I found this recipe on the Internet and made it over the holiday. I had
been given some fancy sugar decorations as a birthday present and I wanted
to use them on a special cake. It was a big sensation and looked
beautiful. If you make this I think you could easily use a cake mix,
substituting rum for part of the water and adding lemon rind.

I used a Kitchen Aid mixer which makes the long beating times much less
tedious. You can make this with a hand mixer but it takes a long tome to
do the mixing.


Frankfurt Crown Cake

Praline Topping
2 Tbsp butter, unsalted
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup almonds, blanched, sliced

Cake
1 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
6 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
8 Tbsp rum
4 tsp baking powder
3 1/2 cup flour, unbleached, measured after sifting

Butter-Cream Filling
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
6 large egg yolks
1 Tbsp rum
1 cup butter, unsalted

Apricot Glaze
2/3 cup apricot jam
1 tsp rum


I began by making the praline topping. This can be made a few days in
advance. I made the cake two days ahead and froze the layers. I made the
buttercream and assembled the cake with the layers still frozen. That
made tit easy to assemble and frost.

Praline Topping: Spread 2 Tbsp butter thickly in a 9 X 13-inch baking
pan. In a 1-quart saucepan, boil sugar and water to 238 degrees F. (soft
ball stage). Stir in almonds; cook until mixture reaches 310 degrees F. or
until syrup turns slightly brown as it caramelizes. Pour syrup into
prepared baking pan. When cool, break up praline and chop it in a food
processor for a few seconds. A blender can also be used but it makes
smaller more powdery praline.


Cake: To prepare cake, separate the eggs. Egg yolks must be beaten into
the cake one at a time so keep the yolks separated from each other. Put
all the whites together in a bowl. Cream butter and sugar until very light
and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time. Mix in
lemon rind and 2 Tbsp rum. Sift baking powder and flour together. Gently
mix into the butter mixture. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry.
Gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Pour into a well-greased
10-inch tube pan. Bake in a preheated 325 degree F. oven for about 60
minutes or until the cake tests done. Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes and
turn out on wire rack to cool completely. Slice cake crosswise into 3
layers. Sprinkle about 2 Tbsp of rum over each layer. Reassemble the
layers putting a sheet of waxed paper between each layer. Place in heavy
plastic bag and freeze.


Butter-Cream Filling: For butter-cream filling, boil sugar and water to
238 degrees F. (soft ball stage). Beat egg yolks until very light and
fluffy, 5 to 10 minutes. While still beating the egg yolks, add the sugar
syrup in a thin stream. Beat 5 minutes more, until very thick and doubled
in bulk. Slowly beat in the rum. Beat the butter in a small bowl until
soft and light. Beat butter into the egg mixture a little at a time.
Continue beating until thick. Chill until mixture can be spread. If
mixture is too soft, beat in additional butter.


Apricot Glaze: Finally heat jam and press through a strainer or sieve to
make apricot glaze. The original directions did not call for the rum to be
added but my jam was very thick.

Cake Assembly: To assemble cake, place bottom layer of cake on cake plate
and spread with a bit less than half of the butter cream. Repeat with
second layer. Place third layer on top. Spread top and sides of cake with
apricot glaze. Press praline powder onto glaze. Any remaining butter cream
can be used to decorate the top of the cake. I had some remaining
buttercream. I pressed it through a pastry bag fitted with a decorative
tip around the seams where the layers come together. It made the cake
look more finished since the glaze and praline don't cover up this part.
I added more piping on the top and used the buttercream to anchor my
decorations.


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