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Dessert

Frankfurter Kranz

A layered butter cake from Frankfurt, filled with butter cream, topped with apricot glaze and praline.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 21 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Frankfurter Kranz

Oven325 degree F.
Timeabout 60 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the cake

  1. Cream butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

  2. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time.

  3. Mix in lemon rind and 2 T rum.

  4. Sift baking powder and flour together.

  5. Gently mix into the butter mixture.

  6. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry.

  7. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.

  8. Pour into a well-greased 10-inch tube pan.

  9. Bake in a preheated 325 degree F. oven for about 60 minutes or until the cake tests done.

  10. Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes and then turn out on wire rack to cool completely.

  11. Slice cake crosswise into 3 layers.

  12. Pour about 2 T of rum over each layer.

Make the butter cream

  1. For butter-cream filling, boil sugar and water to 238 degrees F. (soft ball stage).

  2. Beat egg yolks until very light and fluffy, 5 to 10 minutes.

  3. While still beating the egg yolks, add the sugar syrup in a thin stream.

  4. Beat 5 minutes more, until very thick and doubled in bulk.

  5. Slowly beat in the rum.

  6. Beat the butter in a small bowl until soft and light.

  7. Beat butter into the egg mixture a little at a time.

  8. Continue beating until thick.

  9. Chill until mixture can be spread.

  10. If mixture is too soft, beat in additional butter.

Make the praline and assemble

  1. While butter-cream is cooking, spread 2 T butter thickly in a 9 X 13-inch baking pan for praline topping.

  2. In a 1-quart saucepan, boil sugar and water to 238 degrees F. (soft ball stage).

  3. Stir in almonds; cook until mixture reaches 310 degrees F. or until syrup caramelizes.

  4. Pour syrup into prepared baking pan.

  5. When cool, break up praline and grind it in a blender for a few seconds.

  6. Heat jam and press through a strainer or sieve to make apricot glaze.

  7. Place bottom layer of cake on cake plate and spread with half of the butter cream.

  8. Repeat with second layer.

  9. Place third layer on top.

  10. Spread top and sides of cake with apricot glaze.

  11. Press praline powder onto glaze.

  12. Any remaining butter cream can be used to decorate the top of the cake.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

752Calories
21 gProtein
19 gFat
116 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 11 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Rum1/2 oz (15ml)32
Apricot1 medium (35g)17
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7
Cakenot in our table0
Waternot in our table0
Toppingnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,673 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Lemon + almondtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter
Creams with sugar to trap air and give the cake a tender, rich crumb.
Eggs
Egg yolks enrich the batter and cream; whites beaten stiff lighten the cake and add structure.
Flour
Forms the cake's main structure once set by heat.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises and becomes light.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake and, when boiled, forms the syrup that stabilizes the butter cream.
Rum
Adds aroma and flavor to the cake layers and butter cream.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Whites beaten stiff but not dry trap the air that lifts the cake. Folding gently keeps that air in; vigorous stirring deflates the batter and leaves a dense cake.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, rum, flour, cream, almond):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Coconutfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, rum, flour, cream, almond. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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