Cake

1. Preheat oven to 160°C fan-assisted (180°C non-fan-assisted). Butter and line an 18 cm round cake pan.
2. Cream butter, sugar, vanilla and salt for 2-4 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy.
3. Cream in the eggs one by one. Stir until just combined, and scrape down the edges.
4. Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture. Stir on low speed until just combined. Scraped down the edges and fold the batter a few times with a rubber spatula to incorporate some more air.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 40-55 minutes, until the cake is golden-brown, and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
6. Let cool for five minutes in the pan, then take the cake out and place on a cooling rack. Leave to cool for at least an hour at room temperature and then place the cake in the fridge, possibly overnight.
7. When fully cooled, cut the dome of the cake off. Depending on the height of your cake, slice the cake into 2-4 cake layers. A layer should be about 1 to 1.5 cm thick.
8. Until ready to assemble, stack the cake layers and wrap in plastic foil.

Vanilla Pastry Cream (Custard)

1. In a medium-sized pot, heat the milk over medium-high heat until. Add the vanilla and let milk heat until simmering and a few bubbles are showing.
2. In the meantime, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, corn starch in a bowl.
3. When the milk is bubbling a little bit, take the pot off the stove. Whilst whisking the egg mixture, carefully pour in about half of the milk in a thin stream. It is very important to whisk the eggs at all times, otherwise, you risk cooking your egg yolks.
4. When the egg mixture is tempered (has warmed slightly), pour it back into the remaining milk in the pot. Use a spatula to scrape the bowl clean, and whisk the mixture in the pot until fully combined.
5. Place the pot back on the stove. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking continuously.
6. It should take 2-3 minutes until the pastry cream starts to thicken. Let the custard come to a boil, and lower the heat to medium-low. Cook for another 1-2 minutes. And then take pot off the stove.
7. Whisk in the butter, until no lumps remain.
8. Pour the custard through a sieve into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap – make sure to press the plastic wrap onto the surface of the custard, so no custard skin forms.
9. Let cool in fridge until ready to serve (the pastry cream can be made up to two days in advance).
10. When ready to use for the Mini Princess Cakes, take the bowl out of the fridge and give it a good whisk.

Whipped cream

1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the heavy whipping cream on medium-high speed until soft peaks form.
2. Sift in the powdered sugar (optional), and stir further on medium speed until stiff peaks form.

Assembly

1. Using a small round cookie cutter (or a glass), cut out little cake circles the size of your glass. Set aside.
2. Roll out the marzipan between two sheets of plastic foil to about 1-2 mm thickness. Using a round cookie cutter, cut out small circles and set them aside.
3. For the first layer of your Mini Swedish Princess Cakes, pour the vanilla pastry cream into the glasses until about 1 cm high (about ½ inch). Depending on the size of your glass, the pastry cream layer can be higher!
4. Next, carefully place a cake circle on top. Be careful not to press the cake down too far.
5. Place about 1-2 teaspoons of jam on top of the cake and spread carefully.
6. Next, dollop 2-3 tablespoons of whipped cream on top of the jam and spread.
7. Finally, place a marzipan round on top and dust lightly with powdered sugar. Depending on the size of your glasses, repeat with more layers, finishing off with a layer of marzipan.
8. Leave the glasses/jars in the fridge until about 30 minutes before serving, then leave them at room temperature. Enjoy!