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FijiFlavors · Salzwedel
Cake baked in thin layers on a spit that turns in front of a fire; when sliced it shows rings like those of a tree trunk. Made in Salzwedel since the early 19th century, it has been a protected geographical indication since 2010.
Traditional sweet from Salzwedel, Saxônia-Anhalt
Also known as: Baumkuchen de Salzwedel, Baumkuchen
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
Click a photo to enlarge it.
Salzwedeler Baumkuchen — Salzwedel, Germany
Baumkuchen, literally ‘tree cake’ in German, is baked in a unique way. A wooden or metal roll turns in front of the fire, and the baker pours, with a ladle, a thin layer of batter made of eggs, butter, sugar, and flour onto it. When the layer browns, another is added on top, and so on. At the end, the cake comes off the spit hollow inside, with an irregular surface full of points. When sliced, it shows rings like those of a trunk.
Baumkuchen exists elsewhere in Germany and around the world, and Berlin was the first major center for this cake in the 19th century. Salzwedel, in the Altmark, became one of the towns most associated with it. According to the European specification, confectioner Johann Andreas Schernikow baked the first Baumkuchen in the town in 1807, and the cake impressed Emperor William I on a visit to Salzwedel in 1865. The town began supplying Baumkuchen to the court, and Salzwedel’s bakeries maintain the tradition today.
Since 2010, Salzwedeler Baumkuchen is a protected geographical indication of the European Union. To use the name, the cake must be baked in Salzwedel, with the batter applied by hand with a ladle onto a rotating spit, and without combs to smooth the surface. That is why each Salzwedel Baumkuchen has its own shape, with the irregular points that are the cake’s hallmark.
The Baumkuchen is rarely served whole: a cake can reach up to 90 centimeters in height. It is sold in rings cut to various sizes, in small wedges and in bars, plain or covered with chocolate or icing. Some local bakeries give demonstrations of the preparation by the fire, and the Tourist Information announces when they take place.
Salzwedel , Saxônia-Anhalt
Salzwedeler Baumkuchen is a protected geographical indication and can only be baked in Salzwedel. It depends on the town being included in the guide.
Eggs, butter, sugar, flour and starch, with flavorings such as vanilla, lemon or spices depending on the recipe; chocolate or icing coverings.
In thin slices, cut along the direction of the rings, with coffee or tea. Also in small wedges, covered with chocolate.
All year round; very popular during Advent and Christmas and as a gift.
Your questions
Layer by layer, on a spit that turns in front of the fire. The batter is applied with a ladle; each layer browns before the next, and the sliced cake shows rings like those of a trunk.
No. Baumkuchen exists in several places and had its first major center in Berlin in the 19th century. In Salzwedel, according to the European specification, it has been baked since 1807, and the name Salzwedeler Baumkuchen has been protected since 2010.
Some bakeries in town give demonstrations by the fire. Salzwedel’s tourist information announces when they take place.
Flavors of Germany
Aachen spice cookie, sweetened with syrup and with small pieces of brown candi sugar that crackle when you bite them. It can be hard or soft, plain, with almonds or coated in chocolate. It has a protected geographical indication from the European Union.
Fresh pasta dough filled with ground meat, spinach, soaked bread, onion and herbs, served in broth, browned with onions, or sliced and fried with egg. A Swabian dish with protected geographical indication since 2009, traditional at Easter week.
Layered chocolate sponge cake soaked in Kirschwasser, the cherry brandy of the Black Forest, with cherries and whipped cream, topped with chocolate shavings. Black Forest tourism presents it as the region’s most famous sweet specialty.
Dark beer with a smoky flavor, made with malt dried in the smoke of beech firewood. Bamberg tourism presents it as part of the city’s identity, and the traditional preparation is listed in the Slow Food Ark of Taste.
Paste of camembert or brie cheese mashed with butter, paprika and, depending on the recipe, onion, cumin or beer; eaten with bread or a pretzel. A beer‑garden dish from Bavaria, with protected geographical indication since 2015.
Sausage sliced into rounds, topped with tomato sauce and curry powder, served with french fries or bread. The creation of the sauce is attributed to Herta Heuwer, who sold it in Berlin in 1949.
Kale slowly cooked with bacon, served with the smoked sausage Pinkel, smoked pork and potatoes. Bremen’s official portal presents it as the city’s best-known specialty, a winter dish of the Kohlfahrt.
Light, pale beer with top fermentation, served in a thin cylindrical 0.2‑liter glass by the breweries’ waiter, the Köbes. It is a protected geographical indication and may only be made in Cologne and in a few breweries in the region.
Sweet Christmas bread with raisins, candied orange and lemon peel, almonds and plenty of butter, coated with powdered sugar. Mentioned in Dresden since 1474, it has had protected geographical indication status since 2010.
Amber-colored beer, top-fermented with a pronounced bitterness, brewed in Düsseldorf’s brewery-taverns from a mid-19th-century recipe. The city’s tourism promotion presents it as the typical drink of the Altstadt.
Cold sauce of seven chopped fresh herbs with sour cream, served with hard‑boiled eggs and potatoes. The mixture of the seven herbs, grown largely in the Oberrad neighborhood, has protected geographical indication.
Sweet made from fermented, laminated dough with butter, sugar and cinnamon, rolled and pressed until it takes its characteristic flattened shape. Hamburg’s official portal presents it as a specialty of the city.
Dry, acidic apple wine, fully fermented, served in the Bembel ceramic jug and in the diamond-patterned glass called the Gerippte. It is a protected geographical indication of Hesse, and the apple wine culture of the state is listed in the German inventory of intangible heritage.
Little tart of shortcrust pastry filled with marzipan, almonds and a touch of jam or a cherry, with two strips of pastry crossed on top. It replaced the roasted lark, a Leipzig dish until the hunting ban in 1876.
White veal sausage with bacon and parsley, warmed in hot water and served with sweet mustard and a pretzel, traditionally before midday. It is one of Munich’s best-known specialties.
Honey cake with spices, walnuts and almonds, often baked on a thin wafer and covered with chocolate or icing. It has a protected geographical indication since 1996 and may only be made within Nuremberg.
Pork sausages 7 to 9 centimeters long, seasoned with marjoram and grilled, served by the dozen with sauerkraut or inside a roll. They have protected geographical indication since 2003 and may only be made in Nuremberg.
Ball of strips of shortcrust pastry, fried and dusted with confectioners’ sugar, resembling a snowball. Rothenburg ob der Tauber tourism presents it as the city’s regional specialty.
Long, thin pork sausage, 15 to 20 centimeters long, seasoned with marjoram, cumin and garlic, grilled over charcoal and eaten in a small roll with mustard. The earliest known mention dates from 1404, and the name has protected geographical indication status since 2004.
