[Sca-cooks] Spiesskuchen

[Huette von Ahrens]

--- Martinsen at ansteorra.org, "Kerri <kerrimart at cablespeed.com>"@ansteorra.org wrote:
> That was going to be my next question - about the yeast. 
>  It seems more like a sweet bread recipe than a cake.  So 
> the Baumkuchen isn't were I need to look.  The dough is 
> definite a "dough" not a "batter" like you would need to 
> do the cake with.  Thanks for the translation.  I'll throw 
> mine up tonight for comparison.

That would be good.  Not everyone translates in the same way.
I have already seen a couple of places where I could have 
improved my translation.
> 
> Cooking it on a spit would make it go faster than an oven 
> - and you don't necessarly need a closed box to cook it 
> in...hum...maybe I'll have some fun with hubby's grill in 
> a few days...It has a rotissary function.... Now I 
> actually want one of those auto rotating things you see on 
> TV.

I don't have a rotissary of any sort.  It is on my list of things to buy.

> 
> On the Baumkuchen - 
> I'm waiting on some responses from companies that make 
> them, but the earliest reference I've got is from these 
> folks:
> 
> http://www.eitelbach.com/about.htm
> 
> They brag about a 500 year history.  I've emailed them to 
> ask for details. More later.

I wrote about baumkuchen on this list several years ago and Stefan put it in the Florilegium.  
I have received a couple of e-mails about it since, the latest being last week, where
a man asked if Baumkuchen was Polish, as he remembered his Polish grandmother making
it.  I have found three books that talk about Baumkuchen.  The first one, which spurred
my previous question, is "The Cuisines of Germany" by Horst Scharfenberg.  He says
that Baumkuchen originated in Stettin, the capitol of Pomerania.  I wrote the man
back and told him that since Stettin is now Szeczecin in Poland, it is possible that
is where his grandmother got her recipe.  I have also found recipes and some description
of Baumkuchen in "The Cooking of Germany" in the Time-Life cookbook series, and in the book,
"Culinaria: Germany".  All recipes given are not for the spit cooked Baumkuchen, but
a derivation of it as a torte, in that you pour your batter into a springform pan, bake
it and keep adding layers.  

I would very much like to hear/read what you get from Eitelbach.  And please let me/us know
the results of your experiments with the rotissary.  It probably will be a while before I
get one.

Huette



Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for 
they shall never cease to be amused.

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