Meet Baumkuchen.
And the Hawaiian king who tasted it first.
The cake a Hawaiian king tasted in Berlin (and what happened next will surprise you)
In 1881, King David Kalākaua became the first reigning monarch to circumnavigate the globe.
It was a journey of diplomacy, curiosity, and vision — a Hawaiian king stepping onto the world stage to forge alliances and bring ideas home to his people. One of his stops: Berlin. And somewhere in that city of grand halls and centuries-old baking traditions, Kalākaua encountered Baumkuchen — the "tree cake." A confection built painstakingly, layer by thin layer, over an open flame. Each ring visible when you slice it, like the growth rings of a living tree. Picture it for a moment: a Hawaiian king, thousands of miles from the rainforests and volcanic shores of home, tasting a cake that had been perfected in German kitchens over centuries.
He couldn't have known it then — but that encounter was the first thread in a story that would eventually stretch across three continents and land, of all places, on a small farm on Hawaii's Hamakua Coast
Three cultures. Three rings. One cake.
That story is still being told today. And it's the reason we're writing to you. Three cultures. Three rings. One cake. Baumkuchen was born in Germany — some trace its roots back to the 1400s. For centuries, it was the pinnacle of German baking craft, reserved for celebrations and considered so difficult to master that it earned the title "King of Cakes." Every layer demanded patience, precision, and fire. Then the story took an unexpected turn. In 1908, a German baker named Karl Juchheim arrived in Japan. He brought Baumkuchen with him — and the Japanese didn't just adopt it. They elevated it. They refined the technique, perfected the texture, and made Baumkuchen one of the most beloved confections in the country. To this day, it remains a cherished gift in Japanese culture.
This is where our story gets personal. Markus — co-founder of Baumkuchenfarm — grew up in Japan, surrounded by that tradition. He learned to appreciate the art and discipline of Japanese Baumkuchen from the inside. And he carried that knowledge with him when he and his wife Marie built something entirely new in Hawaii. German craft. Japanese refinement. Hawaiian terroir. Three cultures, three rings of influence — converging in a single cake on a rainforest farm in Papaikou. The improbability of it is part of the beauty.
King Kalākaua tasted the first ring in Berlin. Now, all three rings come together on the very islands he called home.
Where the story lives today Baumkuchenfarm sits on four acres of lush Hawaiian rainforest in Papaikou, on the Big Island's Hamakua Coast. This is where a 600-year-old tradition is still being written — layer by layer, using Hawaiian-grown coffee, macadamia nuts, pineapple, and vanilla cultivated right on the farm. Markus bakes every Baumkuchen in a specialized German oven — one of the only ones of its kind in the United States. Visitors can take a free farm tour to see how it all comes together, walk through the vanilla and coffee growing in the tropical understory, and even join a hands-on Baumstriezel experience around a campfire — twisting dough over open flames the way it's been done for generations in Central Europe.
People who visit often describe the same feeling: the warmth of being welcomed into something genuine, the thrill of discovering a story they never expected to find in Hawaii, and the sense that this place is unlike anything else on the island. It's not just a farm. It's not just a bakery. It's a living piece of cultural history you can taste.
Come taste the story You don't just taste this story. You become part of it. If you're heading to the Big Island, our farm tours are free and open to visitors — but our Baumkuchen is baked in small batches, and once it's gone, it's gone.
to make sure you don't miss it.
Can't make it to Papaikou just yet?
We ship authentic Baumkuchen straight from the farm to your door.
Visit our online shop and bring a piece of this 600-year journey home.
With aloha 🌺and a little flour on our hands, Marie & Markus Baumkuchenfarm · Papaikou, Hawai'i
Where German craft, Japanese refinement, and Hawaiian terroir meet — one layer at a time.
