Name: Frankfurter Kranz with buttercream
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 1 cake
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs; 180 g granulated sugar; 150 g butter; 200 g plain flour; 50 g cornstarch; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1 pc lemon; 1 pinch salt; 500 ml milk; 50 g cornstarch; 120 g granulated sugar; 3 pcs egg yolk; 1 package vanilla sugar; 250 g butter; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 150 g hazelnuts; 150 g granulated sugar; 12 pcs cocktail cherries; 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Step by step process

Baking the sponge ring

1
Start the Frankfurter Kranz with the sponge ring. Whisk the eggs with the sugar into a thick pale foam that triples in volume, then stir in the grated zest of one lemon.
2
Pour the melted, cooled butter gently down the side of the bowl. Mix only briefly so the foam does not collapse.
3
Combine the flour with the cornstarch, baking powder and a pinch of salt. Sift them onto the whisked mixture and fold them in gently from the bottom up with a spatula.
4
Pour the batter into a greased and floured ring tin 24 centimeters in diameter. Bake in an oven preheated to 175 degrees for about 35 to 40 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.
5
Let the baked ring rest in the tin for 10 minutes. Then turn it out onto a wire rack and leave it to cool completely.

Making the egg buttercream

6
Whisk part of the cold milk with the cornstarch and the egg yolks into a smooth lump-free paste.
7
Bring the remaining milk with the sugar and vanilla sugar to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in the starch paste and, whisking constantly, cook for 2 minutes until the cream thickens into a firm custard.
8
Cover the hot custard with cling film pressed directly onto the surface so no skin forms, and let it cool to room temperature.
9
Whip the softened butter until smooth. Add the cooled custard of the same temperature spoon by spoon. Finally mix in the vanilla extract and whip until you have a glossy fluffy cream.

Brittle, filling and decoration

10
Coarsely chop the hazelnuts and toast them briefly in a dry pan. Melt the sugar in a second pan into an amber caramel, add the nuts and stir quickly.
11
Pour the caramel with the nuts onto baking paper, let it set, then chop or crush it into coarse brittle.
12
Cut the cooled ring horizontally into three layers. Spread a layer of cream over the bottom and middle layers, stack them back together and coat the whole top and sides of the cake with the same cream.
13
Coat the entire cake in the hazelnut brittle, pipe twelve rosettes of the remaining cream on top and finish each one with a cocktail cherry. Dust the cake lightly with powdered sugar if you like. Before serving, let the cake set in the fridge for at least two hours.