Publication of the amended single document following the approval of a minor amendment pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012

(2021/C 269/08)

The European Commission has approved this minor amendment in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 6(2) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014 (1).

The application for approval of this minor amendment can be consulted in the Commission’s eAmbrosia database.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’

EU No: PGI-DE-0733-AM01 – 27 May 2020

PDO ( ) PGI (X)

1. Name(s)

‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’

2. Member State or Third Country

Germany

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1. Type of product

Class 2.3. Bread, pastry, cakes, confectionery, biscuits and other baker’s wares

3.2. Description of the product to which the name in (1) applies

Round layered cake with irregular individual layers and a rough, jagged formation. A characteristic of ‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’ is the baking of the batter layer-by-layer, which gives the cake, when cut, the appearance of ‘tree rings’. A ‘Baumkuchen’ can be up to 90 cm tall with a diameter of up to 40 cm. Inside, the ‘Baumkuchen’ is hollow along its longitudinal axis, the diameter of the hollow space being up to 20 cm. Each Baumkuchen weighs between 2 kg and 5 kg.

Once made, ‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’ is not generally served in one piece, but cut into rings or sections which have a height of 5 cm to 50 cm and a weight of 50 g to 4 000 g. The most common weights are between 300 g and 500 g. There are also ‘Baumkuchen’ tips, smooth trapezoidal pieces approximately 4 cm long and 1 cm thick, or non-uniform pieces cut into different shapes and sizes from a ‘Baumkuchen’ ring approximately 2 cm to 4,5 cm long and 2 cm thick. In addition, there are ‘Baumkuchen’ bars, which are pieces 8 cm to 10 cm long and 3 cm thick cut from a ‘Baumkuchen’ ring.

The following types of ‘Baumkuchen’ are distinguished on the basis of their different coatings:

— ‘Baumkuchen’ with fondant icing

— ‘Baumkuchen’ with a dark chocolate coating

— ‘Baumkuchen’ with a white chocolate coating

— ‘Baumkuchen’ with a milk chocolate coating

— ‘Baumkuchen’ with fondant and a dark chocolate coating

— ‘Baumkuchen’ with fondant and a milk chocolate coating

— ‘Baumkuchen’ with a dark and milk chocolate coating

— ‘Baumkuchen’ with a dark and white chocolate coating

— ‘Baumkuchen’ with a milk and white chocolate coating

— plain ‘Baumkuchen’ (with no coating)

— ‘Baumkuchen’ tips coated in (dark, milk or white) chocolate

— ‘Baumkuchen’ bars coated in (dark, milk or white) chocolate or with fondant icing or decorated with thin lines of dark, milk or white chocolate.

Composition

1 kg of butter or concentrated butter, 1 kg of flour, wheat powder, wheat starch or corn starch, the particular composition being specific to the producer

0,8 kg to 1 kg of egg yolk or the equivalent weight of individual egg yolks

0,8 kg to 1 kg of egg white or the equivalent weight of individual egg whites

0,8 kg to 1 kg of sugar

natural aromas (depending on the practices of individual producers)

apricot jam (optional)

icing (fondant) or chocolate coating

no preservatives

no baking powder or raising agents used

On the basis of the above quantities, the cake has a weight of approximately 3,5 kg to 4,0 kg.

Quality criteria

External characteristics: attractive, slightly jagged shape (except for ‘Baumkuchen’ tips), icing or coating uniform, well-spread, glossy and clean

shape (of the whole ‘Baumkuchen’): length: 60 cm to 90 cm, outer diameter: 12 cm to 40 cm, inner diameter: 4 cm to 20 cm

coating: sugar icing, dark, milk or white chocolate

colour: white to creamy, light or dark brown, depending on the coating

consistency: loose, uniform texture, slightly moist crumb

Internal characteristics: evenly golden-brown layers of uniform thickness

3.3. Feed (for products of animal origin only) and raw materials (for processed products only)

—

3.4. Specific steps in production that must take place in the defined geographical area

The production of ‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’ must take place entirely in the defined geographical area.

3.5. Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product the registered name refers to

—

3.6. Specific rules concerning labelling of the product the registered name refers to

The ingredients and weight and the name, street name, place name and postcode of the producer must be indicated on the sales label.

4. Concise definition of the geographical area

The geographical area covers the town of Salzwedel within its 2006 boundaries.

5. Link with the geographical area

5.1. Specificity of the geographical area

In 1807 the confectioner Johann Andreas Schernikow wrote down a recipe for ‘Baumkuchen’, the method and ingredients of which still form the basis of the ‘Baumkuchen’ produced by the first ‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’ factory. Around 1812 Schernikow received the freedom of the town of Salzwedel.

Secondary publications from the first half of the 19th century inform us that confectionery in the form of a tree trunk-like tubular cake was being produced in Salzwedel. The first documented reference to ‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’ dates from 1843.

