That’s why CK hates me.

The recipe for the marcipan filling is pretty easy; just blend 200 grammes of plain marzipan with 3 to 4 generous tablespoons of apricot jam. Spread on half a large sheet of puff pastry, fold the sheet over, cut into stripes and “tie” loose nots. Brush with some whisked egg and sprinkle with sliced almonds before baking (approx. 20 minutes). Dust with icing sugar to taste.

My dictionary told me to use “cranberry” for the German “Preiselbeere” in recipes, but Preiselbeeren actually are less sweet than cranberries.

You can get all kinds of marzipan things in Lübeck; Niederegger is the most famous maker of marzipan there, and their artwork is simply amazing – the store window always features a fresh marzipan model of the old city of Lübeck.

Here’s the recipe for an 11″ diametre springform pan:

For the sponge base, whisk 3 eggwhites with 3 tbsp of water and a little salt till fluffy. Gradually add 100gr of sugar and some vanilla sugar. Add three egg yolks, one add a time. Mix 125gr of flower with 1 tsp of baking powder and fold in into the egg mass. Line the base of a springform with baking parchment; fill in and even out the dough. Back in a preheated oven at 175 degrees centigrade for about 20 to 25 minutes. (It’s done when you lightly press on the surface and the dough bounces back into shape.) Let cool on a cooling rack, remove from springform (if the parchment sticks to the bottom, brush it with a little water; if the cake has risen too much in the centre, put the springform upside down onto the cooling rack) and cut into three bases.

For the filling:
Mix 25gr of sugar, some vanilla sugar and stabilizer for whipped cream. Whisk 750gr of whipping cream, add sugar mix in between. Whisk till stiff but not butter. Add 200gr of ground hazelnuts (I always roast them without fat in a coated pan for more flavour; they’re done when you can smell the hazelnuts – remove from heat quickly.)

Spread one quarter of the filling on each the bottom and middle base. (I also used a a thin layer of rosehip jam on each; it has got a pleasantly tart flavour.) Stack bases and spread the rest of the cream onto the top and sides. Chill.

For the coating, dice 350gr of marzipan and knead with 100gr of icing sugar. Roll out a round sheet between two sheets of baking parchment or cling film slightly dusted with icing sugar. Use the parchment to place the marzipan onto the cake. Press on and cut off excess marzipan at the bottom. Pre-mark the pieces (several of my cooling racks have got a special pattern on the bottom, so you just need to press these down on a cake to mark even pieces). Use an icing bag to decorate each piece with cream. In the original version, there’s a hazelnut on top of the cream and icing sugar in the centre, but I used Giotto and hazelnut brittle. Dip a sharp torte knife into hot water after each cut when cutting; that’ll make it easier to get even, clean cuts.

Those indeed are chopped pistachios on the strawberry cake (a popular combination here). The base is a three-layer one (it’s a 30cm by 40cm tray-sized cake):
For the bottom base:
Mix 150gr of flour with 50gr of starch and 1 tsp of baking powder. Stir in 100gr of icing sugar, some vanilla sugar, 100gr of ground, roasted hazelnuts, 150gr of butter or margarine. Line a baking tray with baking parchment or baking tin foil (the latter is easier), spread / roll out dough. Pierce dough all over with a fork and bake at 200 degrees centigrade for about 12 minutes.

Spread on about 200gr of strawberry jam.

Then pour on the sponge dough:
Whisk 4 eggs with 2 tbsp of hot water and a tiny bit of salt. Pour in 125gr of sugar and whisk for another 2 minutes. Mix 125gr of flour with 25gr of starch and 1 tbsp of baking powder. Sift half of the flower mix onto the egg mass and stir in quickly at low speed, then proceed with the rest of the flour mix. Spread onto the jam layer and bake for another fifteen minutes. (Again, the cake is done when it bounces back up if you lightly press down on it.)

I also spread on a thin layer of thick custard before adding the strawberries, which keeps the base from the juice soaking through.