German🍰 Sweets & drinks

German Tree Cake (Baumkuchen)

Name: German Tree Cake (Baumkuchen)
Cuisine: German
Ingredients: 12 eggs; 100 g marzipan; 30 ml rum or water; ~1 tsp vanilla extract; 3 g salt; 350 g sugar; 250 g butter; 125 g flour; 125 g cornstarch or potato starch; ~200 g apricot jam; ~150 g chocolate

A traditional German tree cake made from many extremely thin layers of batter, each briefly broiled until lightly caramelized before adding the next layer. This king of cakes requires plenty of eggs and patience, but rewards you with a stunning multi-layered texture and moist crumb.

Adapted from a video by My German Recipes

German Tree Cake - Baumkuchen ✪ MyGerman.Recipes

Watch on YouTube

Ingredients

eggs12
marzipan100 g
rum or wateror use rum extract30 ml
vanilla extracta splash~1 tspest.
salt3 g
sugar350 g
buttersoftened250 g
flour125 g
cornstarch or potato starch

Steps

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1
Separate the egg whites from the yolks of all 12 eggs.
2
Crumble the marzipan slightly and mix with water (or rum) and rum extract until it reaches a soft, paste-like consistency.
3
Add the egg yolks one at a time to the marzipan mixture, mixing well after each addition.
4
Add the softened butter and beat at medium speed until fully incorporated into the mixture.
5
Mix in the vanilla extract and salt, then beat for about 4 minutes until the batter becomes noticeably lighter in color. Scrape down the sides and whisk briefly once more.
6
Whisk the egg whites and sugar together until stiff peaks form—they should be firm but not overly whipped so they can still fold smoothly into the batter.
7
Fold in a portion of the egg white meringue with a spatula to lighten the batter. Then fold in the flour and starch in portions, alternating with the remaining egg whites, gently mixing until everything is fully combined.
8
Line baking pans with parchment paper and spread a very thin layer of batter evenly across the bottom.
9
Place the pans in the oven set to broil and bake briefly until the top of the layer is lightly caramelized.
10
Carefully remove the hot pans from the oven and add another thin layer of batter. Repeat steps 9–10 until all batter is used and all layers are built.
11
Once all layers are baked, remove the cake from the pan and let it cool to room temperature.
12
Warm the apricot jam until spreadable, use some to glue the cake layers together, then spread the remaining jam over the entire surface of the cake.
13
Melt together the dark and semi-sweet chocolate. Once the jam has cooled, pour and spread the melted chocolate evenly over the top and sides of the cake.
14
Refrigerate the cake until the chocolate coating is completely set. Slice and serve to reveal the beautiful multi-layered interior.

German Tree Cake (Baumkuchen)

Ingredients

Steps

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