The Swedes are known for their princess cake, but did you know Norwegians have their version of prinsessekake too?

While the Swedes love to cover theirs with marzipan, Norway’s version is a gorgeous, yeasted cake made up of cinnamon-roll-like buns shaped in a circle. Filled with butter, cinnamon and sugar and topped with vanilla custard and drizzled with icing, this is a dreamy combination of Norwegian kanelboller and skoleboller … trust me you haven’t lived until you’ve tried this cake!

Some recipes for prinsessekake include raisins but I chose to omit them. Feel free to experiment with it! If you decide to include raisins, sprinkle about ¼ cup (1 dl) over the filling before rolling up the dough.

You can also add some crushed cardamom to the filling making it a cardamom-filled prinsessekake… what’s not to love?

The challenges of baking a cake with vanilla custard can be that it gets super dry on the outside while remaining soggy and raw on the inside.

This can happen because of several factors:

1. You’re not using a big enough pan. Make sure the size is at least 10 inches (26 cm).
   
   
2. Many Norwegian recipes have you rolling out ⅓ of the dough into a circle and placing this as a “base”, then spreading it with a layer of vanilla custard before you put the individual pieces on top.
   
   
   Do not add a bottom layer of dough but simply just place the individual rolled-up pieces in a circle straight onto the greased cake pan bottom. The more wet ingredients and dough you have, the more difficult it is to cook through.
   
   
3. Adding custard on the rolled-out rectangle before rolling it up. Rather, just place a dollop on top of each rolled-up piece of dough when placed in the pan. Again, it’s much easier to cook a cake evenly when there are less moisture and wet ingredients inside.
   
   
4. Cutting the individual rolls too big. Make them maximum 2 inches in length.
   
   
5. Not baking the cake long enough. You can check the top after 20 minutes and if it is starting to brown too much place a piece of foil on top for the last 5-10 minutes.
   

I hope these tips will help you bake the most successful and delicious recipe for Norwegian princess cake!!

Make this on the weekend when you want a special treat, for children’s birthday parties or anytime you put a pot of coffee on… Guaranteed to be a hit!

PRINSESSEKAKE

For the cake:
About 4 cups (500 grams) all-purpose flour
⅓ cup (75 g) sugar
1 packet (2 ¼ teaspoons) dry active yeast
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 ¼ cup (3 dl) unsweetened, organic soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
3 tablespoons Just Eggs (optional, add more milk if not using)
1 stick (113 grams) vegan butter, diced

Filling:
3 ½ tablespoons (50 grams) vegan butter, room temperature
¼ cup (50 grams) sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
½ recipe Vanilla custard

Icing:
1-1 ¼ cups (2-3 dl) powdered sugar
1 tablespoon water

To make the cake:

Add all the ingredients except the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and knead on medium speed for about 10 minutes. If needed, add a touch more milk if the dough seems dry after a few minutes. Add the diced butter gradually and knead for another 10 minutes until you have a smooth, shiny dough.

Cover the dough with cling wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rise for about 1 hour until double in size.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Add the butter, sugar and cinnamon into a small bowl and mix together with a fork until smooth.

Prepare a 10-inch springform pan by lining it with parchment paper cut into a circle fitting the bottom or simply just grease the bottom and sides.

Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured clean working surface and roll it out to a rectangle about 10×15 inch (25 x 40 cm) in size.

Spread the filling evenly over the surface using an offset spatula, leaving about ¼ inch margin from the edges.

Tightly roll the dough up starting from the longest side closest to you and place seam side down, sealing the edges as best as you can.

Cut the link into 2-inch (5 cm) pieces, and place them in a circular pattern in the prepared cake pan, leaving a little space between each piece (they will rise and come together in the oven and when rising for the second time).

Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450℉ (225℃).

When ready, fill a pastry bag with the vanilla custard, make a little dent into the center of each piece of the cake and pipe about 2 tablespoons worth of custard into each piece.

Brush the top with a little mixture of Just Egg and non-dairy milk (or melted vegan butter).

Place the cake on the rack placed on the second-to-lowest position in the oven and bake at 450℉ for 5 minutes, then lower the temperature to 400℉ (200℃) and bake for another 25-30 minutes until golden on top.

(I like placing a sheet tray right underneath the cake in case any of the filling oozes out of the pan, to avoid a mess in the oven.)

Let the cake cool on a rack inside the pan for about 10 minutes, then release the springform sides and let the cake completely cool before drizzling with the icing.

NORVEGAN PRINSESSEKAKE

This gorgeous yeasted cake with cinnamon-sugar and vanilla custard is like a dreamy combination between cinnamon buns and Norwegian school buns shaped into the size of a round cake and drizzled with icing. Heaven on a plate!

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Norwegian

Keyword: cakes

Servings: 8 servings

Author: Sunny Gandara | Arctic Grub

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 4 cups (500 grams) all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup (75 grams) sugar
• 1 packet (2 ¼ teaspoons) dry active yeast
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 ¼ cup (3 dl) unsweetened, organic soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
• 3 tablespoons Just Eggs optional, add more milk if not using
• 1 stick (113 grams) vegan butter, diced

Filling:

• 3 ½ tablespoons (50 grams) vegan butter, room temperature
• ¼ cup (50 grams) sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• ½ recipe Vanilla custard

Icing:

• 1-1 ¼ cups (2-3 dl) powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

• To make the cake:
• Add all the ingredients except the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and knead on medium speed for about 10 minutes. If needed, add a touch more milk if the dough seems dry after a few minutes. Add the diced butter gradually and knead for another 10 minutes until you have a smooth, shiny dough.
• Cover the dough with cling wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rise for about 1 hour until double in size.
• Meanwhile, make the filling. Add the butter, sugar and cinnamon into a small bowl and mix together with a fork until smooth.
• Prepare a 10-inch springform pan by lining it with parchment paper cut into a circle fitting the bottom or simply just grease the bottom and sides.
• Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured clean working surface and roll it out to a rectangle about 10×15 inch (25 x 40 cm) in size.
• Spread the filling evenly over the surface using an offset spatula, leaving about ¼ inch margin from the edges. Tightly roll the dough up starting from the longest side closest to you and place seam side down, sealing the edges as best as you can.
• Cut the link into 2-inch (5 cm) pieces, and place them in a circular pattern in the prepared cake pan, leaving a little space between each piece (they will rise and come together in the oven and when rising for the second time). Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for another 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 450℉ (225℃).
• When ready, fill a pastry bag with the vanilla custard, make a little dent into the center of each piece of the cake and pipe about 2 tablespoons worth of custard into each piece. Brush the top with a little mixture of Just Egg and non-dairy milk (or melted vegan butter).
• Place the cake on the rack placed on the second-to-lowest position in the oven and bake at 450℉ for 5 minutes, then lower the temperature to 400℉ (200℃) and bake for another 25-30 minutes until golden on top.
• (I like placing a sheet tray right underneath the cake in case any of the filling oozes out of the pan, to avoid a mess in the oven.)
• Let the cake cool on a rack inside the pan for about 10 minutes, then release the springform sides and let the cake completely cool before drizzling with the icing.