Baumkuchen

     This weekend I decided to make a unique cake that I hadn't tried before. It's called baumkuchen, also known as a German tree cake. It was very fun to bake and, most importantly, tasted delicious!

Ingredients:

• Cake Batter:
• 4 whole eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 tbsp dark rum
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• Chocolate Glaze:
• 1 cup dark chocolate
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tbsp dark rum
• 1/2 envelope gelatin
• 1/2 cup water

     Begin by placing the butter in a pot and heating over medium-high heat. Continuously stir the butter until it develops a brown color and begins smelling nutty. Remove from heat and set aside.

     Whisk the eggs in a medium stainless steel whisking bowl, adding in the vanilla extract, milk, run, and sugar. Place this over a pot with boiling water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Continuously whisk over the boiling water for about 5-8 minutes. 

     Next, whisk the cake batter with a mixer for about 10-15 minutes until it has tripled in size. Add in the brown butter and flour, and fold into the mixture. 

     Butter a cake pan and place piece of parchment paper on the bottom, and butter the top of that. Place the cake pan in another cake pan so that the bottom of the cake doesn't burn. Add one cup of the cake batter and place in the oven over broil for about 1-2 minutes until lightly brown. Repeat this process until you run out of cake batter.

     Flip the cake onto a wire rack and let cool. Make the chocolate glaze by warming up heavy cream and adding it to the dark chocolate until it melts. Add in the dark run and gelatin with warm water to create a nice, shiny glaze. Pour over the cake, and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.