Every year when my birthday rolls around, as it did last week, I find myself pining for the bake shop of my youth: Baumann’s Bakery in the Burholme section of Northeast Philadelphia.
Baumann’s was an old-fashioned German bakery in an old-fashioned, largely German neighborhood. The green-sided shop with big plate windows was on the corner of Tabor and Cottman, with the entrance right at the corner. For my entire childhood it was our go-to bakery.
Whenever anyone in the family – my parents or the three children – had a birthday, my mom would order a Baumann’s birthday cake, even if we weren’t having a party and there were only the five of us to eat it.
The 10-inch layer cakes were decorated with colorful swirls and flowers – and our name, written in loopy icing!
Our name in print (or icing)
I passed Baumann’s several times a day on my way to and from school (we also went home at lunchtime). It was always a thrill to see my cake on display in the window, with “Happy Birthday Barbara” embossed on it in pink icing (I wasn’t Bobbie until my teens).
After my mother discovered the cakes could be customized with more than just a name, my sister, whose birthday is right before Halloween, would often get a chocolate-iced cake decorated with pumpkins and ghosts. My dad’s cake sometimes had icing tennis rackets to reflect his favorite pastime.
Baumann’s is gone now, but its memory lingers on. The bake shop made wonderful cinnamon bread, raisin tea cakes, tasty Linzer torte cookies, and killer cinnamon sticky buns loaded with pecans. The filling in their custard and whipped cream doughnuts was so fresh they kept them in a refrigerated case.
Our favorite dessert of all was Baumann’s butter cake.
Buttery nirvana
Imagine a thin, yeasty base topped with a layer of buttery, melt-in-your mouth, vanilla-scented custard. The top was slightly browned, letting you see the luscious yellow, moist filling. It was baked in a sheet pan, and you ordered a hunk of a certain size, which was cut off, weighed so you could pay by the pound, and packed up in a square cardboard box tied with string.
I have never found anything like Baumann’s butter cake anywhere else.
Determined to recreate it myself, if necessary, I searched for a “German butter cake” recipe. Most of the recipes sounded like ordinary cakes made with butter – not a custard-topped yeast cake.
One recipe called “St. Louis-Style GooeyButter Cake,” sounded promising, but it used cream cheese in addition to the butter, something I knew Baumann’s hadn’t done. And it was based on yellow cake mix, not yeast dough. I tried it, and it was delicious – but it wasn’t Baumann’s butter cake.
“Philadelphia” is the key
Then inspiration struck. I did a Web search for “Philadelphia butter cake.” Success!
Sort of. Again, it was a delicious cake, and it was pretty darn close to the Baumann’s version. I thought it was too thick. I made it in a 9 x 13-inch pan as the recipe directs. Using two 8 x 8-inch pans would probably make it a little thinner, which I will probably do next time.
I’m not sure when “next time” will be. This is an extremely rich dessert, and the recipe makes a large cake. (If you make two smaller cakes you can probably freeze one.) But if you’re planning a special meal and want to impress your guests – or if you want to wow someone who grew up in Philadelphia – give this yummy confection a try.
Philadelphia Butter Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup butter-flavor shortening or butter
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 packet (¼ oz.) active dry yeast
- ½ cup warm milk (105-115 degrees F)
- 2¼ cups flour
- 1 Tbs. vanilla extract
For the topping:
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup flour
- 2 cups superfine sugar (if you can’t find this in the store, make your own by putting 2 cups plus 2 Tbs. granulated sugar in the food processor and processing for about 3 minutes)
- 2 extra-large eggs
- 4 -5 Tbs. milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
- Mix the sugar, shortening or butter, and salt in a bowl.
- Add the egg and beat together for 1 minute.
- Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk.
- To the egg/sugar mixture, add the flour, then the yeast mixture, then the vanilla. Beat about 3 minutes by hand or with a dough hook on an electric mixer.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and knead for one minute. Dough should feel smooth and elastic.
- Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a towel and let it stand in a warm place until it doubles in bulk, about an hour.
- For the topping, start by creaming the butter.
- Mix together the flour and sugar and gradually beat into the butter.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add the vanilla.
