Recipe for Baumkuchen

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Harvest Moon players were introduced to Baumkuchen in Tree of Tranquility. The Baumkuchen were the special magical Rainbow Cakes that restored the power of the Harvest Goddess and ultimately brought a new Goddess Tree into being.

In Sunshine Islands, you can make your own Baumkuchen as well. In real life, Baumkuchen are extremely difficult to make, having been called the 'King of Cakes'.

Here is a recipe for any one who has the courage and determination to try:

Ingredients:

2 sticks of butter
3/4 cup sugar
8 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons of rum
grated lemon peel
a pinch of salt
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1 cup + 2 tablespoons flour mixed with 1 cup + 2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup apricot jam, almond paste, powdered sugar or chocolate icing

Mix the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Gradually add egg yolks and remaining ingredients until a light, foamy batter is created. Beat egg whites untiil very stiff and stir them gently into the batter. Pour about 2 tablespoons of batter into an 8 1/2 inch springform pan greased with butter to create a thin layer. Bake this on the top rack of a preheated oven at 450 degrees for two minutes or until it is golden brown. You must watch it like a hawk for it will bake quickly! Remove from oven, let it stand until cool, glaze it with jam, almond paste or powdered sugar, then add another thin layer of batter and bake. Repeat this process until you have baked ALL the batter. You should have 14 to 16 very thin layers of cake, each of which has a coating of apricot jam, almond paste or whatever you wish.

When the cake is finished, you can ice it with anything you like. Many people make chocolate icing for the Baumkuchen.

Baumkuchen translated means 'Tree Cake' because all of the layers represent the rings of a Tree. Bakers have been known to create Baumkuchen with 25 layers, weighing over 100 pounds, measuring more than 3 feet!

It is appropriate that a Baumkuchen should have been the key to the restoration of the Goddess Tree in Tree of Tranquility. In Sunshine Islands, it is nothing more than a lovely sweet. I shall have to see if the Harvest Sprites respond to it in any special way!

Sunshine Islands Recipe for Baumkuchen:

Baumkuchen: 1166G
Ingredients: Wheat Flour, Egg, Milk, Butter
Obtain with 9th Wheat Flour from Haila at Cafe
Energy Value: +42 SR +16 FL
Optional Ingredients: Wine
N.B. You can use the more expensive varieties of Silkie Egg, Jersey Milk and Superb Butter if you wish. As you can see, the ingredients are deceptively simple and Haila, who gives the Recipe, does not explain the labour-intensive process needed to create the Cake!

What is really interesting is that the Baumkuchen is extremely popular in Japan. This possibly accounts for its appearance in Harvest Moon. Originally made in Japan by German expatriates, it has become a distinctive treat for the Japanese. I have included a photograph of a commercial Japanese Baumkuchen as well as the Baumkuchen from a famous bakery named Cafe Kruse in the German town of Salzwedel, which claims the honour of being the 'birthplace of the Baumkuchen'.