The Cake of The Day 2: Baumkuchen King of the Cakes
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The Cake of The Day 2: Baumkuchen King of the Cakes
A true test of a pastry chef's skills, the Baumkuchen has earned its reputation as the "King of Cakes." This labor-intensive specialty gets its name, which translates literally as Tree Cake, from the many thin rings that form as layer upon layer of cake is baked. For more than 200 years German bakers have been producing this treat by placing a thin spit over a heat source, originally a wood fire, then evenly brushing batter over it, giving each new layer a chance to bake to a golden brown before brushing on the next. When the cake is removed and sliced, each layer is divided from the next by a golden line, resembling the rings on a crosscut tree. Skilled pastry chefs have been known to create cakes with 25 layers, weighing over 100 pounds and measuring more than 3 feet long. The recipe here is adapted for the home baker and uses a springform pan instead of a spit. Of course the ring effect won't be exactly the same. The taste is still worth the effort, you won't have to spend your Christmas holiday cleaning drips of burned batter off the oven.
I have made it and it is time consuming the first time you make it, especially if you add lots of layers. It is a little like adding one grain of sand to a beach.
It is believed that the first Baumkuchen was baked by Johann Christian D Andreas Schernikow (1784-1852). His son, Andreas Friedrich Schernikow (1815-1875) took over his father's business in 1842 and the recipe of the Baumkuchen.
The cake requires some level of skill to bake and can get messy if made in the traditional way (on a spit).
It is highly disputed who made the first Baumkuchen and where it was first baked. Traditionally the town of Salzwedel and the Master Baker for the Prussian King have been associated with its creation in the year 1790.
Nowadays Baumkuchen is one of the most popular pastries in Japan and is available in any grocery shop.
The Baumkuchen has earned its reputation as the "King of Cakes; der koenig der kuchen" baumkuchen-the king of cakes! This German delicacy was introduced to Japan in 1917, by Karl Juchheim. He was a German pastry chef working in Chintao, China, who was brought as a prisoner to Hiroshima by the Japanese. After the war, he moved to Yokohama to work for Meiji-ya as the head pastry chef at their "European cafe". When his contract expired, he invested all his money to open his first bakery store, "e-juchheim", where he could sell baumkuchen. He taught his Japanese apprentices how to measure ingredients scientifically. He made all his store's baumkuchen on his own - he wouldn't let anyone else do it.
This business flourished until 1923, when his store was destroyed by the great Kanto earthquake. Juchheim, his wife, Elise, and their daughter were left with only a single 5 yen bill.
They didn't give up even then, they moved to Kobe and borrowed a tremendous amount of money to re-open their store in Sannomiya(Kobe's shopping district), this time as "Juchheim's". Designed by a British architect, their store was the first European style building in Kobe.Juchheim's became very popular as an authentic German delicacy store, again featuring baumkuchen made by juchheim himself.
The new store was very successful and they were able to build a clean new factory. Soon after, Juchheim's Baumkuchen was chosen to be one of the admirable gifts to celebrate the new Showa emperor. This great honour ensured Baumkuchen's popularity in Japan. Karl Juchheim died on august 14th, 1945, one day before the end of the world war 2.
Baumkuchen (called Baamkuch) has also become a traditional dish in Luxembourg, where it is served mostly on special occasions like weddings.
A quite interesting version of Baumkuchen is Lithuanian which is distinctive by its shape. and is made by pouring liquid dough on a rotating spit. Also known in Poland .
A related cake is the Swedish Spettekaka (turnspit cake).
Or if you wish to be a Devil's Advocate or a Feminist, you may call it
Queen of Cakes.
