And decorate with sliced almonds if you wish: pat the sliced almonds onto the sides with your hands 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. Then start spreading one layer of batter at a time and popping the pan under the hot broiler until it's browned and caramelized (just takes a minute or so). Keep layering and grilling, adding a layer of apricot jam every now and then. spread a thin layer of batter, then pop it under the broiler to brown this one's perfectly grilled Remove the first tin from the oven when the top is golden brown and it set aside to cool for a minute. In the meantime, bake tin number two. I've made this cake several times over the years, trying to get the recipe just right. Then this past Christmas, I got the urge to finally perfect my version. My daughter-in-law and I took on the project to work on this cake and make it for my son's Christmas Day birthday. It was a fun culinary adventure, and we learned a few things along the way. After three batches of batter, a whole roll of almond paste, a few beads of sweat, and a whole lotta laughter, we finally produced the finished crowning glory(combining the results we salvaged from a couple batches into an extra high showstopper). It was worthy of the finest Christmas birthday celebration.

Traditionally, Baumkuchen is baked and layered into the shape of a tree. It resembles tree rings when the cake is sliced. The cake can be cooked on a rotating spit. Another method is to bake the cake in a special oven with a cylinder-shaped core that rolls inside the oven. This bakes one layer at a time. While one cake tin is in the oven, spread another very thin layer (again around 3-4 tablespoons depending on the size of your pans) on the bottom of your second cake tin. 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.I now know why it works much better to fold the flour in with the beaten egg yolks and whites. Adding it first to the yolk mixture to save a step produces a stiff yolk batter that doesn't fold well with the fluffy whites. It makes it very lumpy and hard to spread in thin layers for grilling. Yeah, not good. 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. Separate your eggs. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until very stiff. In the second large bowl, mix the egg yolks, sugar, butter, the scraped vanilla and the bitter almond essence or extract. Beat the mixture on high speed using an electric mixer or stand mixer until it turns pale and fluffy. This might take a bit, so just keep going until you have the desired result. Stir in the softened rum-marzipan. A good thing, that this cake isn’t going to be dry after a day or two. Actually, it stays moist for quite some time like 5 days – if it survives that long! With the cover of chocolate, it stays moist even longer and without the chocolate, it is perfect for freezing. In my video, you can actually find me baking one extra cake for Christmas that will go into the freezer until then. I will take it out two days before Christmas and taw it, then glaze it with chocolate the next day. How long does the Baking take? Keep beating the almond paste and butter and slip in one yolk at a time from the cup or bowl they are in, beating after adding each yolk. Add the rum, vanilla, and salt, and beat well. Set aside.

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). Husband and Birthday Boy had fun playing a game of frisbee with the sugarless, lumpy-battered #Failcakes at Christmas time: Baumkuchen simply translates to “tree cake”, because of the “rings” that are created by baking the separate layers of the cake, not unlike the layers of a tree. Originally, the cake batter is poured over a rotating rod in front of a broiler to form the rings of your tree cake. Since few of us have that technology at home, the rings of homemade Baumkuchen will come as thin layers. But you need to know in advance: while an authentic German Baumkuchen impresses when it comes to both looks and taste, it’s a time-consuming, elaborate cake to bake. It will take at least two hours to make it and it will require your full attention so it won’t burn. But it will be worth it, I promise. And since it is sealed by a chocolate glaze once it’s cooled, you can easily make it one or even two days ahead. Separate the eggs, putting the yolks into a spouted measuring cup or a small bowl and the whites into a large mixing bowl (large enough to hold them all when they are beaten, plus the rest of the batter).

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Scoop out about ¼ of the beaten whites and stir them into the yolk mixture until they are incorporated, but not deflated. This step is important, as it tempers the yolks, helping them incorporate more smoothly into the whites when you fold them together. Cover it in a luscious, silky, chocolate and rum glaze: pour the chocolate glaze on top of the cake, then spread it around the edges If you are using apricot jam between the layers (I prefer this, but have made it without and it's also good), then in a small saucepan on the oven or a bowl in the microwave, heat ½ cup of the apricot jam until it's melted and have it ready. Now, your Baumkuchen-baking-adventure begins. If you need to pee, now’s the time do that, because from now on it will be unwise to leave the room for longer than a minute.