Angelika's Frankfurt Wreath

Ingredients for 20 servings:

• 6 eggs, separated
• 180 g sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla sugar, some grated lemon peel
• 3 tbsp water, warm
• 140 g flour
• 40 g cornstarch
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 250 g butter, room temperature
• 100 g powdered sugar
• 1 vanilla pod(s), scraped
• 1 cube of palm fat, room temperature
• 1 bag(s) of Gelfix (or other preserving powder)
• 3 eggs, of which the egg white
• 100 g jam (orange marmalade or currant jelly)
• 100 g almonds, chopped
• 50 g sugar
• 10 g butter
• Mandarin(s), in wedges or jelly for garnishing

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour

For the pastry: Whisk the egg yolks with sugar and warm water until frothy, add the lemon zest. Beat the egg whites with salt until stiff peaks form, then add to the egg yolk mixture. Mix the flour, starch, and baking powder and sift them onto the egg whites. Gently fold everything together with a large whisk. Grease a Frankfurt wreath pan. Pour in the batter and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for about 50-60 minutes (test with a skewer). Let the wreath cool, then carefully turn it out onto a wire rack. It’s best to cut it in half two or three times the next day. For the cream, beat the room-temperature butter, coconut oil, powdered sugar, and vanilla seeds until frothy. Beat the egg whites with Gelfix until stiff peaks form, then carefully fold them into the butter mixture. Spread one layer of the cake with jam or jelly and one or two layers with cream, leaving just under a third for spreading and decorating. Assemble the wreath and spread the cream all around, leaving some for decoration. For the brittle, toast the almonds, sugar, and butter in a pan, stirring frequently, until golden brown. Let cool, breaking them up a little if necessary. Sprinkle the outside of the wreath with this mixture. If desired, pipe 20-24 dots of cream over the wreath and decorate with mandarin orange segments or pieces of jelly. Refrigerate. Another variation: A layer of marzipan also tastes great with the orange version: Mix 100g of marzipan with enough Cointreau or orange juice until smooth. Spread this mixture over one layer (then cut the wreath in half three times).