The Tree and the Cake
The Baumkuchen Queen Cake is so delicate and eggy; it is only spoken of in delicious memories. Baumkuchen, a peculiar-looking, cylindrical confection, German in origin, labor intensive, requiring not only a special post on which to bake it but a particular oven to bake it in
Known as the "Queen of Cakes," the Baumkuchen and is a layered cake, known in many countries throughout Europe. On cutting, the cake reveals rings that give it its name, Baumkuchen, which literally translates to "tree cake". Baumkuchen may be covered with sugar or chocolate glaze. With some recipes, the fully baked and cooled . Baumkuchen is first coated with marmalade, and then covered with chocolate.
This I do like, the Marmalade, although I think Farmalade would be better for the "King of Cakes."
2 sticks butter
3/4 cup sugar
8 eggs (separated)
2 tbsp rum
grated lemon rind
1 pinch salt
1/3 cup minced almonds
1 cup plus 2 tbsp flour mixed with
1 cup plus 2 tbsp starch
1/2 cup apricot jam, melted
Almond paste, powdered sugar, or chocolate icing (optional)
Cooking:
Whip butter and sugar well until creamy. Gradually add egg yolks and the remaining ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture until a light, foamy batter forms. Beat egg whites until very stiff and stir gently into the batter. Pour about 2 tablespoons batter (a thin covering) into an 8-1/2" springform pan greased with butter. On the uppermost oven rack, bake (or broil!) in a preheated oven at 450° F for 2 minutes or until golden brown. Watch carefully, this browning can take place very quickly. Repeat until all the batter is gone -- you should have about 14 to 16 layers. When the cake is done, let it stand a few minutes before running a sharp knife along the sides of the pan. Remove the cake from the pan and glaze with melted apricot jam. Once the jam is set, you can add an additional glaze of thinned almond paste or immediately finish the cake with a thin icing made from powered sugar or the highest quality chocolate available.
I have made it and it is time consuming the first time you make it, especially if you add lots of layers. It is a little like adding one grain of sand to a beach.
It is believed that the first Baumkuchen was baked by Johann Christian D Andreas Schernikow (1784-1852). His son, Andreas Friedrich Schernikow (1815-1875) took over his father's business in 1842 and the recipe of the Baumkuchen.
The cake requires some level of skill to bake and can get messy if made in the traditional way (on a spit).
It is highly disputed who made the first Baumkuchen and where it was first baked. Traditionally the town of Salzwedel and the Master Baker for the Prussian King have been associated with its creation in the year 1790.
Nowadays Baumkuchen is one of the most popular pastries in Japan and is available in any grocery shop.
The Baumkuchen has earned its reputation as the "King of Cakes; der koenig der kuchen" baumkuchen-the king of cakes! This German delicacy was introduced to Japan in 1917, by Karl Juchheim. He was a German pastry chef working in Chintao, China, who was brought as a prisoner to Hiroshima by the Japanese. After the war, he moved to Yokohama to work for Meiji-ya as the head pastry chef at their "European cafe". When his contract expired, he invested all his money to open his first bakery store, "e-juchheim", where he could sell baumkuchen. He taught his Japanese apprentices how to measure ingredients scientifically. He made all his store's baumkuchen on his own - he wouldn't let anyone else do it.
This business flourished until 1923, when his store was destroyed by the great Kanto earthquake. Juchheim, his wife, Elise, and their daughter were left with only a single 5 yen bill.
They didn't give up even then, they moved to Kobe and borrowed a tremendous amount of money to re-open their store in Sannomiya(Kobe's shopping district), this time as "Juchheim's". Designed by a British architect, their store was the first European style building in Kobe.Juchheim's became very popular as an authentic German delicacy store, again featuring baumkuchen made by juchheim himself.
The new store was very successful and they were able to build a clean new factory. Soon after, Juchheim's Baumkuchen was chosen to be one of the admirable gifts to celebrate the new Showa emperor. This great honour ensured Baumkuchen's popularity in Japan. Karl Juchheim died on august 14th, 1945, one day before the end of the world war 2.
Baumkuchen (called Baamkuch) has also become a traditional dish in Luxembourg, where it is served mostly on special occasions like weddings.
