Marzipan Rings - Kransekagetoppe - Petit Four

June 1, 2016

Kransekagetoppe - close up © kvalifood.com

Recipe with video — Kransekage is about as classic a Danish cake as you can get: marzipan, egg white and sugar. It really doesn’t get much simpler. The traditional tall ring kransekage can be tricky to bake. Kransekagetoppe (marzipan rings) are much easier to make and taste just as good, so here is the recipe for them.

Ingredients

Yields 30 pieces

500 g marzipan
100 g sugar
100 g icing sugar
120 g egg white (approx. 4 whites)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igwHR39BTBs

Directions

Cut the marzipan into smaller pieces with a knife, or grate it on a box grater.

Mix the egg white and sugar together into an even mass. It is fine if there are still undissolved sugar granules in the mixture.

Add the marzipan and knead everything together into a uniform dough. It makes little difference whether you do this by hand or by machine.

Fill the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. It needs a fairly large opening so you can press the thick marzipan dough through it.

Make each ring by starting at the outside edge and going around in a circle. Finish by running into the centre and making a small peak — a tiny spiral.

Bake at 410°F (210°C) fan for about 12 minutes. Keep a close eye on them, as the tips of the ridges burn very quickly. When you are approaching the 12-minute mark there is very little between perfect and charcoal. Set a timer for 10 minutes at the latest and watch them closely from there.

Notes

The marzipan

Odense Kranse XX is an excellent choice. It contains apricot kernels, which make it better suited to baking than ordinary marzipan — it holds its shape and is slightly more bitter, so it keeps a better flavour after baking. That said, you can easily make these with a good quality marzipan, or with homemade marzipan.