Frankfurt Wreath with Berries and Mascarpone Frosting

A lighter version to the classic. For the sponge I used a classic lemon sponge cake recipe baked in a ring cake tin to give it that distinctive wreath shape and then covered it in a light mascarpone and whipped cream frosting, filled with blueberry jelly and sprinkled with chopped almonds and topped with blueberries. It is simply delicious and perfect for any occasion.

All ingredients should be at room temperature, except for the mascarpone cheese and whipping cream, which is to be kept, chilled until needed.

Ingredients:

Lemon sponge:

350 g wheat flour
300 g sugar
250 g butter or margarine
6 eggs (size M)
3 level teaspoons baking powder
freshly squeezed juice from two lemons

Blueberry jelly:

500 g of blueberries* (fresh or frozen)
2 tablespoons of lemon juice (approx. ½ lemon required)
50 g sugar
70 g cornstarch
100 ml of water

Mascarpone frosting:

250 g mascarpone cheese chilled
600 g heavy whipping cream chilled
3 tablespoons of icing sugar
2 tablespoons of lemon juice

For decoration:

approx. 150 g of brittle or chopped or flaked almonds
fresh blueberries (about a handful)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 180°C, top and bottom heat.
Prepare a 28cm ring cake tin by greasing with butter and dusting with flour.
Cream together the butter (or margarine) with the sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time alternating with the lemon juice, allowing each egg and a bit of the lemon juice to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next.
Sift together the flour and baking powder.
Add the flour mixture slowly to the butter mixture until just combined.
Pour the cake batter into the prepare ring cake tin and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
With the oven turned off and the door slightly open let the cake cool in the oven for a few minutes and then take it out set it on a cooling rack and let it cool in the tin completely.
When the cake has completely cool take it out of the tin and slice it horizontally into 3 layers.
Now prepare the blueberry* jelly.
With a hand blender mix the blueberries, sugar and lemon juice until smooth.
Mix together the cornstarch and water and set aside.
In a small saucepan bring the blueberry mixture to a boil and with a whisk stirring continuously add the cornstarch and water mixture making sure there are no lumps, for 1 minute until the jelly has thickened.
Set this aside to cool slightly, but not completely.
With the jelly still slightly warm divide it evenly and spread it over the bottom and middle layer of the cake and let it cool completely.
Once the jelly has completely cool you can now prepare the mascarpone frosting.
Combine cream and mascarpone cheese in a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until frosting is smooth and stiff peaks form. Add the icing sugar and lemon juice until just combined. Don’t over mix, as it will cause the frosting to curdle.
Place the bottom layer of your cake on a cake stand and spread some of the cream frosting onto it, not to thinly and then place the next layer of sponge and layer again with some frosting, now add the final top layer of the sponge and spread the remaining frosting evenly over the entire cake.
Sprinkle with the brittle (or chopped or flaked almonds) and decorate with the blueberries.
Let the cake set in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Remarks

* Instead of blueberries you can also use raspberries or blackberries, but be sure to strain them through a sieve after blending to get rid of all the seeds.
You can also use a spring form cake tin with tube base 26cm or a 22cm diameter Bundt cake pan.