A quite interesting version of Baumkuchen is Lithuanian which is distinctive by its shape. and is made by pouring liquid dough on a rotating spit. Also known in Poland .
A related cake is the Swedish Spettekaka (turnspit cake).
Or if you wish to be a Devil's Advocate or a Feminist, you may call it
Queen of Cakes.
The Tree and the Cake
The Baumkuchen Queen Cake is so delicate and eggy; it is only spoken of in delicious memories. Baumkuchen, a peculiar-looking, cylindrical confection, German in origin, labor intensive, requiring not only a special post on which to bake it but a particular oven to bake it in
Known as the "Queen of Cakes," the Baumkuchen and is a layered cake, known in many countries throughout Europe. On cutting, the cake reveals rings that give it its name, Baumkuchen, which literally translates to "tree cake". Baumkuchen may be covered with sugar or chocolate glaze. With some recipes, the fully baked and cooled . Baumkuchen is first coated with marmalade, and then covered with chocolate.
This I do like, the Marmalade, although I think Farmalade would be better for the "King of Cakes."
Ingredients:
2 sticks butter
3/4 cup sugar
8 eggs (separated)
2 tbsp rum
grated lemon rind
1 pinch salt
1/3 cup minced almonds
1 cup plus 2 tbsp flour mixed with
1 cup plus 2 tbsp starch
1/2 cup apricot jam, melted
Almond paste, powdered sugar, or chocolate icing (optional)
Cooking:
Whip butter and sugar well until creamy. Gradually add egg yolks and the remaining ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture until a light, foamy batter forms. Beat egg whites until very stiff and stir gently into the batter. Pour about 2 tablespoons batter (a thin covering) into an 8-1/2" springform pan greased with butter. On the uppermost oven rack, bake (or broil!) in a preheated oven at 450° F for 2 minutes or until golden brown. Watch carefully, this browning can take place very quickly. Repeat until all the batter is gone -- you should have about 14 to 16 layers. When the cake is done, let it stand a few minutes before running a sharp knife along the sides of the pan. Remove the cake from the pan and glaze with melted apricot jam. Once the jam is set, you can add an additional glaze of thinned almond paste or immediately finish the cake with a thin icing made from powered sugar or the highest quality chocolate available.
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<b style="color: green; font-weight: bold;">The Magnificent Cake</b>
<b style="color: green; font-weight: bold;">Ductch's Tale March 1864</b>
The Magnificent Cake
Life S t o r i e s o f C i v i l W a r H e r o e s March 9, 1864
Tennessee
As we neared Tennessee, we heard about this Marvelous Lady Cook.
It was my intention to visit this woman, and expend my pay, my entire pay, if necessary, to procure the most magnificent item in her inventory, and bring it to my companions for consumption.
As I sat on my mount and looked in the window, my eye was instantly drawn to the largest item on the table: a cake as big as a hatbox. It's sides rose in an impressive display of cylindrical symmetry, and its color was the deep golden brown of a ripened acorn. The lacy-white trails of the sugary icing collected in great puddles atop the magnificent cake, and streaked down the sides in swift and sweet races to reach the plate on which the cake rested. I stared, I dreamt, I sighed, and fell in love. I resolved that I must have that cake.
She asked me what I wanted. I could only point at the cake and murmur, "How much?" Without hesitation she named a number that expressed a much higher percentage of my humble pay than I expected, but equally without any hesitation of my own I shouted, "Sold!"
A moment later, her young son appeared in the yard with the cake in one hand and his other hand extended to receive my hard earned pay. I wondered how to transport this heavenly creation back to camp in one piece. I gently and lovingly cradled it in the crook of one arm, while holding the reins with the other. So slowly, I walk that horse and cake back to camp.
