No. 3053 — Baumkuchen: Layered Tree Cake

The author describes Baumkuchen as one of the most delicious and durable cakes and claims that it may be kept for as long as six months without spoiling, making it useful to keep in reserve, especially in the countryside. It is called a tree cake because its outside resembles a branch-covered trunk and its inside consists of layers like those of a thick tree. The author warns that it is laborious and requires considerable skill. Her directions are divided into three parts: the baking apparatus, the batter and the actual baking procedure.

1. Apparatus. Stack bricks in two positions, three in one stack and four in the other, with their broad faces horizontal. Make a notch in the top brick to support the spit, an iron rod with a handle. Take a round wooden mould shaped like a sugarloaf, 9 vershoks tall, 2¾ vershoks in diameter at the bottom and 1¾ vershoks at the top. Drill a lengthwise hole through it so that the iron rod can be passed through.

Wrap the mould in white sugar paper, bind it with thread or thin cord and cover it with a tightly fitted linen bag, tied at both ends to the iron rod. Generously grease the bag with melted unsalted butter. Place the mould and spit on the bricks and rotate several times before the fire so the bag absorbs the butter and becomes thoroughly hot.

The narrow end, which will become the top of the Baumkuchen, must rest over the stack of four bricks, the broad end over three, so that the batter runs evenly from top to bottom. These brick stacks may be set in front of a Russian oven, with an opening through the oven wall for the spit handle, or on an ordinary stove fitted with a proper hood.

In the latter arrangement, firewood is burned behind the mould on an old iron sheet. Its flame must bake the cake while the smoke passes into the flue without touching it. The author calls this apparatus particularly difficult and considers baking before a Russian oven more convenient.

If a wooden mould is unavailable, or several cakes are baked in succession, it may be replaced with a new, clean broom. Remove the broom from its handle and trim the ends until it is 9 vershoks long. The part nearest the handle forms the narrow end, and the spreading twigs form the broad end. Wrap it neatly in sugar paper, bind with thread or thin cord, cover with a thick clean linen bag and tie this to the spit.

2. Batter, first method. In a stone bowl beat ½ garnetz of melted butter until white. In another bowl beat ½ garnetz yolks with ½ garnetz sugar until white. Combine the mixtures, add ½ garnetz of the driest loosely measured flour, and finally fold in the foam of the remaining whites. Bake as described below.

Second batter method. Take 4 pounds flour, 2¼ pounds melted clarified butter, 3 pounds sugar, 50 eggs with the whites separated, 2 glasses thick cream, 4 lots bitter almonds, ½ lot cardamom, ½ lot mace, 1 lot cloves, 1 lot cinnamon, and the thinly sliced zest of 3 oranges, dried and pounded, or zest rubbed into sugar from 3 fresh oranges.

Beat the butter in a stone bowl until white. Alternately add a spoonful of sugar, a spoonful of flour, one yolk and a little cream, and continue slowly pounding with a wooden pestle until the batter becomes a thick white mass. Towards the end add all the pounded spices. Fold in the foam of 30 beaten whites carefully.

3. Baking method. If the kitchen is very hot, stand the bowl of batter in cold water so that it does not become too runny. Grease the linen bag heavily with melted unsalted butter, as described earlier. Put the mould on its brick supports in front of burning logs so the linen absorbs the butter and heats thoroughly. Set an iron sheet underneath to catch batter drips.

Near the stove place a stool holding a small trough. Stand two chairs on either side of the stool, with their backs facing the trough; a notch in one chair to take the iron rod is useful. Once the bricks are in place and the greased mould has heated thoroughly, lift the spit off the bricks and lay it across the two chair backs above the trough.

Use a large metal kitchen ladle to coat the entire mould with batter. Turn the mould several times to let the excess drip away. Return it to the bricks, rotate at first quickly and then more slowly until the layer becomes golden brown.

Lift the spit back onto the chairs. Scoop up the batter that has collected in the trough, add some fresh batter and ladle it over the entire mould, turning in all directions more briskly than slowly. Let the extra batter drip away and return to the bricks to brown the second layer. Repeat these steps until all the batter has been used.

Maintain a small, even flame throughout so the cake does not burn. Bake the last coating over the remaining embers, arranging them as needed to brown the Baumkuchen evenly. Once finished, carry the cake and its supports into a room.

After six hours, trim the batter carefully from the lower, wider end until the cake can stand upright on a table. Cut back to the linen bag itself, untie it and straighten it carefully. Tilt the spit towards the thin end of the mould and strike the end of the iron rod sideways against the floor, sliding the cake off towards the narrow end. Support it carefully, then turn it upright onto a serving dish. The author remarks that one person cannot manage this unaided.