New Year is equal to KRANSEKAGE – marzipan wreath cake
The kransekage (literally wreath cake) – is a cake the Danes bake (or buy) for special occasions such as New Year’s Eve, weddings, graduation, birthdays and other celebrations.
I bake a large kransekage – marzipan wreath cake once a year for New Year’s Eve
– the rest of the year, I make bite-size cakes.
You can go straight to the recipe or read the rest.
Opskrift på dansk her.

Kransekage – marzipan wreath cake
You make the classic Danish wreath cake with marzipan made with almond flour, neutral sugar syrup and maybe rosewater.
The Norwegian recipe is with homemade marzipan using a mix of scalded almonds and almonds with the skin.
The Norwegian version tastes good – like a lovely almond cake, and it is darker and denser than the Danish version.
A classic Danish kransekage is light brown on the outside and soft in the middle.
Use GOOD marzipan with more than 60% almonds, kransekage is a special cake, and it takes time to make.
Therefore, always use good ingredients – you CAN taste the difference.

Use pasteurised egg whites
There is no salmonella in Danish eggs anymore.
But if you live in a country that can’t guarantee that – use pasteurised egg whites.
There are two reasons for that:
The first reason.
10+ years ago, in Denmark, there was a biscuit cake accident.
A father and his son died eating a cake made with ordinary raw eggs.
And I DON’T want anyone’s life on my conscience.
Therefore, I recommend that you ALWAYS use pasteurised eggs for dishes that you do not cook.
Of course, it is your choice.
The second reason is that it is much easier to buy egg whites or egg yolks for cake/dessert recipes.
Weight/volume is ALWAYS the same, so the result should be the same EVERY time.

You can use special ring moulds for this cake – to make perfect rings, but I’m not too fond of those.
My cakes get burned or get stuck in the mould.
The method I’ll tell you about is easy – and all you have to do is measure the pieces and form rings.
Of course, you don’t get perfect rings unless you are a pro.
It is a homemade cake – and it looks good when you’ve decorated it.
I’ve made kransekage – marzipan wreath cake for MANY years.
I usually make the traditional cake tower for New Year’s Eve, but I’ve also made a few cornucopias and a kransekage clock.
This photo is VERY OLD – please don’t judge my lacking skills…
(There are chocolate flowers, liquorice meringue and raspberry meringue on the plate)

This year I will make a traditional tower and decorate it with either white flowers made of modelling chocolate or meringue – and I always make bite-size almond cakes on the side.
If you make kransekage – marzipan wreath cake, please share photos of your cake creations on Instagram @danish.things or #danishthings
Christina made this beautiful wedding kransekage for her son’s wedding.
The whole family gave me permission to share their lovely pictures, and this is the first.

Marzipan wreath cake – Danish kransekage
© Christel Parby danishthings.com
Make a classic Danish kransekage – a marzipan wreath cake – for New Year’s Eve, weddings, birthdays and other celebrations.
10-18 persons
If kransekage is the only cake, it is perfect for 10 persons – if your guests have had a large dinner or you serve other cakes, there is kransekage for 18 persons.
You can make smaller or larger batches of kransekage.
Ingredients
Kransekage – marzipan wreath cake
50 g pasteurised egg whites (3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon)
200 g light cane sugar/caster sugar (1 US cup) or confectioner’s sugar/powdered sugar/icing sugar (1.5 US cups + 1.5 tablespoons)
800 g homemade marzipan or good store-bought marzipan with 60% almonds or more (3.525 US cups)
Royal icing
100 g confectioner’s sugar/powdered sugar/icing sugar (0.5 US cup + 5 tablespoons)
20-30 g pasteurized egg white (1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons)
Decorations
Use decorations that fit your theme (see notes)
Instructions
Mix
Mix the egg whites and sugar; you want to dissolve the sugar.
You can do that two ways:
Let it rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour – or until the next day.
Or you can use a mini blender and blend it until the sugar is dissolved.

