As early as the Middle Ages, there were breads where the dough was wrapped around a skewer and baked over an open fire. These were the forerunners of today's stick bread or dough sticks.

Some historians attribute the first Baumkuchen to the Hungarians, others to the Greeks. The first recipe known and preserved worldwide comes from an Italian cookbook from 1426. The oldest German recipe that has been handed down dates from 1450, when Baumkuchen was a popular wedding pastry among the patricians in Nuremberg and Frankfurt am Main. The dough was laid in layers in a ring around a rotating wooden roller. It was first referred to as "Baumkuchen" in 1682 in the cookbook of the personal physician of Elector Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg.

In the 16th century, the method of production changed. The dough was no longer wrapped in layers, but was attached to the roller as a whole piece with strings. The strings caused notches that resulted in the rings that are still typical today. A century later, the skill approached the current method of production, with a thin liquid mass being applied layer by layer to a rotating roller.

The individual rings were now created by removing the mass with a wooden comb. Despite the laborious production process, Baumkuchen was mainly baked in private settings. The first forms of refinement are also documented during this period, for example with a glaze made of sugar and rose water.

As early as the 18th century, Baumkuchen was being made in German-speaking countries using its current recipe: with butter, eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt and flour. Back then, it was usually sprinkled with grated chocolate or covered with chocolate coating. Around 1800, Baumkuchen became the preserve of confectioners. As a result, Berlin was considered the first capital of Baumkuchen. Berlin developed a pull that led to mail-order bakeries in Dresden, Cottbus, Stettin and Salzwedel from the second half of the 19th century. To this day, Cottbus and Salzwedel in particular have retained their reputation as Baumkuchen suppliers of supra-regional importance.

Baumkuchen is as popular in the German Empire in the 19th century as it is in Japan today. The German confectioner Karl Joseph Wilhelm Juchheim was taken to Japan as a prisoner of war during World War I. He stayed and opened his own confectionery shop in 1921, and later the Juchheim confectionery company. There has been a lively exchange between our factory and Juchheim for several years.

The Baumstriezel is considered a Hungarian-style Baumkuchen. It basically only has the round shape baked on a roller in common with the Baumkuchen. Yeast is also used in the ingredients and the dough is wrapped in a spiral shape and only in a thin layer around a piece of wood. The history has not been researched much, but the Baumstriezel is recognized as a traditional pastry primarily in Burzenlan, southern Szeklerland and Transylvania.

There are also various other cakes in Europe that are similar to the Baumkuchen. They are part of the family of European skewer cakes. These include the Brandenberger Prügeltorte in Austria, the Kransekage in Denmark and Norway, the Spettekaka in Sweden, the Trdelník in Slovakia, the Sakotis in Lithuania and the Gateau à la broche in France. In English-speaking countries, Baumkuchen is still largely unknown to this day.