Baumkuchen Edel-Zartbitter

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Use a small rolling pin. I used a rolling pin 2.5cm (1 inch) in diameter and 28cm (11 inches) in length. If you use a frying pan shorter in length rolling pin would be better. Then cover it with parchment sheet. Spoon the marmalade into a small pan and melt over a low heat, add a splash of water if needed to loosen, and keep warm. Use some work gloves because it is really hot to roll the cake with bare hands. I used a pair of Japanese work gloves called “Gunte “ Baumkuchen’s popularity in Japan is phenomenal. The German tree cake is readily available from fancy pastry shops to convenience stores and supermarkets. Japanese love Baumkuchen and so do I! This cake is the king of cakes in Japan definitely. And probably it is more famous and popular in Japan than it is in Germany.

In the medium bowl, cream the almond paste, diced, (or almond flour, honey, and almond flavour) with the butter using an electric mixer until they are smooth and fluffy.Now to assemble the cake: using a ladle as your measure, spoon just enough batter into the cake tin to cover the base – you’ll probably need to fill the ladle to about two-thirds. And since I promised last time that I wouldpost the recipe for the cake I used as the base for my velociraptor birthday party cake… here we go!

Kitchen Frau Notes: I recommend you read all the way through to the end of the instructions to familiarize yourself with the process before getting started. The instructions look long, but I promise, it's not really complicated once you get going. You basically make up the cake batter (similar to a normal cake), plop a spoonful in the pan, spread it around, grill, and repeat (til the batter is used up). Finally, separate and beat in the egg yolks one at a time (save the whites), then the vanilla extract. Finely grate in the orange zest. You can also make the Baumkuchen ahead and freeze it, then just defrost it and glaze it on the day you plan to serve it. Let the glaze set, then use two flat pancake flippers to carefully slide the cake off the base and onto a serving plate, or just set it onto the serving plate still attached to the springform base. Baumkuchen is nice served with mounds of lightly sweetened whipped cream. If using a 9-inch pan, you should have about 12 layers of batter in total. If using the two 8-inch pans, you should have about 8 layers in each, for 16 total layers. The whole process of broiling the batter layers will take 30 to 45 minutes, depending on if you are using one or two pans.

Remove the cake from the tin and set it on a serving plate. Pour on the chocolate sauce and use a spatula to spread it evenly over the top, letting it drizzle down the sides. Add one third of the tempered egg yolk mixture to the beaten egg whites in the large bowl and sprinkle with one third of the flour mixture. Use a silicone spatula to fold them gently together. Repeat two more times until the flour and yolks are just incorporated and you have a large bowl of fluffy batter. Don't over-fold or the batter will deflate, and you want it nice and fluffy.