Wheat Baumkuchen - Singapore

Treecake from Germany via Japan
If you've not been to Germany or Japan you may not be familiar with baumkuchen, or "tree cake", so named due to its layered rings. Wheat Baumkuchen is a recently opened cafe in Toa Payoh that specializes in nothing but. I dropped in for one on my way to the nearby golf range hoping it might lengthen me a few yards.

Whoever invented this is crazy: it's made on a rotating spit, each layer of batter painstakingly brushed on after the previous has baked. I counted an amazing 17 layers on my almond nutella slice. Even crazier is the owner of this cafe - baumkuchen in Singapore? They hedged their bets, however; it's pretty popular in Japan where it was introduced by a German baker in the 1920's. If your product is associated with Japan, it will usually sell in Singapore.

As I munched my cake and sipped an expertly crafted Illy latte, I peered over at a batch cooling down in a special contraption. I then focused on taste and taste alone. Think pound cake and you're in the general neighborhood: butter, sugar, eggs, flour, perhaps a bit of confectioners sugar. It's light on taste so the accoutrements make all the difference. Neither the nutella nor the almonds were strong enough running partners. I think ice cream would make the perfect sidekick since they're a tad dry. I didn't ask if they served them that way, however.

It's a beautiful cafe. White, bright, comfortable, air-conditioned and most importantly- Japanese-y. I will have to bring Dodo and her girlfriends to get their opinion. As Japanophiles they'll probably give it a big thumbs-up.

Block 190, Lorong 6 Toa Payoh
Singapore
(HDB Hub, behind Watsons)

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