- Gradually add just enough milk to make the topping an easy-spread consistency; be careful not to make it too runny. Set aside.
- When the dough has doubled, punch it down.
- You can use a 9 x 13-inch pan or two 8 x 8-inch pans. If using the two 8 x 8 pans, divide the dough in two. Grease the pan(s) well.
- Roll or pat the dough into the pans, making it come about an inch up the sides to hold the topping.
- Prick the dough all over with a fork to reduce bubbling.
- Spread the topping evenly over the dough. Let the cake stand for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Bake for 30 minutes for a 9 x 13-inch pan or 20 minutes for 8 x 8 pans. The top should be golden and crusty, but the topping should still be wiggly – do not overbake!
- Cool completely before serving.
Janet Rowe says
Oh, yes! I remember Baumsns zbakery! I grew up on Dngan Road in
Burholme. And, I remember butter cake.
Can’t wait to make this cake. The last time I had a piece of this cake was nearly 60 years ago.
Bobbie Lewis says
Hi Janet, thanks for your comment! I grew up on Dungan Road too, between Princeton and St. Vincent!
Maggi Fitzgibbon Escamilla says
Grew up in Fox Chase. Remember Baumann when I was young. Then my mom started using the Danish Bakery in Rockledge.
Norma Mockrik says
Danish Bakers in Rockledge.
Chuck Thomas says
So this is your recipe or one you discovered with your web search? Just curious… It looks like a good recipe for buttercakes as they were made by bakeries. No bakery in Philly or St. Louis would make a buttercake using yellow cake mix for the base and/or a filling which included cream cheese. I grew up on the St. Louis style of buttercake and then lived around Philly for 13 years, so I’ve enjoyed both. The biggest difference between the two city’s buttercakes is that Philly buttercakes tend to be more runny.
Anyway, I enjoyed reading your story and for the record, my favorite bakery buttercakes in that area are from Stock’s Bakery in Philly, and Pisker’s Bakery across the river in Westville, NJ.
Bobbie Lewis says
Thanks for writing! Not my recipe, got it on the Web.It was a good cake, though I confess I do not make it often — who wan ts to eat that much butter these days?
M V says
Danish Bakery in Rockledge makes a great runny butter cake.
Laura Duffield says
Webb’s bakery front street between Allegheny &Westmorland streets 1960’s had one of the best.
Deb says
Have you tried buttercake from Stock’s? From your description, it sounds like their buttercake is similar to your childhood treat.
Arlene Collins says
I grew up in Mayfair and we went to Bredenbeck’s on Frankford Ave. They had great butter cakes too! There is a Bredenbeck’s in Chestnut Hill in Phila.) now and they still make wonderful treats! They have a little history on this site. https://www.bredenbecks.com/about-us I used to make my butter cake with a thin Danish pastry bottom which I purchased raw from a friendly bakery. It was the closest to the bakery version that I ever found. https://www.food.com/recipe/gooey-philadelphia-german-butter-cake-butterkuchen-24308 and it is very similar to the recipe above. The yeast dough is the key to the texture of the original. Thanks for the fond memories!
Trish K says
I have very similar memories but from Iselands in Roxborough. So excited to have found this recipe, can’t wait to try. Thank you for posting!
Lin Mikos says
I loved this bakery. The cream doughnuts were to die for. One off my favorites. I lived on Duncan Rd and would walk up to get butter cake for my Mom for company and of course a cream doughnut for me. What a loss when they closed.
Dee says
Thanks for the memory (and the recipe)!! Their butter cake was excellent, but a little too rich for me — every time I gave in and had some, I always ended up with a queasy stomach.
My all-time fave was their checkerboard cake with the white frosting and chocolate sort of “spider web” design on top. I worked at LaSalle, and would often stop in to get one to have as part of our “meatless Friday” meals. Yummy! ?
Gayle says
I have a question maybe someone you’re going to answer. When I was growing up in Philly we used to get better cake all the time. The filling and the butter cake we grew up on was almost runny almost a liquid. Any recipes I try now it’s more like a custard. How do I get that that runny gooey butter in my cake?