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Baumkuchen Torte - Gluten Free

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Baumkuchen - German meaning 'tree cake'. The baked torte has 'rings' resembling the rings of a tree, hence the descriptive name.

I was going through a box of old recipes from years ago and found this one hand written by me on the back of an old brochure.
I didn't remember ever making it .. but it was such an unusual method that I needed to try it .. and of course gluten free was the order!
(To make it regular - exchange the flours for 2/3 cup wheat flour and 1/3 cup cornstarch and leave out the xanthan gum)


Ingredients and Method

Mix 2 cups of sour cream, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla --- Set aside

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp almond
  • 6 egg yolks

Beat above butter , sugar and extracts - then add egg yolks one at a time beating well after each addition.

Add to butter mix the following dry ingredients (mix flours together before adding)

  • 1/2 cup potato starch
  • 1/2 cup white corn flour
  • 1 tsp xanthan gum
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Set mixture aside.

  • 6 egg whites (at room temperature)
  • 1/4 cup sugar

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the 1/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff.

Stir a small amount of the egg whites into the butter/flour mixture, then carefully fold the mixture into the beaten egg whites.

Pre-heat oven to 'high broil' - and move oven rack so that it is about 6 inches or so from top element.

Grease an 8" spring form pan. ( I don't have an 8", so I used my 10" - and adjusted the number of layers and the amount of batter in each layer)

  1. Spread a scant 1/2 cup of batter on the bottom on pan.
  2. Place pan under broiler and bake for 1 or 1 1/2 minutes until lightly browned .. Watch it carefully.
  3. Remove from oven and add another 1/2 cup of batter . Again broil under element. (if it browns too quickly lower your rack)
  4. Repeat this step until you have 5 layers.
  5. Now spread half the sour cream mixture over the fifth layer and broil 1 minute until set.
  6. Repeat the batter layers as before , 1/2 cup of batter, broil... another 5 more layers.
  7. Spread the remaining sour cream mixture over the top and broil 1 minute until set.

Let the torte cool for 15 minutes. Remover sides and let cool completely.

Pipe your favorite butter cream icing around the sides and cover top with a thickened fruit filling -- home made or bought. (I cooked 2 cups of frozen raspberries sweetened with sugar, strained it to remove seeds and then thickened it with cornstarch.)

I found that this torte (refrigerated) tasted better the third/fourth day than the day I made it so it is a great make-ahead dessert.

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4 comments:

  1. now this looks worth making if you need to watch your gluten intake or not!
    you are so creative, thank you for sharing this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This looks ever so tempting and tasteful. You know where you can drop that off...My address is.....

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a beautiful looking dessert....and it does sound very wonderful. Looks like a lovely dessert to serve a group of ladies with tea. Kathy (MGCC)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wheat flour? Gluten free? Help me out here..............

    ReplyDelete

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