Swedish princess torte

Beat the room temperature eggs with the granulated sugar and vanilla on high with the whisk attachment for 10 minutes, until grown in volume and fluffy.

Add the vegetable oil and mix in.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together and add to the mixture on low speed in a few batches until just incorporated.

Line two half sheet pans with parchment and grease; divide the batter with an ice cream scoop, four scoops per pan, and smooth into one even layer.

Bake at 350F about 13 minutes, until golden on top, slightly springy, and a toothpick comes out clean.

The top rack bakes faster; move the centre cake to the top rack for one to two minutes more if needed.

Run a knife around the cakes to release them and cool completely.

Syrup: bring the sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan, stir until dissolved, add the vanilla off the heat and cool completely.

Pastry cream: heat the milk with three quarters of the sugar over medium high without stirring until steaming hot.

Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar, the cornstarch and the heavy cream until smooth.

Add the almost boiling milk to the yolk mixture little by little to bring the eggs up to temperature, then return everything to the pot.

Cook over medium, whisking, until it comes to a boil and thickens.

Off the heat whisk in the butter and vanilla, strain into a bowl, press plastic wrap onto the surface and cool completely, then chill.

Almond paste: mix the egg whites, almond flour, confectioner's sugar and almond extract to a thick sticky consistency, finishing by hand if needed.

Marzipan: mix three cups of confectioner's sugar with the paddle attachment and add the almond paste a little at a time until crumbly.

Add the corn syrup, then one drop of gel food colouring, and knead until the colour is evenly distributed.

Turn the marzipan onto a counter dusted with powdered sugar, wrap in plastic and set aside.

Whip the heavy cream with the confectioners sugar and vanilla, starting slow and raising to high, until thick and creamy.

Peel the parchment from a sheet cake and cut it in half at the eight inch mark; three quarter sheet layers are used.

Brush the first layer with syrup, spread a thin layer of raspberry jam, pipe a whipped cream border around the edge and fill with a thick even layer of pastry cream.

Add the second layer, brush with syrup, spread jam, pipe the cream border and spread pastry cream; top with the third layer and brush generously with the remaining syrup, focusing on the edges.

Frost the top and sides with the remaining whipped cream and clean up around the cake.

Freeze about two hours, until the whipped cream is firm enough to touch without squishing.

Roll the marzipan out on plenty of powdered sugar to almost double the pan size, folding and adding more sugar if it sticks.

Roll the marzipan onto the rolling pin, drape it over the cake, press lightly onto the whipped cream and trim the excess from the sides.

Freeze about an hour to set before slicing.

Variation, four inch rounds: cut rounds of sponge with a four inch cookie cutter, brush with syrup, layer jam and a thick layer of pastry cream, top with a second round, soak with syrup, add jam and a domed thick layer of whipped cream, then frost the sides.

Variation: freeze the small cakes an hour to an hour and a half, cut eight inch marzipan rounds, drape over each four inch cake, smooth the sides and trim.

Variation: cut leaves from the leftover marzipan, draw the veins with a knife, stick three or four on each cake with a little whipped cream and dust with powdered sugar.

Serve chilled; thaw frozen cakes about an hour in the fridge and another hour at room temperature.