Princess Cake
A fuss-free dish built around ready-made sponge cake layers, heavy whipping cream and strawberry jam — roughly 75 minutes start to finish, and rated medium to make. Below: the ingredients split into pantry staples and a quick shopping list, a built-in serving scaler, and the method in 8 steps.
You'll mainly reach for saucepan and pan. At medium difficulty across 8 steps, it's manageable with a little attention.
What you'll need
Shopping list (4)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
Diet: not verified. We could not confirm strawberry jam, green marzipan from the ingredient list, so we make no dietary claim for this recipe.
Contains: Dairy Egg Tree nuts
Allergen labels are informational and may not cover cross-contact; verify every package and consult a qualified professional for medical dietary needs. Diet labels are derived from the ingredient list on this page — how we verify diet and allergen labels.
Food-safety and allergen information is general, not medical advice. Follow current guidance from your local food-safety authority, verify product labels, and seek qualified advice for allergies or health conditions.
How to make it
- Make the pastry cream by whisking the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch in a bowl, then warming the milk with the vanilla powder in a saucepan until steaming.
- Slowly whisk the hot milk into the yolk mixture, return everything to the pan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thick and bubbling, about 2 to 3 minutes, then cover the surface with cling film and chill until cold.
- Whip the heavy cream to firm peaks; fold about one third of it into the cold pastry cream to lighten it, and reserve the rest for layering and the dome.
- Place the first sponge layer on a serving plate, spread it with the strawberry jam, then add a layer of pastry cream and top with the second sponge.
- Spread the second layer with plain whipped cream, set the final sponge on top, then mound the remaining whipped cream over the top in a generous dome and smooth it down the sides.
- Roll out the green marzipan on a surface dusted with powdered sugar into a large thin circle big enough to cover the whole cake.
- Drape the marzipan over the cake, smoothing it gently over the dome and trimming the excess at the base, then chill for at least 1 hour.
- Dust the finished cake lightly with powdered sugar and, if you like, finish with a marzipan rose before slicing to serve.
You'll use: Saucepan · Pan · Whisk · Steamer
Ingredient substitutions
- Milk
- any unsweetened plant milk · ½ cup evaporated milk + ½ cup water
- Cornstarch
- 2 tbsp flour per 1 tbsp cornstarch (as thickener)
Tips & common questions
How long does Princess Cake take to make?
About 75 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 8 steps and 10 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of milk?
Try any unsweetened plant milk. See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Princess Cake suitable for my diet?
We make no dietary claim for this recipe: at least one ingredient could not be resolved to a definite plant or animal source, so labelling it either way would be a guess. The full ingredient list is above.
Related recipes
Adapted recipe — rewritten in our own wording from an open-licensed community cookbook, not yet independently kitchen-tested by Consomee. How we source, test & correct recipes.
Princess Cake is adapted by Consomee from the Wikibooks Cookbook, rewritten in our own wording and used under CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo: Princess Cake 2025-Oct-02.jpg (CC0) via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure — how we source recipes.