The Germans are well known for their kaffee and kuchen at tea time. Coffee and cake tempt passersby at the smallest of coffee shops. Quite different from the Indian way of having spicy savouries with hot tea. But it grows on you.
The most famous of German pastries is undoubtedly the Black Forest cake. It has gained immense popularity in India and is often featured in its traditional cherry-loaded-with-cream avatar. Another cake that has its roots in Germany but has not received much publicity is the baumkuchen.
This cake’s speciality is that it not baked in an oven and the batter does not have to be poured into a cake pan. It is, instead, cooked on a spit. The story is that, several hundred years ago, the cake was cooked on logs over an open fire. The principle followed today is much the same, except for the apparatus. A large steel casing holds a rotisserie with heat emanating from the sides and below. The batter — a thin mixture of flour, butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla bean extract — is poured carefully over the spit. The thin batter is cooked very quickly and any drips are caught in the tray below. As the first layer turns golden, another layer is poured on top to bake. This process is repeated until the batter runs out. It takes the chef a few hours of constant work to bake and cool at least 15 layers. The baumkuchen can easily go up to 25 layers and skilled pastry chefs have been known to make some very large ones. These layers are what set the cake apart in looks and taste.
When the last layer is baking, the chef gently runs a wide prong-like instrument of the same length as the spit over the cake. This helps form distinct rings at regular intervals and gives the typical stacked-tier effect. Once cool, it is coated with a glaze that varies from a caramel or dark chocolate to a icing sugar or white chocolate glaze for the festive season.
The flavourings also vary. A spiced baumkuchen with nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves is popular during the winter.
Eating it in Germany is one thing but what surprised me the most was when some friends from Japan gifted us a baumkuchen packed in individual slices. It is very popular with the Japanese; not only do they have it for tea but also as dessert. It was introduced in Japan by Karl Joseph Wilhelm Juchheim at an exhibition in Hiroshima in 1919. The Japanese saw it as the perfect gift for wedding guests because of the ring-like shape. Juchheim opened a string of bakeries across the country and the same brand continues to sell the cake in many parts of Asia.
During Christmas, small festive sizes are robed in milky white chocolate and sold as kinderbahn. The best way to slice this cake is in thin horizontal slivers. There is no baking powder or soda added. The fact that it is cooked on a spit also accounts for its texture being drier than any other cake. The Japanese have added their own touch to this German cake with a green-tea flavoured baumkuchen.
If you travel to Japan or other parts of Asia, do check the confectioners for a taste of the baumkuchen. It’s one you won’t want to miss.
Read more about food on Shanthini’s website www.pinklemontreerecipes.com