Increasing industrialisation in the second half of the 19th century led to the growth of a prosperous middle class who could afford to buy culinary delicacies from other regions. In Salzwedel a plucky group of bakers and confectioners seized the opportunity and, building on their existing production experience, began making ‘Baumkuchen’ to be sent for sale far away (in Berlin, Hannover and central Germany and even in foreign cities such as Vienna or Saint Petersburg). ‘Baumkuchen’ was produced on a large scale, making ‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’ known throughout Germany and beyond. Although there is no reliable data, it is unlikely that any town in Germany produced as much ‘Baumkuchen’ as Salzwedel from the end of the 19th century to the First World War or between the two World Wars. Most – between 80 % and 90 % – of the cake produced was sent for sale outside the town.

Even then consumers considered ‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’ to be a special product which could come only from the town of Salzwedel and was very different from ‘Baumkuchen’ from other regions because of its particular qualities, based on the production method and recipe.

Following a hiatus caused by the Wars, Baumkuchen gradually started to be produced again after the Second World War. The special reputation of ‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’ was restored as a result of the long-standing tradition in Salzwedel and the experience of its producers, despite the expropriation of the largest of them in 1958. Except for the fact that a scarcity of resources meant that butter was in some cases replaced by margarine, the recipe and method of production did not change at all. ‘Baumkuchen’ continued to be baked increasingly for export. Tens of thousands of ‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’ were exported each year, mainly to western countries.

5.2. Specificity of the product

‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’ is a regional confectionary speciality with a long tradition, which is known beyond the region of Salzwedel and is held in particularly high regard by consumers.

‘Baumkuchen’ has been produced in Salzwedel for almost 200 years and has been sold throughout Germany and even abroad since the second half of the 19th century (see Metzger, Christine (ed.), Deutschland Spezialitätenküche (‘Germany’s Speciality Cuisine’), 1999, p. 46). The very high costs of its ingredients and production mean that it is a very high-priced product. The production method is the same in all companies: ‘Baumkuchen’ is a layered cake baked over an open fire. A ladle is used to apply the batter layer-by-layer to a rotating spit. The main ingredients used were also always the same.

It continues to be eaten mainly on special occasions such as at Christmas or Easter and on birthdays. The high price of its ingredients meant that it was common for ‘Baumkuchen’ not to be produced in times of war and need such as in the years from 1914 to 1918 and 1939 to 1948.

The recipe and production method have not changed in about 150 years. As before, no preservatives, pasteurisation or deep-freezing are used, meaning that ‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’ is in all cases a freshly baked good.

As long ago as in 1883 Dietrichs and Parisius wrote (in Bilder aus der Altmark [‘Pictures from the Altmark’], Verlag J.F. Richter, Hamburg) that ‘“Salzwedeler Baumkuchen” is much preferred by connoisseurs to cakes of the same name from other places and is well on its way to obtaining international renown. Several thousand crates of the sweet, tasty cake are currently on their way from a number of bakeries to the post office from where they will be sent for consumption not only throughout Germany, but in many cases also in Russia and America.’

The article entitled ‘Was weiß man vom Salzwedeler Baumkuchen?’ (‘What is known about “Salzwedeler Baumkuchen”?’) in the commemorative publication 100 Jahre Salzwedeler Wochenblatt (‘100 Years of the Salzwedeler Wochenblatt’) (1932, p. 113) contains the following quote:

‘If you tell someone that you’re from Salzwedel, 99 times out of a hundred they’ll reply: Oh, so you’re from where they make the “Baumkuchen”!’

The uninterrupted tradition and continued good reputation of this speciality is also apparent from a survey into public perception of ‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’ conducted at the Berlin International Green Week in 2005. Of the 500 people surveyed, 60,6 % had previously heard of or read the name ‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’. Of that group, 92 % thought that ‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’ was made only in Salzwedel and 81 % said that this origin was an important factor when deciding what to buy.

‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’ has been part of regional tradition for about 100 years. There are songs and poems about ‘Baumkuchen’, and it features prominently in traditional processions. ‘Baumkuchen’ is now a major tourist attraction, and some bakeries give demonstrations showing how it is made. Since 2004 there has been a ‘Baumkuchen Queen’ and also an annual ‘Baumkuchen’ festival.

‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’ is presented as a traditional speciality of the town of Salzwedel in national travel guides (e.g. Baedeker Deutschland (‘Baedeker Germany’), 1998, p. 98) and advertisements.

5.3. Causal link between the geographical area and the quality or characteristics of the product (for PDO) or a specific quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product (for PGI)

The reputation of ‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’ is based mainly on the long tradition of making the product in the town of Salzwedel, the skills developed by its artisan producers, the high quality of the product and its roots in the cultural life of the town, which is also known as the ‘Baumkuchen town’ (see Deutschland Spezialitätenküche, loc. cit.). ‘Salzwedeler Baumkuchen’ is therefore a regional speciality whose reputation is based essentially on the close link to Salzwedel, the place where it is made.

Reference to publication of the specification

(the second subparagraph of Article 6(1) of the Regulation)

https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/geo/detail.pdfdownload/42039

(1) OJ L 179, 19.6.2014, p. 17.