Flatkuchen

As explained on germanculture.ua, baumkuchen can be made at home. However, instead of a log with rings, it looks like a stack of flapjacks.



It's made in a springform pan on the top rack of an oven set to "broil." An esteemed compatriot and I created one such flatkuchen in early April, or perhaps late March. Despite our overly casual approach to baking, it came out an entirely delicious learning experience.

Our version was slightly different than the one featured above, however. For one, we used no almond bits nor lemon rind; also, the end result was covered in chocolate icing rather than apricot jam. Additionally, we had no electric mixer. Rather than beating stiff eight egg whites by hand, I confess that we stuck them in a blender for a few minutes and then folded that mess into the rest of the batter. Shockingly, it worked!

We learned some things from the experience:

• The inner layers do not need to turn golden brown. This will only dry out the cake unnecessarily.


• Heating the batter up a little will make it run better, which makes it easier to deliver thin, even layers.


• Even if there are uneven lumps in the cake as it forms, one must cover the previous layer entirely or else it will get burnt and nasty.