Yule Log 2024: Swedish Princess
Cake
Vanilla cake roll
Filling
Diplomat cream (a mixture of pastry cream and whipped cream)
Raspberry jam
Covered with
Marzipan
Decorations
Buttercream poinsettias
Snowfolk cookies
Snowball cookies
Buttercream pine tree
One of my sisters loves fruity desserts and suggests every year that I change it up and make something “lighter” than past logs. So, just for her, I decided my challenge this year would be to make a light and fruity Yule Log. No chocolate!? No caramel?! No ganache?? A challenge, indeed.
After many initial ideas were discarded, inspiration struck in the form of the Swedish Princess Cake (Prinsesstårta). It was the favorite cake of three Swedish sisters who were also princesses. I have Nordic ancestry and two sisters, and the cake’s creator also shares our family’s surname—I just had to make it. Here’s what it traditionally looks like:
I wanted to incorporate all the elements of the Princess Cake into my log. The light green marzipan covering the cake is essential, but I knew I could replace the pink flower that traditionally tops the dome to make it more “yule” and add other wintry elements. I decided my Yule Log would have a festive green, red, and white color scheme while staying true to the delicate and elegant vibe of the original cake.
The Swedish Princess Cake has yellow sponge cake layers sandwiching pastry cream and raspberry jam, topped with a dome of whipped cream. I made a yellow vanilla cake roll and filled it with a thin layer of jam and a thick layer of diplomat cream, which is a mix of vanilla custard and whipped cream (and turns out to be one of the most delicious cake fillings ever).
I rolled out light green-tinted marzipan (a sweet and chewy almond confection) that I purchased, as I didn’t have time to make marzipan from scratch. I adhered it to the outside of the log with a sticky layer of warmed apricot jam. On to the decorations!
Red poinsettias topped my “Swedish Princess Yule Log” instead of the traditional pink roses.
I don’t have much experience piping frosting flowers. I used a stiffened buttercream and colored it with jewel-toned gel food coloring. I wish I had taken some photos of my many poinsettia fails to show how lovely the ones on the log turned out in comparison. By far, making these poinsettias was the most time-intensive and difficult part of this year’s log. I am thrilled with how they came out!
The snowpeople cookies used a dough similar to Russian tea cakes: nutty, crumbly, round cookies rolled in powdered sugar. I attached smaller balls of dough to larger ones to make the snowman shape, rolled the baked cookies in powdered sugar (twice), and piped red scarves on the little guys to match the red poinsettias.
The coconut snowball cookies included another fruit flavor—lime! The dough contains lime zest, and a tangy lime glaze secures the coconut “snow” in place.
I strongly felt that I needed a forest element to keep true to the spirit of the Yule Log. Since I was already piping buttercream poinsettia flowers and snowman scarves, I made a pine tree forest for my log using ice cream cones piped with frosting foliage.
I had planned to add another tree, more snowfolk, some snowflakes, and a few more snowballs. However, as I began arranging the log on this amazing glass platter (it looks like ice), I discovered I didn’t need as much decor as I had originally planned. By using the same color palette for my flowers, scarves, and the tree, everything came together into a cohesive wintry forest scene.
The Inspiration
My 2024 Yule Log
This was a fun and delicious cake, even without ganache, mushrooms, or pinecones. I’m still definitely on Team Chocolate, but I learned some new skills and stepped out of my comfort zone with this elegant creation.