I ordered an armed squad to escort me to a small supply tent at the edge of camp. In the canvas-filtered light, I carefully placed the cake atop a wooden box and stepped out of the tent. Two sentries were posted at the entrance to the tent, and ordered to shoot, without question, anyone who approached within ten paces without giving the watchword. The watchword was only known by me. I did not impart the watchword even to the guards, to ensure no one could touch the cake, and also obligating one guard to shoot the other should he invade the sanctity of the cake.
Although we had been promised an afternoon with no dismounted drill, the Major had suddenly decided that the ground surrounding our camp, though hard and dry, had not been trampled enough in the preceding week. We were called out for a hot session of marching, wheeling and turning, all the time with intoxicating visions of heavenly cake swimming in front of us, drifting on the shimmering heat waves that rose from the ground.
As I wearily trudged back to camp, there suddenly came a clamorous shout and alarm from up ahead. "Enemy, the enemy!" are over running our Camp!
Arriving there, I came upon a horrible sight that made my blood run cold in my veins. The enemy's attack had been planned with cunning precision and timing. They had cowardly attacked in force while we were away. With great stealth, they had slipped past the guards that had been left behind, and had immediately taken every salient and strong point, and captured every crossing. They moved in numbers too large to estimate, their streaming lines moving endlessly and swiftly with ever growing numbers. Even as they spread across our front, overran our flanks. There was a sinister logic to their frenzied assault: they were all converging relentlessly on one point. Their desperate objective was clear to us now, and only A few of us stood between them and certain victory. The base of their target had been surrounded en masse, and they were now charging up the sides to claim the peak. already moving about the crest, beckoning the legions below to join them.
Pursuing them relentlessly, we ultimately arrived on the wide plateau where they were assembling. This is where the fighting became especially desperate, and horrible to behold. Having nothing left with which to fight them, we were forced to fix bayonets and dispatch them one by one. The enemy found themselves trapped and mired in sticky morasses that captured and held them fast. They squirmed and struggled, but it was no use; they were immobilized and had no choice but to flail helplessly in terror awaiting the point of our cold steel as we methodically confronted them one by one, impaled them, and flipped their still-writhing bodies to the depths below.
The battle was over in a matter of twenty minutes. We were tired, but victorious. Our honor had remained unstained. We could rest easy tonight, safe and proud in the knowledge that We had saved our cake from the vicious and savage invading ants that had tried to capture it!
That evening, we again ate pork that was all fat and no meat. We again ate cornmeal that contained more cob than corn, but we had our cake. We carved away great slices with our knives and filled our mouths and stomachs with the heavenly manna. It was well that we were eating in darkness, because who could tell how many of the enemy still remained in the hidden crevices and caves of that tasty terrain? But we did not care. We had fought hard and well to claim our prize, and we were determined to enjoy every crumb.
Yours truly,
Dutch Hoffmann
Life S t o r i e s o f C i v i l W a r H e r o e s March 9, 1864
Tennessee
Dutch's Tale
As we neared Tennessee, we heard about this Marvelous Lady Cook.
It was my intention to visit this woman, and expend my pay, my entire pay, if necessary, to procure the most magnificent item in her inventory, and bring it to my companions for consumption.
As I sat on my mount and looked in the window, my eye was instantly drawn to the largest item on the table: a cake as big as a hatbox. It's sides rose in an impressive display of cylindrical symmetry, and its color was the deep golden brown of a ripened acorn. The lacy-white trails of the sugary icing collected in great puddles atop the magnificent cake, and streaked down the sides in swift and sweet races to reach the plate on which the cake rested. I stared, I dreamt, I sighed, and fell in love. I resolved that I must have that cake.
She asked me what I wanted. I could only point at the cake and murmur, "How much?" Without hesitation she named a number that expressed a much higher percentage of my humble pay than I expected, but equally without any hesitation of my own I shouted, "Sold!"
A moment later, her young son appeared in the yard with the cake in one hand and his other hand extended to receive my hard earned pay. I wondered how to transport this heavenly creation back to camp in one piece. I gently and lovingly cradled it in the crook of one arm, while holding the reins with the other. So slowly, I walk that horse and cake back to camp.
