Remove the pod from the milk. Add the egg yolks to another sauce pan and gradually add the hot milk while whisking. Add the sugar and the cornstarch and carefully bring to a boil while whisking. When thickened, remove from heat and cool.

To assemble the cake, start by dividing the baked sponge cake in two. Spread the vanilla custard on top of one half and cover with the other half.

Grate your almond paste finely and mix while adding enough of the reserved egg whites to make a spreadable paste. Spread the paste over the entire cake. Save enough to pipe a ring around the outer edge of the cake. Press the sliced almonds onto the cake’s sides.

Bake in a hot oven until browned (a convection oven really helps).

Finally, top with fresh fruit and serve!

Wow. That looks fantastic. Thanks for documenting and sharing the process.

brandon_w wrote:Wow. That looks fantastic. Thanks for documenting and sharing the process.

Thanks from me as well, your beautifully documented posts are a joy to both read and cook from.

Wow - I only have 2 cakes in my birthday reportoire (a chocolate Guiness cake and an olive-oil lemon) that my family insist on. However, considering our love for all things almond and vanilla custard-y, I think I can talk them into this one. I especially love the toasted top.

Maybe you could freeze some of the custard for figmolly's photograph? Any excuse for a trip to Sweden, right?

Thanks everyone! The pleasure is (espeically after reading these kind words) mine!

That's a gorgeous cake!!! True love went into that one!


Where did you buy the almond paste?

THAT, is gorgeous.

Saint Pizza - Not too easy for you to know but I live in Stockholm, Sweden. Tubes of 50% almond paste (large and, like this one, small) are available next to tubes of marzipan (more sugar) and "luxury" almond paste (60% almonds) at nearly every grocery store.

(Maybe it's time to update my profile so that people can see where I live...)

There are some Chicagoland recommendations for almond paste in my post on "semlor", though.

I must request this for my birthday! (Though I'd love to substitute fresh apricots for strawberries.) Now if only I can find someone to make it for me.

Looks delicious!

Thanks for the link, Bridgestone!

Bridgestone, you have accomplished a feat that seemed impossible only moments ago: I think Princess Cake has just been replaced in my affections. But to be certain, I will have to make one of these. Thank you for yet another delicious post!