orange and fennel scented brown butter crepe-like cake

Christmas this year was really, really wonderful. I spent my days in Texas snuggling new nephews and watching little David play with his cousins and my family. I took naps and baked one of my favorite cakes for Christmas dinner. We drank a lot of good wine, ate some perfect meals, celebrated my birthday followed by my husband’s, and came back to Seattle feeling refreshed, stuffed with tex-mex and so grateful.

My husband loves crepes, we specifically booked a hotel in Paris around the corner from his favorite creperie when we went a few years ago. His birthday is right after Christmas and I wanted to make something a little lighter so when I came across a recipe for baumkuchen, a crepe-like layer cake, I had to give it a try.

A baumkuchen (tree cake) is a traditional German cake that is made by slowly cooking thin layers of cake batter on a spit over a fire, creating a many-layered cake that, when sliced, resembles the growth rings of a tree. I first saw a recipe for this cake in my beloved New York Times cookbook (by Amanda Hesser) and eventually settled on Byron Talbot’s technique of cooking the eggs and sugar into a sort of custard and whipping it until cloud-like and fluffy, enriching it with caramelized browned butter and adding just enough cake flour to bind the batter. It is cooked under the broiler for lack of a spit and wood fire, although it would be undeniably lovely to experience that someday. I also topped it with Not Without Salt’s Salted Sprinkles (brilliant, just brilliant) which I picked up a few weeks ago at a holiday market. If you find yourself without a supply of salted sprinkles you could use flaked salt and it would be just perfect.

orange and fennel scented brown butter crepe-like cake

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour

 

Serves: 8-10 servings

Ingredients

• | cake |
• zest of 1 orange
• 1½ tsp chopped fennel fronds
• 1½ c unsalted butter, browned (recipe follows)
• 1½ c granulated sugar
• 7 eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ c whole milk
• 2 tbsp rum (optional)
• 1 c cake flour, sifted
• 
  | ganache |
• 4 oz dark chocolate
• ½ c heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp butter

Instructions

1. Turn your broiler on its lowest setting. Butter a 8 or 9 inch springform pan and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper.
2. Place the sugar in a small bowl and add the zest and fennel, working it into the sugar with your hands.
3. Place the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and melt over medium heat, swirling occasionally. Continue to cook until butter has a caramelized, nutty smell and milk solids are slightly browned. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Prepare a double boiler by bringing a pot of water to boil that will accommodate a stainless steel mixing bowl. The bowl should fit snugly into the pot but not touch the water to prevent the eggs from cooking. Set the bowl aside.
5. Combine eggs. sugar, milk, vanilla paste and extract, and rum (if using) in the stainless steel bowl and whisk until combined. Place the bowl over the pot of simmering water and whisk constantly, until the sugar has completely dissolved or the mixture reaches 140 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and strain through a fine-mesh sieve to remove all orange zest and fennel. Rinse and dry the stainless steel bowl and return the mixture to the bowl.
6. Whip the warm egg mixture for 10-15 minutes, until fluffy and cooled. Slowly pour in the brown butter and mix for a minute, then slowly add the cake flour and mix just until incorporated, being careful not over mix.
7. Pour about a ¼ cup of batter into the prepared pan and swirl to coat the bottom. Place the pan under the broiler for about a minute, until the top is just beginning to brown. Continue, browning some layers more than others to give definition to the layers. Once all the batter is gone, allow the cake to cool on a cooling rack while you prepare the ganache.
8. Put the chocolate and butter in a bowl and set aside. Place the cream in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat just until steam rises and bubbles begin to form around the edges. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, allow it to sit for a few minutes then whisk until melted. Blend the ganache in a food processor or with a hand blender for 30 seconds or so, until completely smooth. Set aside to cool until the ganache is slightly thickened but maintains a pourable consistency.
9. When the cake pan is cool enough to handle, run a sharp knife around the edges to loosen and remove the side of the pan. Place the cake top-side down on your desired serving plate and remove the parchment paper. Once the cake has cooled completely, smooth chocolate ganache over the top and allow to drip down the sides of the cake. Decorate with sprinkles or flaked sea salt if desired.

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