I ordered an armed squad to escort me to a small supply tent at the edge of camp. In the canvas-filtered light, I carefully placed the cake atop a wooden box and stepped out of the tent. Two sentries were posted at the entrance to the tent, and ordered to shoot, without question, anyone who approached within ten paces without giving the watchword. The watchword was only known by me. I did not impart the watchword even to the guards, to ensure no one could touch the cake, and also obligating one guard to shoot the other should he invade the sanctity of the cake.
Although we had been promised an afternoon with no dismounted drill, the Major had suddenly decided that the ground surrounding our camp, though hard and dry, had not been trampled enough in the preceding week. We were called out for a hot session of marching, wheeling and turning, all the time with intoxicating visions of heavenly cake swimming in front of us, drifting on the shimmering heat waves that rose from the ground.
As I wearily trudged back to camp, there suddenly came a clamorous shout and alarm from up ahead. "Enemy, the enemy!" are over running our Camp!
Arriving there, I came upon a horrible sight that made my blood run cold in my veins. The enemy's attack had been planned with cunning precision and timing. They had cowardly attacked in force while we were away. With great stealth, they had slipped past the guards that had been left behind, and had immediately taken every salient and strong point, and captured every crossing. They moved in numbers too large to estimate, their streaming lines moving endlessly and swiftly with ever growing numbers. Even as they spread across our front, overran our flanks. There was a sinister logic to their frenzied assault: they were all converging relentlessly on one point. Their desperate objective was clear to us now, and only A few of us stood between them and certain victory. The base of their target had been surrounded en masse, and they were now charging up the sides to claim the peak. already moving about the crest, beckoning the legions below to join them.
Pursuing them relentlessly, we ultimately arrived on the wide plateau where they were assembling. This is where the fighting became especially desperate, and horrible to behold. Having nothing left with which to fight them, we were forced to fix bayonets and dispatch them one by one. The enemy found themselves trapped and mired in sticky morasses that captured and held them fast. They squirmed and struggled, but it was no use; they were immobilized and had no choice but to flail helplessly in terror awaiting the point of our cold steel as we methodically confronted them one by one, impaled them, and flipped their still-writhing bodies to the depths below.
The battle was over in a matter of twenty minutes. We were tired, but victorious. Our honor had remained unstained. We could rest easy tonight, safe and proud in the knowledge that We had saved our cake from the vicious and savage invading ants that had tried to capture it!
That evening, we again ate pork that was all fat and no meat. We again ate cornmeal that contained more cob than corn, but we had our cake. We carved away great slices with our knives and filled our mouths and stomachs with the heavenly manna. It was well that we were eating in darkness, because who could tell how many of the enemy still remained in the hidden crevices and caves of that tasty terrain? But we did not care. We had fought hard and well to claim our prize, and we were determined to enjoy every crumb.
Yours truly,
Dutch Hoffmann
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Levitah
Jan 28, 2010 @ 8:11 pm | delete
- Must be good, I have to try it sometime.
Wonderful lens 5* and a Fave!
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MrMarmalade
May 27, 2009 @ 7:36 pm | in reply to AppalachianCountry | delete
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Adding this to your culinary masterpieces will mean your guests will keep coming back for more.
Then you will be not only enticing them, but excite them into playing 'How to Host a Murder." This is a Roll playing game of one of your guests playing the part of the murderer.
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AppalachianCountry
May 1, 2009 @ 7:53 pm | delete
- Nice lens. Thank-you for the great recipe. We want to give it a try.
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MrMarmalade
Sep 12, 2008 @ 1:03 am | delete
- d-artist, I am sure you would love it, if you could just tempt yourself into going down the path of saying I will do, even just once.
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d-artist Sep 11, 2008 @ 6:21 pm | delete
- ach ich liebe Baumkuchen! never made one, way too much work for me...5*s
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