Make the dough
Use a stand mixer with a K paddle.
Mix sugar and egg whites until it’s white – you don’t get stiff peaks like a classic meringue.
Add marzipan – a little at a time.
Mix until the dough is smooth and even.
Put the finished dough in a plastic bag.
Refrigerate it for at least 2 hours – or save it for the next day.

Mesure
Make equal sized round sticks of kransekage dough – about 2 ½ cm (1 inch) in diameter.
Each bar or stick is lightly pressed on the side facing toward you so that the bar becomes a slightly rounded triangle.
Make your rings with the same interval to get a pretty cake.
The kransekage tower with the blue and white stars has an interval of 2 cm = 0.79 inches.
Here I start with 6 cm (2.36 inches) for the small cone top, 8 cm (3.15 inches) for the first ring, 10 cm (3.94 inches), 12 cm (4.72 inches), 14 cm (5.51 inches), 16 cm (6.30 inches), 18 cm (7.09 inches), 20 cm (7.87 inches)…
You can also make it with 4 cm (1.57 inches) intervals – again start with 6 cm (2.36 inches) for the small cone top, 8 cm (3.15 inches) for the first ring, 12 cm (4.72 inches), 16 cm (6.30 inches), 20 cm (7.87 inches) and so on.
Then you get a wider not so tall tower.
Make rings
Transfer the dough sticks to a baking sheet lined with baking paper using a palette knife.
Make rings – remember to make an upwards pointing triangle.
Try to smooth the surface of the cake rings; use a very tiny bit of water on your fingers. Be careful – you don’t want a wet dough.
To make a nice tower, you have to level the top of the rings.
To flatten the top a bit, place a piece of baking paper on the rings, place a baking sheet lightly on top of that and press just a little.
Remove the baking sheet and paper again.
Bake
Bake the rings/wreaths at 200°C (390°F) until golden, about 14-20 minutes. Double up two large baking sheets for extra insulation.
Be careful not to overbake your kransekage – it should be golden outside and moist in the middle.
If you underbake it, your tower might collapse.
Don’t move the larger rings from your baking tray until they are cooled – you risk that the wreaths will break.

Royal icing
Use a hand mixer.
Mix the confectioner’s sugar with the smallest amount of pasteurised egg whites at high speed for at least 5 minutes.
The icing should be thick and hold its shape.
Add more egg whites or sugar if needed.
Put the royal icing in a small cornet (a triangular piece of wax paper/baking paper, folded into a cone). Alternatively, you can use a freezer bag, cut a tiny hole in one corner and hold the bag tightly.
Select the serving dish the cake is served on and place the largest ring first.

Decorate
Move the tip of your cornet back and forth across the rings, go over the edge to allow the icing to drop down the outside in a loop style zig-zag stripe.
Start your decoration on the largest baked, cooled ring. Then, put the second-largest baked ring on top and repeat.
Repeat the decoration on all the circles until you get to the smallest ring, and then you decorate the top.
Let the finished cake dry for a few hours at room temperature or colder.
If you want to make the kransekage in advance, cover the cake with plastic and place it in a cold room or a fridge.
Decorate your kransekage festive.

