Margarethenkuchen (Margaret Cake) by Gmeiner

When I stopped by Gmeiner, a pastry shop in Wiesbaden some weeks ago, Margarethenkuchen, or Margaret Cake was on the counter. It was a butter sponge cake flavored with orange and lemon, baked in a cake mold in the shape of a Marguerite daisy blossom, which is where the name comes from. For a certain reason I was looking for a summery dessert that would be easy to be served and wouldn't need to be refrigerated. Perfect. 

The soft icing was tricky. I tried to unwrap the cellophane wrap carefully but it stuck to the icing. My daisy got wilted...  

I have known Margaret cake and I think I had one (or more) in Japan some decades ago. I hadn't known it was a German cake until now, though. The cake was invented in Cologne in honor of Saint Margaret. July 20th is the day that celebrates St. Margaret. Perhaps the cake was a limited item around the time, which was why I haven't seen it at the pastry shop before. Margaret Cake usually contains a good amount of marzipan, but this cake didn't according to the ingredient list. Instead the center of the flower decoration on the surface was a round sheet of marzipan. Anyway the cake was light, moist, and tasty. It was proper for a summer afternoon tea time.