Note: This Baumkuchen recipe was originally part of my Biscuit Advent Calendar, a one-recipe-a-day email series in December. You can find the other recipes and sign up for the next round if you want here.

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Good morning. This is a long one…both baking and reading. Today’s recipe requires a bit of energy, time, and patience. But it is as traditional as it is delicious. And again it is technically a cake, not a biscuit, but as we are cutting it out and dipping it in chocolate I think it’s fair enough for it to be here. I am talking about Baumkuchen (“tree cake”). To be precise, Baumkuchenspitzen (“tree cake tips”), as we are not keeping it whole but cutting it biscuit-sized.

It is called that because it is normally baked (grilled) on a revolving drum and has many layers which look like the annual rings of a tree. So a Baumkuchen is industrially baked on a rotisserie grill: the batter is poured over while the drum it is on is spinning slowly in front of a grill. When one layer is baked, the next one is added, and so forth. So even with the right equipment it is a labor-intensive process. And when I was first introduced to it, I wasn’t a big fan, since I thought it was just a bit of dry cake dipped in chocolate (but why not have the chocolate by itself).

Well, I have since changed my mind. Firstly, because I have tasted fresh Baumkuchen and it’s delicious. Kind of the essence of cake flavour, with all these browned layers in the middle, and not dry at all while fresh.
And secondly, a few years ago I came across a recipe to make it at home and I was curious to try it. And what can I say? You absolutely CAN make a really awesome Baumkuchen at home. It also makes a great gift or dessert for a Christmas party:

Yes, it is labor-intensive, but also it’s such a different process to other Christmas baking that it breaks the monotony of making yet another shortbread-based biscuit. If you want to give it a try, then do it when you have the nerve for it and two uninterrupted hours. (plus a bit more to decorate). And read the recipe well before you start, so you feel reasonably confident.
Here are all my notes and tips:

The Batter
It can contain ground almonds and/or marzipan, as well as additional flavourings, for example amaretto or almond extract to enhance the almond flavour. Or of course the ubiquitous baking hero: vanilla. Since it’s a Christmas biscuit here, a tiny bit of spice can also be nice (just a dash of ground cloves). In the recipe below I went quite purist and chose to layer marzipan into the middle rather than add it to the batter as well.

The Oven
You will spend most of your Baumkuchen-making time with baking it.
The oven setting is really important as you bake layer after layer, always pouring a fresh one on top.
It is essential to have no oven heat from below so as to not overbake the bottom layers and to bake the top layers quickly. You therefore need an oven with only top heat or a grill setting (and turn off everything else: no fan, no other heat (if you can)). It takes only about 2 minutes to bake each layer but initially you need to watch the first few layers to determine the exact time. Could be 90s, could be a bit longer than two minutes. I generally hover next to the oven and when I get comfortable, I set a timer on my phone with the correct interval. It is important to get browning on each layer otherwise you won’t see the cross-sectional pattern in the end which is the whole point. It is also important not to burn them and it’s easily done.
So you pour, spread, bake, pour, spread, bake,… until all the batter is used up. About 8-15 times.

Spreading
When I first made it I found this tricky. Getting the first few layers down is trickiest. The first kind of sticks and is hard to spread out super evenly and without using a lot of batter. Don’t worry, this is normal. Then for the second and third layers you need to be delicate not to damage layer one and two too much. After that, it gets easier I promise: as you assemble more layers the cake below is warm which melts the butter in the new batter layer and makes it a lot easier to spread. So if you start out and think: what did I get myself into?! Keep going! Also, perfection as ever is not required. What to spread with? Space inside the tin is quite restricted, so use something short: a spatula with a short handle, a short knife, a spoon, or even a bread card (handleless scraper) if you have one. The ideal tool for the job would be an offset (a really big offset that can reach the bottom of the pan) spatula though I don’t own one myself. A silicone tool is a little more gentle than metal in terms of not disturbing the bottom layers.

