WWith its distinctive and rippled aspect and the secular history, Baumkuchen has become a loved one’s treatment all over the world. The German word “Baumkuchen” translates into “trees cake”, which refers to a cylindrical cake that cooks with strata to a spit – a large pole or a stick that is slowly turned a fire – and, if sliced, recalls the rings of a tree. Cakes similar to Baumkuchen He began to appear in the Holy Roman Empire (portions of modern France, Germany, Italy and other countries of Western and central Europe) in the Middle Ages. Historians approach Baumkuchen to be at least 600 years old, with the oldest German -speaking recipe that appears for the first time in printing around 1450. Baumkuchen initially started as a dough that is thinly dried at the spit. After cooked the first layer and the outside is golden, another layer of dough is added and cooked. The stratification and cooking process is repeated until the desired size is achieved, generally from 18 to 20 layers. Once removed from the spit, the woven cake is cut in a transversal way to reveal its tree ring layers. The trial to make the cake was long and involved, so it was largely reserved for holidays and special occasions among the rich; Baumkuchen was a popular cake for weddings of the nobility in Nuremberg and Frankfurt, in Germany. The individual portions were sometimes flavored with spices such as nutmeg or spirits such as rum, but when the ingredients spread and became more widely available, the dough itself was flavored.
Some time during the 1500s, the process to make the cake change. Instead of adding many thin layers of spit pasta, a dough has often been tied to intervals with the rope, which created ridges outside the cake while cooked. And while the chocolate became known to the royal and Élite in 1600, Baumkuchen began to be covered with chocolate before removal from the spit. The process continued to evolve and became the most familiar version today: rather than the dough, the layer of a thin batter is poured on a constantly rotating cooking cylinder and some bakeries use a wooden or metal comb to gently mark the layers to recreate the external crests from the strings. Baumkuchen is still enamelled with chocolate, although many bakers add their touch with walnuts and other decorations.Although Baumkuchen’s popularity has grown and has become more convenient to be achieved, for most of its history, it has still been largely made in private contexts for the holidays. Around the beginning of the 1800s, the bakeries in Dresden, Cottbus and Salzwedel, in Germany, created postal order services for Baumkuchen; Salzwedel’s bakeries have become the best known for cakes and today they are still in existence. And the love for Baumkuchen has traveled all over the world, with versions that appear in Japan and Hawaii. A baker named Karl Juchheim who lived in China was taken as a prisoner of war in Hiroshima, Japan, during the First World War. After his release, he moved to Japan and opened a bakery in Kobe, where he started selling Baumkuchen. The cake became one of the favorites from the house among the locals and finally throughout the rest of Japan. In 1880, the king of “Merrie Monarch” Kalākaua of Hawaii visited Berlin, in Germany, where he met Baumkuchen. He loved the cake and brought the recipe back to Hawaii. Although the cake has not crossed all the islands of the nation, today the Baumkuchen farm in Papaikou, in Hawaii, sells its cakes with a tropical touch, infused with walnuts of macadamia, pineapple, mango and Hawaiian coffee. And they sell Baumkuchen with a natural size, known as “stems”, as wedding cakes.
Fortunately for everyone, you don’t have to let the fact that you don’t have a spit to put Baumkuchen on the way to go. Our recipe was created for domestic bakers to obtain the same flavors and distinct layers of the original, and this version is equally worthy of serving special celebrations.
Baumkuchen
Cake:
- 6 Large eggs (300 grams), separated and room temperature
- 1 camera cups (250 grams) granulated sugar, divided
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 5 ounce (142 grams) Marzipan (see note), chopped
- 1 cup (227 grams) not salty butter, softened
- 3 spoons (45 grams) rum or almond liqueur
- 1 teaspoon (4 grams) Vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon (2 grams) Almond extract (optional)
- 1 camera cups (156 grams) corn starch
- ¾ cup (94 grams) Flour for all uses
- 2 spoons (10 grams) Powder cast
- ¼ teaspoon Cinnamon on the ground
- ¼ teaspoon walnut on the ground
Topping:
- 3 spoons (60 grams) Preserves of apricots
- ½ cup (120 grams) heavy whipping cream, ambient temperature
- 5 ounce (142 grams) Semi -space chocolate, chopped
- 2 spoons (28 grams) Unconal butter, softened
- 1½ cups (150 grams) toasted sliced almonds
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Place the baking grid in the center of the oven. Preheat the grilled oven (or tall grid). The sprayed sides of a 9 -inch spring -shaped pan with oven spray with flour. Reflects a pan with parchment paper.
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For the cake: in the bowl of a mixer stand equipped with a whisk attack, beat the egg whites at medium-high speed until they foil, about 1 minute. With a medium speed mixer, gradually add ½ cup (100 grams) of sugar and salt. It increases the speed of the mixer at an average speed and beat until rigid peaks are formed, from 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the egg white mixture to a large bowl. Clean bowl and go back to the mixer.
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In a small microwave bowl, he warms the marzapan up until softened, from 15 to 30 seconds.
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In the bowl of a support mixer equipped with a palette attack, beat marzapan softened, butter and remaining ¾ cup (150 grams) sugar at medium speed until light and creamy, from 2 to 3 minutes, stopping to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. With a mixer at medium speed, add the yolks, one at a time, beating until it is combined after each addition and stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl. Beat in rum or liqueur and vanilla. Beat almond extract (if you use).
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In an average bowl, sift the corn starch together, flour, yeast, cinnamon and nutmeg. Using a rubber spatula, fold half of the corn starch mixture in the marzapan mixture. Fold in half the egg white mixture. Repeat with the remaining corn starch mixture and the remaining egg white mixture. Distribute ½ cup of cup (95 grams) in the lower part of the prepared pan.
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Cook until golden on the surface, about 2 minutes. (Don’t move away; this happens quickly!) SHOPPER ANOTHER PABLE STRATE ON THE BEIGHT AND GRILL UNTIL BAD brown on the surface, about 2 minutes. Repeat the procedure with the remaining batter. (The first layers can take more time to cook, but more added layers, closer to the heat source and faster cook.) Leave to cool in a pan for 10 minutes. Gently run a knife between the sides of the pan and cake; Remove the sides of the pan. Let the cake cool completely on the pan on a wire rack.
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For topping: in a small microwave bowl, high -level heat storage of 15 seconds, mixing between each, up to the fluid. Using a pastry brush, brush a thin layer of preserves above and sides of the cooled cake. Leave to rest until the preservation and just sticky, about 30 minutes are fixed.
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In a small saucepan, heat the cream over medium-low heat until it starts steam. (Don’t boil.)
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In a bowl over medium heat, add the hot cream, chocolate and butter; Leave to rest for 5 minutes. Mix until the chocolate and butter melt and the mixture is smooth. Pour on the cake, using an offset spatula to smooth the top and distribute on the sides. Leave to rest for 5 minutes. Press the almonds on the side of the cake. Leave to rest until the ganache is completely set, about 20 minutes at room temperature or from 10 to 15 minutes in the refrigerator, before serving. Refrigerate in an airtight container for a maximum of 3 days.
