The Tiana
Gooseberry (or lemon), elderflower, olive oil & pistachio princess(ish) cake
Before we get into this newsletter, I have a very exciting announcement. On Friday the 1st of August I will be popping up at THE Lannan Bakery in Edinburgh. I’m so, so excited for this collaboration, is an absolute dream for me so if you’re in the area please come down to see us and eat some cake! On the menu will be:
Blackcurrant & Earl Grey Princess Cake: Earl grey genoise sponge, london fog (earl grey & lavender) crème pat, blackcurrant and lavender compote, whipped cream, marzipan.
Tiramisu Layer Cake: Espresso soaked genoise sponge, amaretto ganache, whipped mascarpone cream, Swiss meringue buttercream.
Coconut & Passionfruit Highland Cows: Choux pastry, coconut craquelin, coconut crème diplomat, passionfruit curd, toasted coconut.
Cranachan Tarts: Sablé pastry, raspberry jam, toasted oat frangipane, honey & whisky cream, fresh raspberries.
Strawberry & Elderflower Angel Slice: Lemon sponge, elderflower Swiss meringue buttercream, roasted strawberry puree, strawberry icing.
Chocolate, Caramel & Hazelnut Layer Cake: Chocolate sponge, soy caramel buttercream, chocolate ganache, roasted hazelnuts.
All of Lannan’s regular pastries will still be available as well so there will be a really amazing selection to choose from. I’m so excited to collaborate with Darcie and the team, hope to see you there!
Now that all of my announcements are over we can get back to today’s bake. This is part three of my princess series, a series in which I make cakes in the style of traditional Swedish princess cakes (prinsesstårta), but change the name to avoid a flood of messages from Swedes accusing me (rightly) of meddling with their national treasure. Today’s cake is inspired by Princess Tiana, it’s sophisticated, complex and most importantly, green!
If you want to know more about classic(ish) prinsesstårta, you can read about it here and if you missed part 1 where I made a blueberry & Earl Grey cake inspired by Rapunzel, you can read it here, and part 2, a tropical cake inspired by Moana here. Parts one and two both feature cakes in log-form, if you’re new to princess cakes, I’d suggest starting with a log cake as they’re much easier to assemble and cut. The more traditional dome cakes look impressive but they do require some patience and skill!
Let’s have a quick chat about Tiana and how she inspired this cake! When I first made this cake, my plan was actually to make a Princess Fiona inspired cake, the bright green of the gooseberry curd felt very Fiona to me, but the finished cake felt slightly off. That’s when I realised (thanks to everyone on Instagram) that this cake fits Tiana way better. Not only does the decoration match her dress but the whole cake fits her vibe perfectly. Tiana is a chef, she gets fancy flavours, this is a cake that I can see her making. My only regret is not making a little marzipan frog to go on top of the cake.