Post-Processing
Once you’ve baked all the layers, the Baumkuchen can be soaked to add a little moisture back in, and it is then customary to glaze it with some more liquid or jam. I am using apricot jam here mixed with a dash of orange liqueur. That’s then left to dry.
Afterwards you cut it: into squares or triangles or crescents (there’s a neat trick see below). Basically in a way that leads to not many off-cuts.
Then you can dip it in chocolate which really protects it from drying out and makes it last longer. I have kept mine for a week or two with no problem but I keep it in a cool place (my garage). And since I usually don’t perfectly temper my chocolate, I add white chocolate and sprinkle decorations to hide the imperfections.
A sugar glaze like for petit fours (flavored with lemon or almonds) is also an option.

* A note on chocolate tempering (+ two easier options)

Proper tempering (heating/cooling/reheating) gives chocolate a nice shine and snap (and beyond that, a melting point near body temperature), but for home baking and especially for something that will be decorated you don’t have to be perfect. Here are two relaxed approaches. Above all: if it’s important to you then patience is your main virtue. I am assuming that you start with solid, tempered chocolate. If your chocolate isn’t tempered to start with, this will not work.

1. Try to preserve the existing temper
   Melt the chocolate very gently, stirring frequently. Stop heating while there are still a few small pieces of unmelted chocolate and let the residual heat finish the job. In the microwave: start with two 20-30s bursts (stir each time) then proceed in 10 second intervals. Avoid overheating: the idea is to preserve some of the chocolate’s existing stable cocoa-butter crystals. Then let it cool slightly before dipping. If you manage to preserve the temper, the chocolate will set with a lovely shine and snap. If not, it will still taste good, although it may set more slowly or develop streaks.
2. Melt and then reintroduce the right chocolate crystals
   Melt about two-thirds of the chocolate to approximately 45–50°C. Remove from the heat, then gradually add the remaining third, finely chopped, stirring continuously. The unmelted chocolate introduces stable cocoa-butter crystals that help the rest crystallise correctly. Continue stirring until the chocolate cools to about 31–32°C and is smooth. If a few pieces remain unmelted, remove them rather than overheating the mixture.

Keeping melted chocolate workable

When you have a lot of dipping to do, you might also run into the problem of your melted chocolate setting in the bowl as you’re dipping. The ideal temperature for dark chocolate is about 31–33°C (expensive chocolate will likely provide you with a tempering curve on the bag). If the chocolate starts thickening, it may actually be crystallising too enthusiastically. Gentle warming can melt some of those crystals and restore fluidity without destroying the temper. Here are a few tips although none is a cast-iron guarantee:

• you can keep the bowl over a warm water bath (with the water temperature a little higher than your desired chocolate temperature) or on top of a hot water bottle or a heated blanket.
• you can also use a hair dryer to gently warm the surface of the chocolate (then stir). This is a relatively controlled and gentle way to reheat without overheating. If you use a microwave it is very difficult in my experience not to overheat.
• another method is to do the dipping in two separate batches

The proper tempering option (the hard one)

This method requires a thermometer. Chocolate can have various types of crystals that give it different physical properties. Tempering is about encouraging the desired type of crystal to form. You need to follow all three steps. First melt the chocolate (decrystallise it at around 45°C) then cool it (to the point where crystallisation occurs at 28°C) and finally reheat it again to working temperature (31-33°C) (so that type V crystals can become the dominant form). The exact temperatures depend on the type of chocolate. Dark chocolate has the highest tempering temperatures. The advantage is that this works when you are starting with untempered chocolate as you are not relying on the right crystals remaining present throughout.

Enjoy!!

Oh my what a novel, sorry. But if you try I want to give you really detailed instructions. That was definitely the most elaborate recipe so far. But I find it quite meditative and fun once I get the hang of it. It’s absolutely not a must-bake though. More of a: what do I do with all the baking energy I have : ) (which, admittedly, can be an elusive state in December).
If you do decide to make it: be proud of it. Baumkuchen is not an everyday bake. I certainly am…if only for having managed to put this recipe down on (digital) paper.