One day a couple of years ago, Angel Davis, owner of Millay (opens in new tab) wine bar in Mission Dolores, was drinking riesling on the sunny deck of a waterfront Lake Tahoe cabin with a bunch of industry friends, including Kitchen Istanbul (opens in new tab) owner Emrah Kilicoglu and his wife Ayca. They were celebrating Ayca’s birthday and had brought along a Swedish princess cake from Schubert’s Bakery (opens in new tab). One of San Francisco’s most famous desserts, it was an airy cloud of cake and whipped cream, layered with custard and jam, then draped in bright green marzipan. 

Unfortunately, nobody was going to get a second slice. 

As Davis recalls, someone in the group came outside and announced: “There’s a bear in the kitchen.” At first, they thought it was a joke. It wasn’t. A black bear had strolled in through an open door. From behind the sliding glass, they watched aghast as it opened the fridge and helped itself to the leftover cake and half an avocado, before washing it down with some vegetable oil. Someone called the sheriff, the bear sauntered off, and everyone was fine. But she, literally, left no crumbs. 

This bear clearly had impeccable taste. Created in the 1920s by home economics teacher Jenny Akerstrom, Swedish princess cake has surged (opens in new tab) in (opens in new tab) popularity (opens in new tab). Led by Quarter Sheets (opens in new tab) in L.A., Ferrane (opens in new tab) in Brooklyn, and Fabrique (opens in new tab) and Sant Ambroeus (opens in new tab) in Manhattan, the eye-catching cakes are stepping into the spotlight all over the country, alongside the work of long-standing makers like L.A.’s Copenhagen Pastry (opens in new tab) and Chicago’s Lost Larson (opens in new tab). Elisa Sunga, founder of viral pop-up series Cake Picnic, confirmed that it’s one of the most popular styles at her sugary events, with home bakers taking on viral recipes for princess sheet cakes (opens in new tab). Instagram and TikTok serve up countless shapes, colors, and flavors, from mini princesses (opens in new tab) to cake coupes (opens in new tab).  

But the trend traces back, in part, to San Francisco (opens in new tab). Princess cake has long been on the menu at Clement Street staple Schubert’s, where bakers have been decorating European cakes for more than a century. 

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The current owners are the Wenzel brothers, who took over in 1995 but have been with the bakery since the ’80s. (Ralph Wenzel is still in the kitchen at 67, while Lutz Wenzel is enjoying retirement in Hawaii.) The fourth-generation bakers are from Germany, not Sweden, but by the time they joined the team, the princess was already in demand for birthdays and weddings. Ralph says Schubert’s has sold more in the past decade — up to 200 whole princess cakes and 250 slices a week. He declined to comment on the larger trend: “I’m sorry, I don’t get out that much.” 

The bakery’s classic version features fluffy white sponge, housemade raspberry filling, Kirsch-enhanced custard, and Lubeck marzipan imported from Germany, which leans more chartreuse yellow than mint green. It’s available as round domes or rectangular sheets, in a range of sizes. Ralph has no idea who developed the recipe but hopes it honors the traditional Swedish version, which was beloved by Princesses Margaretha, Martha, and Astrid, hence the name prinsesstarta. Fans love the lightness of the cake, the tart jam that cuts through the fluff, and above all, that it’s not too sweet. “The way the whipped cream absorbs the almond flavor of the marzipan, and then with the raspberry flavor, it’s a pretty nice combination,” Ralph says. 

When it comes to popularizing princess cakes in the past five years, Hannah Ziskin at Quarter Sheets is most widely credited. She grew up eating the one from Viktor Benes Bakery at Gelson’s Market in L.A. Then she attended UC Berkeley and lived in SF for eight years while working as a pastry chef at Chez Panisse, Bar Tartine, and Cotogna. So naturally, she’s a fan of Schubert’s. When she started dating Quarter Sheets co-owner Aaron Lindell, he got her a princess for her birthday and decorated it with toy ponies. “I was like, ‘He loves me,’” Ziskin says.  

Ziskin attributes the current infatuation to a couple of factors. “There was definitely a big cake moment during the pandemic, when people wanted to eat cake and celebrate everything,” she says. Plus, the aesthetic appeal of the princess cake pops on Instagram. “It’s a really gorgeous cake.” For her new-school version, she adds a splash of Californian olive oil to the chiffon, a dollop of mascarpone to the whipped cream, and makes her own marzipan with a pinch more salt, all for a savory edge. (The mascarpone has caused Swedes to have big feelings in the comments (opens in new tab).) She rolls it all up into a log, and when sliced, the colors range from cool blues and purples to sunset pinks and oranges. She trims the top with fresh snapdragons for special orders. 

Of course, San Franciscans looking to slice into a princess cake have more options than Schubert’s. There are regal versions at Victoria Pastry (opens in new tab), also in business for more than 100 years, as well as Ambrosia Bakery (opens in new tab) and Fillmore Bakeshop (opens in new tab), which have been serving their renditions for decades. It’s no surprise that pastel-loving Miette (opens in new tab) does a beautiful bombe (opens in new tab), and recently, the pop-up Cuivre (opens in new tab) entered the chat with a pretty pink version inspired by local blooms. I should also disclose that I work as a baker at Kantine (opens in new tab), the only Scandinavian bakery in the city, where we make princesses for preorder. I still hold my breath every time while draping the marzipan and sing the theme song to “The Princess Diaries” while giving the cake a rose crown and final twirl. 

Still, for certain customers, Schubert’s remains the one princess to rule them all. Davis eats one on her birthday every year, and last year received 15 additional cakes as gifts — so many that she handed out slices at the bar. “If there’s a birthday, there’s going to be a princess cake, and it’s going to be from Schubert’s,” she insists.