Macadamia Nut Baumkuchen Cake

Invented in Germany and made popular in Japan at the turn of the century, baumkuchen is a mildly sweet cake made by pushing batter onto a spit that slowly turns inside an oven. A thin layer of cake develops and then another layer is applied, then another, and another until there’s 15–20 layers or more. Off the spit, it’s sliced into discs, revealing the layers of cake like rings of a tree (baum = tree, kuchen = cake).

This one comes from German bakers—Marie & Markus—living in Hawaii and making baumkuchen from local ingredients. Their macadamia baumkuchen is lightly sweet, a little floral, soft, and just a little nutty. Packaged in a tin, it looks a little precious, which is exactly what it is.