pistachio/strawberry or almond/raspberry princess cake

a cake w. fluffy/nutty chiffon, silky vanilla pastry cream, bright jam, and soft mascarpone whip

one of my favorite annual recipes to share is my birthday cake. last year, i made an absolutely delicious brooklyn blackout cake, and a number of you reached out to say it is the best cake you’ve ever baked – thank you for those messages, they always make my day. this year, with your input on an instagram story poll, i have made quite a different cake, one featuring pistachio and strawberry (though the recipe has options for almond and raspberry flavoring). i also asked you what shape the cake should be, and while it was almost an even split between long vs. dome, dome won out in the end.

i loved collaborating with everyone on the shape and the flavors, and i knew almost immediately what cake i wanted to make…

when i was younger, it was always my dream to have a princess cake on my birthday. i had never actually tried one, but the look of it was all i needed to fall in love: the tall domed shape, the smooth and matte texture of the marzipan, the jam and custard spilling out between the layers, and topped with loads of fluffy whipped cream and a rose.

i found baking it to be easier than expected (it’s about the same level of complexity as last year's brooklyn blackout birthday cake). the assembly of all the layers and creating the domed shape proved to be a breeze, and using marzipan in lieu of frosting cuts out a lot of the difficulty/frustration i normally have when decorating a cake (no need for a cake decorating turntable, piping tips, or bags, nor a crumb coat, all you need to do here is roll out the marzipan and wrap it around the cake). while there are a number of components (similar to most of my recipes), i’ve broken up the work for this cake into 2-3 days to make it far more manageable, the first day being the most intensive and the last being quite easy.

after blowing out the candles and trying a slice, and i was happy to find the cake absolutely lived up to my years of dreaming. i made two versions, one with an almond sponge and almond marzipan (the pink one), and another with a pistachio sponge and pistachio marzipan (the green one). both were delicious though i slightly preferred the pistachio. (i have provided the recipes for both below). the super soft, cotton-y, plush, and slightly nutty chiffon sponge pairs oh-so-well with the lush and silky vanilla (bean) pastry cream. the bright, tart, and sweet strawberry (or raspberry) jam also pairs beautifully with the soft yet thick, cloud-like brown sugar mascarpone whip cream. and all of it pairs perfectly with the very nutty, sweet, salty, chewy, and sticky marzipan (salivating as i write this). one of my favorite parts of this process was letting the cake hang out (wrapped) in the fridge for a day. the moisture from the pastry cream in the cake seeped into the marzipan and it got a little melty and even stickier. but, enough talking about the cake. onto the recipe itself - enjoy!

ps. i spent ages developing this pistachio (or almond) chiffon cake recipe a few years ago. it took many many trials to get it right, chiffon cake is notoriously tricky. this recipe, however, always turns out right. it’s not too sweet, and it has a light, springy and spongy texture. i’d love to put it in a cookbook one day, and hopefully i will, but for now, here it is! i’m so happy to be sharing it.