Baumkuchen

Baumkuchen is a tall cake built from dozens of thin batter layers baked one at a time on a rotating spit, sliced to reveal rings like a tree trunk. It's Germany's most laborious cake by far — the name literally means "tree cake," and cutting a slice really does show the same kind of concentric rings you'd count on a stump.

What it actually is

A rich, butter-and-egg batter is poured in a thin layer over a rotating wooden or metal spit set over heat, and as each layer bakes to a light golden ring, another thin layer of batter goes over it — repeated dozens of times, building the cake up in rings rather than baking it as one solid mass in a tin. The finished cylinder is removed from the spit, and once cooled it's usually coated in a shell of chocolate or plain icing.

Every layer has to be thin, even and fully set before the next one goes on, which is what makes a real Baumkuchen a matter of hours of standing attention rather than a batter poured once into a pan.

How it's served

• Cut into rounds, then often quartered, the concentric layers visible in every piece.
• At room temperature, the chocolate or icing shell left to set fully first.
• As a gift or special-occasion cake, given the effort involved, more than as a daily café item.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag gluten, egg and dairy; the batter and glaze carry all three.
• Mention that it's made layer by layer over a spit, since that's the entire point of the cake and worth explaining to guests unfamiliar with it.
• Say if you make it in-house or source it, since genuine spit-baked Baumkuchen is a real specialty item and rarely made to order in a standard kitchen.
• Note the rings visible when sliced, since that visual is a large part of what makes the cake worth presenting at the table before it's cut.