Christmas in Salzburg - Part 4 of 5 (Yes, there's more)

Not having paid much attention to the actual contents of the holiday booths the day before, we now had the time to explore each booth individually. What we found was, in short, reminiscent of country “crap” you’d find at Salina’s Central Mall or any other Midwestern traveling craft show. And, we began to see the same items over and over and over again. It was as if they bought in bulk from the Orient. There were a few booths, however, that featured items that seemed to be made locally. Those, along with individual stores tucked down small passageways between main shopping thoroughfares, are what truly represented the trinkets we expected to find in Salzburg.

But the essence of Christkindlmrkt had to be the food and drink booths scattered about – including their patrons. On numerous occasions we’d hear from a far the sound of drunken German men crooning a song or two. With mugs in hand, they’d be tightly gathered, swaying together, with smiles on their faces. For them, it was liquor. For us, it was the Baum Kuchen booth we found after eating our sausages – and the booth we visited most over the next two days.

Baumkuchen (as properly identified on numerous German websites) is presented as the “King of Cakes” due to its intensive labor process. For more than 200 years, German bakers have been making this treat by placing a thin spit over a heat source, usually a wood fire, then evenly brushing batter over it many times to create a layered cake with rings that resemble those inside a tree – hence the common name “Tree Cake.” However, Nagy Maria and her husband, booth operators, presented a simplified take for quicker preparation. Consider it the “fast food” version.

This “Tree Cake” is available in multiple flavors including almond, chocolate and coconut – though we focused purely on the cinnamon and sugar variety. It’s crunchy on the outside yet soft on the inside.

After spending most of the day wandering around the market, we returned to our hotel for a bit of rest before venturing back to town for dinner at Carpe Diem – an experimental restaurant where the tapa-like items are served in cones. But before I could eat again, I visited the gym again to make room for dinner. I always find I feel better once I work out – especially when we’ve been eating Baumkuchen and other treats all day long.