baumkuchen
In a small town in German some guy had an amazing idea back over 500 years ago. He was like "Hey, I can make a cake with many many thin layers by cooking each layer at a time really fast." My only guess is that the original experiments he made probably wasn't that great, but it was a recipe that had over 500 years to be perfected, so it obviously got better! This cake takes 2-3 hours just to bake off, and you have to wait 6 hours before garnishing it off, so devote a free night to it basically. Adapted from a recipe by Sasha Martin. http://globaltableadventure.com/about/
prep time
6 Hr 15 Min
cook time
3 Hr
method
Broil
yield
12-16 serving(s)
Ingredients
- FOR CAKE
- 1 cup cake flour
- 3/4 cup corn starch
- 14 tablespoons unsalted european style butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 14 ounces almond paste
- 10 large eggs, separated (yolks in one bowl, whites in another)
- 20 ounces jar of apricot, or orange preserve.
- FOR CHOCOLATE GLAZE
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup, light
- 2 tablespoons spiced rum
- 2 teaspoons orange extract
- 6 ounces semi sweet chocolate, chopped
- FOR GARNISH (OPTIONAL)
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- - chocolate curls
How To Make baumkuchen
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Step 1Be sure all ingredients are at room temperature before you begin. Set oven to broil. Adjust wracks in your oven so that the wrack you will be using isn't too close to the heating unit of the oven.
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Step 2Whip the egg whites in a large mixing bowl into peaks. Basically until it looks like whipped cream.
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Step 3With a standing mixer or hand mixer, cream almond paste together with cream, about one tablespoon at a time. Fully incorporating each bit of cream before adding more.
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Step 4Cream butter into almond paste mixture until it is very fluffy. Scrape down sides.
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Step 5Beat sugar into batter until completely incorporated. Scrape down sides.
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Step 6Beat in one egg yolk at a time.
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Step 7Beat in vanilla extract.
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Step 8In a separate large mixing bowl, sift flour together with cornstarch.
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Step 9Add flour to the almond paste batter in thirds, completely incorporating the flour with each addition
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Step 10Gentle fold the egg whites into the batter until completely incorporated.
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Step 11Now for fun! Grease a 9 inch spring form pan and lay a parchment paper circle at its bottom.
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Step 12Spoon about 3/4 cup of the batter evenly on the bottom on the pan. Side note: A trick for spreading batter evenly, simply let gravity do it for you. Put batter in your pan and tip your pan to the side and rotate until the entire area is coated. Super flat and super even that way.
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Step 13Bake pan for 40 to 120 seconds, or until batter turns a nice golden color. The darker the layer the more visible it will be when you cut into the cake. But do NOT burn anything. Any burning will ruin the entire cake!
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Step 14Every other layer of the cake will only be about a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of batter. The first layer was more to provide a base and so the parchment wouldn't burn or curl.
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Step 15Every 2 or 3 layers spread an even layer of preserve on the cake before pouring in more batter. It'll sweeten and moisten the cake.
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Step 16Repeat broiling instructions until you run out of batter. Will make between 20 and 30 layers.
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Step 17Once you are done broiling(not baking), cool cake completely then refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
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Step 18Once cake is refrigerated start working on your glaze. Firstly by heating a small sauce pan on medium-low heat.
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Step 19Melt butter in pan then add chocolate and corn syrup. Stir continuously to keep from burning.
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Step 20Once chocolate is completely melted add rum and extracts. Mix well.
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Step 21Coat entire cake with apricot preserves, as much as you wish or have left. Spread evenly.
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Step 22Pour chocolate glaze over cake and spread evenly with a spatula. Glaze will set as it cools.
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Step 23Garnish cake with almonds and chocolate curls if desired.
- Last Step: Don't forget to share! Post a picture of your finished recipe here and on your favorite social network. Don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes!
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