Attention, cake lovers! This recipe isn't the easiest one, but it's worth the effort. So, let's go.
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Taste and Occasion
Homemade German crown cake is a real gem on any coffee table. Only the preparation is a bit laborious. But with my crown cake recipe (almost), nothing can go wrong - and praise is guaranteed for the result. So: Take a bit of time and get started!
Ingredients
Original German Frankfurter Kranz consists of several layers of sponge or cake batter, a filling or a coating of buttercream, brittle, and cherries. I don't like the latter (does anyone?), so I used raspberries. And instead of the traditional, highly lush regular buttercream, I used at least a slightly lighter custard buttercream. Check out my basic buttercream recipe for all the information to make it a success. The most important thing is to get the ingredients at the right temperature: room warm! So boiling the pudding is the very first step. Then the dough hits the spot. It's based on a standard easy cake batter. I add a packet of vanilla pudding powder for color and flavor, which can be substituted with cornstarch.
How to make the German Crown Cake
Let's start with the preparation of the dough and the buttercream. For the latter, cook a pudding: Stir the pudding powder in 100 ml milk until smooth. Heat the remaining 300 ml of milk with sugar, add the pudding powder, bring to a boil and remove from the heat. Then, pour pudding into a bowl, repeatedly stirring as it cools, or cover it with plastic wrap to prevent skin from forming. Set aside. The pudding must be at room temperature for further processing.
Now, preheat the oven to 360°F/180°C, grease a normal-sized wreath form (8.5-9.5 in / 22-24 cm) or 2 mini forms and dust with flour. Make sure that the center of the pan is also wholly greased and dusted. For the sponge mixture, beat the soft butter with the sugar until fluffy. Then, carefully stir in the eggs one at a time. Mix flour, pudding powder (or cornstarch), baking powder, and salt. Stir into butter-sugar cream and add milk until dough falls from the spoon with difficulty tearing. Pour dough into the pan. Bake the cake for about 35 minutes. Cool briefly in pan, turn out carefully and cool completely.
Meanwhile, for the buttercream, place the softened butter, which must necessarily be at room temperature like the pudding, in a bowl. Using a whisk, cream the butter and powdered sugar until very light and fluffy; this may take 10 minutes. Then, slowly stir in the pudding, tablespoon by tablespoon, until everything is a homogeneous cream.
Next, finish the cake. For this, cut the wreath cake twice horizontally. Lift off the top layers. Spread the bottom layer thinly with half of the jam (stirred smooth if necessary). Then spread with a bit of buttercream (either with the help of a piping bag or a small cake palette). Place the second cake layer on top, and spread with jam and buttercream. Cover with the top cake layer. Spread the remaining cream on the wreath. Sprinkle the sides of the wreath with brittle. Whip the cream with the vanilla sugar until stiff. Decorate the wreath with tuffs using a piping bag. In the end, place raspberries or cherries on top and refrigerate for approx. 2 hours before serving the crown cake.
Top Tip
You will need a cake palette to assemble and decorate the crown cake. It is the best way to apply buttercream. I "throw at" the wreath afterward 😉 and/or use a baking scraper card, with which I "press" the brittle. And then it's done. Examine your little masterpiece necessarily extensively before you cool it again. It could be that the cake is eaten very quickly 😉 . And if not, you can freeze the Frankfurter Kranz; best pre-cut into large pieces.
Recipe Card
German Crown Cake
Equipment
- 1 wreath form (approx. 9.5 in / 24 cm)
Ingredients
For the buttercream
- 400 milliliters (1 ¾ cups) milk
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 small bag vanilla pudding powder, for cooking
- 50 grams (⅖ cup) powdered sugar
- 250 grams (1 cup) butter, soft and at room temperature
For the dough
- 140 grams (⅔ cup) butter, soft
- 170 grams (⅘ cup) sugar
- 4 eggs, medium
- 230 grams (1 ⅘ cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 small bag vanilla pudding powder, alternative 40 grams of cornstarch
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 tablespoons milk, coarse
To finish
- 80 grams (4 tablespoons) jam, e.g. raspberry
- 100 grams (¾ cup) nut brittle
- raspberries, or cherries
- 100 grams (⅖ cup) cream
- 1 small bag bourbon vanilla sugar
Instructions
Preparation of buttercream and dough
- First, cook a pudding for the buttercream: stir the pudding powder in 100 ml milk until smooth. Heat the remaining 300 ml of milk with sugar, add the pudding powder, bring to a boil and remove from the heat. Pour pudding into a bowl, repeatedly stirring as it cools, or cover it with plastic wrap to prevent skin from forming. Set aside. The pudding must be at room temperature for further processing.
- Preheat oven to 360°F/180°C. Grease a normal-sized wreath form (8.5-9.5 in / 22-24 cm) or 2 mini forms and dust with flour. Make sure that the center of the pan is also wholly greased and dusted.
- For the sponge mixture, beat the soft butter with the sugar until fluffy. Carefully stir in the eggs one at a time. Mix flour, pudding powder (or cornstarch), baking powder, and salt. Stir into butter-sugar cream and add milk until dough falls from the spoon with difficulty tearing.
- Pour dough into the pan. Bake the cake for about 35 minutes. Cool briefly in pan, turn out carefully and cool completely.
- Meanwhile, for the buttercream, place the softened butter, which must necessarily be at room temperature like the pudding, in a bowl. Using a whisk, cream the butter and powdered sugar until very light and fluffy; this may take 10 minutes. Slowly stir in the pudding, tablespoon by tablespoon, until everything is a homogeneous cream.
Finishing the cake
- Cut the wreath cake twice horizontally. Lift off the top layers. Spread the bottom layer thinly with half of the jam (stirred smooth if necessary). Then spread with a bit of buttercream (either with the help of a piping bag or a small cake palette). Place the second cake layer on top, and spread with jam and buttercream. Cover with the top cake layer. Spread the remaining cream on the wreath.
- Sprinkle the sides of the wreath with brittle. Whip the cream with the vanilla sugar until stiff. Decorate the wreath with tuffs using a piping bag. Place raspberries or cherries on top. Refrigerate for approx. 2 hours before serving.
Ingredient substitutions
Variations
Have fun with my classic recipe, and have the best weekend! By the way: Because I love small cakes, I baked the crown cake dough in two mini molds from my childhood 😉 . Of course, you can use a standard wreath form with 8.5-9.5 in / 22-24 cm.
About Kathrin & Jan
It's like a little miracle to me every time. Seemingly simple ingredients are made into something that can brighten up your life. Butter, sugar, eggs, and flour melt into an airy biscuit, a fine tart, a juicy cake, or a crispy biscuit. Baking simply makes you happy. Welcome and enjoy our blog!
Kathrin & Jan
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