Baumkuchen means tree cake in German, and no, it doesn’t stand up like a pine tree or require power tools to cut. The cake is named for the cross-section resemblance to tree rings. The rings come from preparation on a rotating spindle. Layers of cake batter are added and baked one-at-a-time as the long cylindrical cake rotates in an oven. My six inch cake had fifteen layers, but they may have twenty-five. The task takes both skill and patience, hence it’s called the “King of Cakes.”