Chimney Cake in the Famous Rumpolt Cookbook
Straight from 1581, here is a recipe from Marx Rumpolt's Ein new Kochbuch. Wikipedia calls the book "the first textbook for professional chefs in training." 1581 was still quite early in spitcake development, so the book doesn't feature the phrase baumkuchen, but it does give a recipe for Spieß kuchen (spit cake) and recommends serving it to nobility as the third (final) course of the first meal of the day.
But what kind of Spieß kuchen is it? Well, it's definitely a chimney cake, but the chimney is formed by wrapping a single rectangular sheet of dough, as opposed to a helical wrapped rope of dough. So it's in the baumstriezel style, not kürtőskalács.
The Yahoo! group "Cooking Rumpolt" is transcribing and translating the entire Rumpolt text, which has been quite useful for me as I browse historical recipes myself. The following translation is provided by the group's director, Ranvaig. Transliteration and translation by Sharon Palmer aka Ranvaig Weaver, © 2013.
TRANSCRIPTION [EARLY NEW HIGH GERMAN] (show/hide)
Gebackens 20. Nimm warme Milch / vnd schlag Eier darvnter / mach ein Teig an mit schönem weissen Mehl / nimb ein wenig Bierhefen vnd Butter darzu / laß jn ein weil stehn hinder dem Ofen / daß er vber sich steiget / mach jn wider zuhauf / vnd Saltz jn ein wenig / walg jn darnach fein sauber auß / wirf schwartze Rosein darüber. Nimm ein Walger / der fein warm / vnd mit Butter geschmiert ist / vnd leg jn auff den Teig / schlag den Teig darüber / vnd bindt jn mit einem Zwirnsfaden zusammen / daß er nicht herab fellt / legs zum Feuwer / vnd wendts fein langsam umb / so wirt es sich sauber braten. Vnd wenns braun wirt / so nimb ein Pensel / vnd steck jn in heisse Butter / vnd bestreich den damit / so wirt er schön bräunlicht. Vnd wenn er gebraten / so thu jn von dem Walgerspieß / vnd steck beide Löcher zu mit saubern Tüchern / daß die Hitz darbei bleibt / laß also bleiben / biß kül wirt / so gibs kalt auff ein Tisch / so wirt es fein mürb vnd gut. Vnd man nennet es Spießkuchen.
RANVAIG'S TRANSLATION (show/hide)
[Bakery recipe] 20. Take warm milk and beat eggs with it / mix a dough with fair white flour / take little beer yeast and butter to it / let it stand a while behind the oven / that it rises / make it again into a ball / and salt it a little / then roll it out cleanly / throw black raisins over it. Take a Walger [roller] / that is warm / and rubbed with butter / and lay it on the dough / wrap the dough over / and tie it together with a twine / so it does not fall off / lay to the fire and turn slowly / like this will it roast cleanly. And when it becomes brown then take a brush / and put it into hot butter / and coat the cake with it / like this it will be a beautiful brown. And when it is roasted / so take it off the roller spit / and put into both holes with a clean cloth / that the heat remains / let it remain like this / until it is cool so give cold on a table / so it becomes tender and good. And one calls it Spiesskuchen.
