Updated post on 9-10-2016

Updated a new recipe to make the pancake easier to roll and more tasty. As long as you do not over pan fry it and not overly thick, you should be able to roll it beautifully.

Updated Post on 16-11-2014

Prepare some of these ring pancake for kids breakfast… Don’t usually prepare cute breakfast for kids and once in a blue moon….No changes in the recipe but I made it thinner… This pancake can be eaten plain or with your preferred cream… Remember don’t over fry your pancake as it will be hard and difficult to role..

Preparation is the same as other pancake with an additional task of rolling and cutting the pancake. Do use your creativity to design a simple beautiful pancake.

INTRODUCTION

It is such a coincidence that I came across Baumkuchen, the German layered cake when I was searching for the history of layered cake (kek lapis) a few months back. Kek lapis in Sarawak, Malaysia is very famous for its unique design and I do know that the cake were popularized in the late 1980’s introduced by Indonesians to Sarawak. Indonesians, under the colonization of Holland had its spiced layered cake (kek lapis lengit) for at least a century. The Dutch introduced this cake and subsequently “localized” the cake by additions of various local spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon. When I searched for layered cake, Google directed me to this Baumkuchen, the German’s meaning of a tree cake. When I looked at the picture, it is a ring cake like the Swiss roll and big machines with roller were used to produce the cake.

A few weeks later, while I was shopping at Takashimaya shopping centre in Singapore, I was rather surprised that Baumkuchen was sold in Singapore and I have managed to take some pictures through the glass windows.

I have totally no idea how to make such a cake at home until I stumbled upon a Japanese blog. It had a video that showed how to make the Baumkuchen and immediately, I have put down in my to do list. Today, I have decided to try what she had shared and I am pleased with the results. It is a simple yet delicious “pan” cake.

As 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””

Baumkuchen is one of the most popular pastries in Japan, where it is called baumukūhen (バウムクーヘン^?). It is a popular return present in Japan for wedding guests because of its typical ring shape. It was first introduced to Japan by the German Karl Joseph Wilhelm Juchheim. Juchheim was in the Chinese city of Tsingtao during World War I when Britain and Japan laid siege to Tsingtao. He and his wife were then interned at Okinawa. Juchheim started making and selling the traditional confection at a German exhibition in Hiroshima in 1919. After the war, he chose to remain in Japan. Continued success allowed him to move to Yokohama and open a bakery, but its destruction in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake caused him to move his operations to Kobe, where he stayed until the end of World War II. Some years later, his wife returned to help a Japanese company open a chain of bakeries under the Juchheim name that further helped spread Baumkuchen’s popularity in Japan.” (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumkuchen)

The original recipe requires a rectangular omelette pan (Tamagoyaki Nabe) which I do not have and I definitely will not buy one just for purposes of making this pancake. Therefore, I have used the normal round sauce pan. Of course the only difference is that the recovery rate is lower because of the round sides of the pancakes that you may have to cut off. Other than that, there is no difference.

I have tried to create some visual effects on the Baumkuchen by incorporating strawberry and chocolate sauces to the batter. However, I found that the texture after adding such sauces are not as good as the plain Baumkuchen. Therefore, I will not share the recipe for these two variants. If you want, you can consider adding permitted food colouring gel and come out some nice design to impress your guests.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe adapted from: Home Made German Layered Cake – Baumkuchen

• 100 grams of self raising flour  plain flour 
• 50 grams of granulated sugar
• 50 grams of fresh cream 120 grams or ml or fresh milk 
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons  50 grams of cooking oil/melted butter
• A few drops of vanilla essence
• Some aluminium foils
• Some cooking oil or non stick spray

STEPS OF PREPARATION

• In a big whisking bowl, use a balloon whisk to whisk the eggs and sugar until well mixed. Add in fresh cream and cooking oil/melted butter, whisk until well mixed. Sift in the self raising flour and stir until smooth (no lumps).

• Wrap a few rounds of  aluminium  foil on a chopstick (or anything round and can withstand heat) to make the core tube. Grease the core tube and set aside.

• In a flat frying pan (preferably non stick pan), put some cooking oil and heat under low heat. Put one ladle of batter to the pan, spread  as evenly as possible. When bubbles appear on the surface of batter, place the greased core tube and start rolling and let it sit in the pan for about 1 minutes or  has browned. Take the pancake out and set aside.

• Put another ladle of batter and wait until bubbles start to surface. Put the first rolled pancake on top of the batter and start rolling again. Repeat the same procedures until all the batters have finished.  Let it cooled before cut into desired pieces.

CONCLUSION

I am unsure whether what I have prepared taste the same as what is sold commercially. However, what I know is the taste of this recipe definitely to my liking and I will keep the recipe for party ideas. The taste is just a like a milky and buttery pancake.  If you like to make pancake, why not make a pancake of different designs. Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

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