I've never made this before but I was wondering if I could make a more choclate variation. I've seen recipes where jam is slathered in between some of the layers. Could I use melted chocolate instead or might that burn in the broiling process?
Any other tips to making this are highly appreciated!
by Umbreonnnnnn
20 Comments
Those are some seriously impressive layers! Nuts-
Yes! It was waaaaaaay easier than you think. Very lightly spread layers. DO NOT LOOK AWAY FOR A SECOND. Repeat.
The way Baumkuchen is baked, is one layer at a time. There is no jam or filling between the layers. To bake this in your oven at home, you need to set the broiler on high, apply an even thin layer of batter on a baking sheet, place the pan into the oven and allow the heat from above to bake the layer. When the layer is baked, pull out the baking sheet, apply another even layer of batter, stick the baking sheet into the oven and bake. This process is repeated about twenty times. If you want layers of chocolate, you could make ganache and layer the baked Baumkuchen as if it was a sponge cake.
No, but now that you brought it to my attention I probably will in the near future! Lecker!
We did it in school. Super easy once you get the hang of it and so satisfying to get those layers!
No, but this looks amazing and I’d love to give this a try!
Very similar to a Sarawak cake from… the Philippines I think
Yes, I love baking it😍 it is quite easy. Thats the recipe I use (in german) https://www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/1313551236082544/Baumkuchen.html
250g butter , 250g sugar, 1 pack of vanille sugar (you could probably just use some vanille flavour and one tablespoon of normal sugar), 6 eggs (seperated egg white and yolk), 150g flour, 150g starch, 3 teaspoons baking powder, 100g marzipan, Bitter almond flavour, 3 tablespoons amaretto, Chocolate
Steps: Beat the butter, sugar, egg yolk, vanilla sugar and bitter almond flavoring until very fluffy. Heat and mix the marzipan with 3 tbsp amaretto, add to the mixture and stir in well. Slowly add the flour, starch and baking powder. Beat the egg whites until stiff and then stir it slowly in.
Set the oven to grill setting. Line the base of a cake mold with baking paper and spread approx. 3 tbsp of batter on top. Bake in the preheated oven on the lowest shelf for approx. 3 minutes until golden brown. Then spread another 3 tbsp of batter on top and grill again for approx. 3 minutes. Continue in the same way with the remaining batter. Always keep an eye on the cake so that it doesn’t suddenly get too dark.
Remove the cooled cake from the mold and cover with chocolate coating.
I am fascinated this is a German cake, in southeastern North Carolina (USA) I grew up with a yellow cake with anywhere from 8-13 layers with chocolate frosting and it looked very similar to this. When I’ve made it myself I made it for my kids at their birthdays and as they got older we changed the tradition to adding a layer for every year of their lives but now most of my kids are in their 20s to age 30 and it’s a very very tall cake.
I had no idea it might have a German origin and I thought I’d gotten really good at thin layers but this one looks at least 21 layers and not overwhelmingly tall; I have some practicing to do!!!!
Given the description and methodology, I’m curious if it’s an ancestor of Smith Island Cake
So beautiful 😍
Looks like something we call Doberge cake here in New Orleans.
I haven’t but it looks very good
So I have never made this but after reading the recipe and directions this is what I would do
Make a chocolate ganache and chill it overnight.
The next day removed from the refrigerator and the it warm up on your counter. You’re going to want it easy to spread but not liquid (if it’s liquid it might burn in the oven) if it’s right out of the refrigerator (it might be very difficult to spread thin and take your nice thin layers of newly cooked batter)
Then make your batter and start your layers after the first layer spread a super thin layer of your ganache then on top of that spread your next layer of batter and bake (since I have never made this I’m unsure if you need to let the ganache set up a little before spreading batter on it) ideally you could put it in the refrigerator but I don’t know what that would do to the cake underneath or the cook time
It will probably take a little experimenting and if you have the time and ingredients you may want to try it multiple ways
Anyway continue layering the batter and ganache (ganache on top of the newly baked layer) until you have baked all your layers
If you have any questions please just ask
I have never even seen that, but wow it looks great! And looks hard to make. Lol
Looks similar (except the chocolate vs spice layers) to spekkoek!
Interesting…this looks very similar to a Smith Island Cake.
The cake itself is some work but not difficult per se – once you get the hang of making the individual layers you just have to pay attention so they don’t overbake or burn.
Your idea of layering with jam or ganache won’t work, they will melt off or mingle with the layers.
Maybe consider a crepe cake – you’d bake individual crepes and then assemble with a filling of choice
If it helps, they make this for the technical in the Great British Baking Show 2021 season episode 5. It’s collection 9 on Netflix.
I said this in a thread but want to lift it for OP:
Ive made this 4 or 5 times and just want to say that using jam is okay but won’t be exactly like you might expect.
Every time I’ve made it, the recipe says jam every 4th layer or so. Usually apricot. It ends up pretty dry (not in a bad way) and I wouldn’t say it’s jammy when in the cake, but it gives very good flavor