A family tradition for when family is far away
The holidays came and went, and it’s rounding on 14 months since I’ve seen my family. With pangs of nostalgia I decided I would try to make my mother’s Frankfurter Kranz, or German crown cake.
Well, it’s a Frankfurt cake if you don’t look too closely at it.
Traditionally this 18th Century cake is a layered sponge cake cooked in a ring mold with a pudding and buttercream frosting, covered in candied chopped nuts and dotted with candied cherries. The round shape of the cake, combined with the golden nuts and bright red cherries was supposed to evoke the image of a golden crown dotted with rubies.
But that’s not quite the cake we would have.
I looked up a recipe online, then called up my mother to compare notes.
“Just buy a box,” my mom cooed at me. “Why to make it from scratch?”
I may not have been able to see my family in over a year, but at least I have this cake.
My mom’s Frankfurter Kranz-inspired cake
This is not the traditional preparation for this cake. There are many lovely recipes online if you want to make a cake that resembles the original 18th century version.
Ingredients:
• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 2 boxes instant vanilla pudding (3.4 ounces)
• 2 cups milk
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 8 maraschino cherries, with or without stems
DIRECTIONS >> The night before, prepare cake according to directions. Allow to cool completely before removing from cake pan, then refrigerate overnight. In large mixing bowl, combine milk, pudding mix, and butter. Mix thoroughly using a hand mixer. Using a spatula, frost cake with pudding mixture. If making a layered cake, use pudding mixture in between cake layers. Sprinkle chopped walnuts over the top of the cake, coating as evenly as you can. Space cherries evenly around the top of the cake.