Copenhagen Wreath Cake

Draw butter:

1. Knead the butter and flour. Cut a larger freezer bag (size at least 40 wide and 60 long) completely open on one side and pour in the flour butter. Roll flat with a rolling pin and a ruler to a rectangle of approx. 20 x 20 cm. Wrap in excess foil from the bag and place the butter plate flat in the refrigerator for at least 1/2 hour.
2. Note 2: You can also use butter to make sauces creamy.

Dough:

1. Mix the flour, salt, egg and sugar together. Crumble the yeast over it. Melt butter, add milk and pour lukewarm into the bowl. Knead everything into a smooth dough and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. – if necessary in the oven briefly warmed up at 50 ° but switched off again –
2. When the volume of the dough has tripled, roll it out on a lightly floured surface to form a square measuring 30 x 30 cm. Now put the butter plate turned 45 ° on top. To do this, you also cut open the other long side, carefully pull off the top film, turn the plate with the help of the protruding film so that the butter side is at the bottom and can thus place it exactly on the dough. Now just carefully peel off the top film. Now beat the 4 corners of the dough over it (similar to an envelope) so that the butter cannot leak anywhere. Press everything lightly and carefully roll out into a rectangle of 25 x 30 cm. Fold the long sides over in the middle (3 layers) and wrap in a fold in the refrigerator for approx. 30 minutes.
3. Repeat the process of rolling out to a square of 25 x 30 cm and folding over (with a respective rest period in the refrigerator) 3 more times.

Filling:

1. In the meantime, grate the marzipan coarsely and whisk well with the 2 egg whites until a pasty mass is formed.

Completion:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °.
2. Halve the dough and roll out each half into a rectangle measuring 20 x 50 cm. Evenly distribute the marzipan mixture on both halves and smooth out with a spatula. Leave a 1 cm wide border free on the long sides. Spread the raisins evenly over both parts and now fold the sides towards the middle. Leave a 1 cm gap in the middle. Press the dough lightly and now lay each “strand” in a wreath.
3. Place each of the wreaths on a baking sheet lined with baking paper (a bit difficult because it is quite elastic, but can be done). Whisk the two egg yolks with the cream and generously coat the wreaths with it. Scatter the almond flakes on top, cover and let rise for another 20 minutes.
4. Bake the wreaths one after the other for approx. 25 minutes until they are golden brown.
5. Mix the icing sugar with the water until smooth and brush the wreaths that are still hot with it several times. This is a cake that is very suitable for freezing, so that you always have something for surprising guests. Good Appetite…………
6. Note: I have already described the production of such a dough in KB under “Basic dough for croisants etc.” set. So that it doesn’t have to be searched for, it is described and illustrated here again.