The Byron Talbott’s Baumkuchen Recipe
So a while back, I posted Byron Talbott’s video recipe for the Baumkuchen (Tree Cake) here. Well I’m back and happy to report that it’s super duper easy! Now mind you, mind is not as beautifully layered as Byron’s (I tried, twice) but it still tasted good!
For those who don’t know what a Baumkuchen is – per Wikipedia
Baumkuchen is a kind of layered cake. It is a traditional dessert in many countries throughout Europe and is also a popular snack and dessert in Japan. The characteristic rings that appear when sliced resemble tree rings, and give the cake its German name,Baumkuchen, which literally translates to “tree cake”.
The cake is baked on a spite by brushing on even layers of batter and then rotating the spit around a heat source. Each layer is allowed to brown before a new layer of batter is poured.
And since we don’t really have spites at home, a around cake pan would have to do.
Ingredients you’ll need:
Cake Batter :
4 whole eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
¼ cup milk
2 tbsp dark rum (optional)
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup brown butter
½ cup cake flour
Chocolate Glaze:
1 cup dark chocolate
½ cup heavy cream
1tbsp dark rum (optional)
½ envelope of gelatin
½ cup water
I’ll let you head on over to Byron’s YouTube channel for the step by step.
Here are some images of my Baumkuchen journey. Oh and I did skip out on adding some dark rum since i didn’t have any on hand.
The only thing Byron didn’t show is the making of the Brown Butter.
You literally, just melt butter in a pot, until it’s golden brown. You can do this way ahead of time, just make sure before using it in the cake, to let it cool to about room temperature.
Cooking the Egg Mixture.
Throwing the cake batter into the stand mixer and letting it mix.
Layering the batter in the cake pan.
And this is what it looks like out of the broiler… you have to get it this brown for the lines to show when you cut through the cake.
Ok so after 4-5 layers, I flipped it over…and the bottom of the cake looked raw.
I did messaged Bryan and asked if that’s normal and he said it’s totally normal and really, once glazed, you won’t even see it.
@Noosiekins looks good to me! I had a few transparent spots on my cake as well, but it’s normal.
— Byron Talbott (@ByronTalbott)
Soooo there you have it. Decorate, make it pretty…and eat up!