Recipe notes
You can decorate the cake with chocolate doodles, flowers made of modelling chocolate, use sugar decorations, candles, miniature flags, bunting, fairy lighting, New Year’s crackers, serpentines, (edible) flowers…
If you decorate your cake rings while they are slightly warm, the royal icing dries faster.
The rings can be decorated individually and assembled with melted chocolate.
You can make smaller kransekager – bite-size almond cakes or petit fours.
Form bars about 5 cm (2 inches) long or round little cakes.
Bake them at 200°C (390°F) until golden, about 5-10 minutes, depending on the size.
You can dip the bottom of the kransekage in (dark) chocolate.
Store leftover kransekage in an airtight container.
You can freeze kransekage – without the decoration.
Hi Christel – I was always led to believe you can’t make kransekage with homemade marzipan because it won’t keep the shape in the oven. But if yours work, I’ll have a go at your recipe for both homemade and kransekage – I’d like to add if you freeze your kransekage it turns a bit cheewy and even better than the one right from the oven.
Hi Pia,
Yes, you can make kransekage out of homemade marzipan.
I’ve made the traditional kransekage rods or kransekage sticks with all of the homemade marzipan versions – remember to chill the marzipan.
And I have a recipe for kransekage made from scratch that I’ll bring later this year, the newest recipe I use for kransekage rings.
I agree! Make more kransekage than you need and keep the leftover for later. It freezes so well and tastes soo good.
Happy baking,
Christel
This is a gorgeous tutorial! Kransekage is so beautiful.
Thank you so much 😀
Can you please tell me how long a kransekage tower will keep after being decorated. I am planning to make one for my sons wedding and have to transport it the day before to the venue.
Congratulations Christina!
And what a nice gesture to make a kransekage for your son’s wedding.
If you want to bake a kransekage in advance, you have to keep it cool.
There is semi-cooked egg white in kransekage, so you should not keep the cake in a warm setting for too long. And you do not bake kransekage through because it is supposed to be soft in the middle.
But, you can make kransekage 1-2 days before the wedding if you store the cakes or the tower covered and cold.
You can also bake the wreath cake well in advance and freeze it.
Then, wait to decorate the rings until it has thawed again.
Finally, you may want to assemble the rings with dark chocolate or ruby chocolate; of course, you can use more royal icing.
I would love to see pictures of your wedding kransekage ❤
I hope you will share photos.
Please write again, if there is anything I can do to help you.
😀 Christel
Hi Christel, I will of course send a photo, my son requested I make him this, so it will have danish flags on one side for him and union jacks on the other side for my daughter-in-law (to be), I am looking to make a wreath of dried gypsophila to circle the bottom, so hoping it will turn out, need to practice icing finely.
Christina
Hi Christina,
That sounds beautiful!
And super appropriate.
You are so good at the symbolic! The flags on the kransekage, uniting a husband and his wife and their two countries, decorated with bridal veil – gypsophila.
And I did not know that you were Danish.
A pastry chef has told me that she practised the icing technique on a broomstick…
I think you should bake some kransekage sticks and practice on them – it tastes much better. 😀
Thank you, looking forward to seeing a photo.
Christel
Guys, Thanks For sharing this Great Recipe. My Family Loved it. I am definitely sharing this recipe and this website with my friend. Hope they also love it. Thank you again for sharing such a great recipe.
Thank you very much 😀
– it’s a Danish Classic.
Do you have any photos you would like to share?
Julie shared a beautiful cake and I love to see your photos.
😀 Christel
Hello! I plan to make this for the first time this Christmas and I have never seen it made before. So my first question is: after you make the meringue, do you gradually add the marzipan to the mixer that now has the meringue in it? Also, should the marzipan be cold, room temperature, or slightly warm to best mix in? Thank you!!
Hello Julie
I’m so glad you want to make a kransekage!
Yes, you gradually add the marzipan to the mixer with the meringue in.
I always use room temperature marzipan.
Good luck baking the kransekage!
I would love to see photos of your cake – if you want to share photos here, or on Instagram @danish.things or #danishthings
🙂 Christel
Great! Thank you so much! I will certainly post pictures!
I look forward to seeing pictures of your finished cake 😀
Merry Christmas!
Hello again! We’re finding that the ingredient proportions don’t make a meringue…more of a sugar paste. We used confectioner’s sugar.
I hope I can help you, Julie!
Did you use 50 g egg whites, 200 g sugar and 800 g marzipan?
If your sugar paste is liquid – then it’s ok.
If not use a bit more egg whites – 10-30 g.
The meringue won’t be fluffy like the one you bake, but it should be white.
You use the sugar-egg white mix to make a marzipan-dough and to keep the centre of the kransekage moist.
Be careful not to overbake your kransekage – it should be golden outside and moist in the middle.
If you make petit four (or the smallest rings) start off baking them 5-8 minutes.
And don’t move the larger rings from your baking tray until they are cooled – they might break.
Please keep writing – it’s a really good cake and I want you to succeed!
😀
Julie, thank you for tagging your photo @danish.things & #danishthings on Instagram.
It’s a super fine Christmas kransekage you’ve made!
And I’m SO GLAD that you liked the taste 😀