Seochon study café near Gyeongbokgung for choco Eifelbaum: The Baum

Today I visited The Baum Gyeongbokgung Branch! It's a place where you can enjoy hanok vibes plus German baumkuchen cake, and I really recommend it to anyone looking for a pretty dessert café in Seochon or near Gyeongbokgung Station 〰️

What is baumkuchen?

In German, baum means tree and kuchen means cake. The cake, shaped like a cross-section of a tree, is known for its ring-like pattern, and apparently Germans often give it as a gift since the rings symbolize longevity! It's a traditional German cake, but it's such a famous dessert that it's popular both at home and abroad 🙌

Inside The Baum Gyeongbokgung Branch: is it good for studying?

Once you step through the entrance of The Baum Gyeongbokgung Branch, a hanok interior unfolds! There are a lot of hanok cafés around Gyeongbokgung Station, but this one was especially pretty. The wood tones make the space cozy and so clean that it was totally my style! It was also quiet and calm, with quite a few people doing laptop work — great for a study café too ✨

With seating spread across two floors, there's plenty of room for group visits over coffee and dessert, and the second floor has a lovely view outside the window that felt really healing 〰️ The Baum is a proper healing spot right in the middle of the city!

Which baumkuchen does The Baum sell?

I had no idea there were so many kinds of baumkuchen! Let me quickly introduce The Baum's dessert lineup. The cylindrical baumkuchens come in a variety of flavors — brûlée apple, brûlée dark chocolate, brûlée matcha, brûlée passion fruit, and brûlée lemon cream baum — all priced the same.

There's also custard baum, mini baum, green tea baum, strawberry baum, chocolat baum, cheese baum, red bean jelly baum, red bean jelly cream puff baum, choco cute spitzen, and white choco cute spitzen, among others.

And then there are the extra-large ones: plain soft baumkuchen, tarte chocolat baum, plain hard baumkuchen, chocolat hard baumkuchen, Eifelbaum, chocolate Eifelbaum, regular baum, watermelon baumkuchen, horiang, and more — there are so many kinds…!! It makes me want to try every single dessert 👍👍

You can also enjoy baumkuchen with ice cream, and they sell rusks too, which are perfect for snacking on continuously!

Chuseok gift sets and gift packing at The Baum

They're also selling Chuseok gift sets. If you buy several, gift packing is available too. Anyone near Gyeongbokgung Station or Seochon looking for a special dessert gift, take note!

Best drinks on the menu

Looking at the drinks to pair with dessert, this place is apparently known for its coffee and beverages too. The best-selling drinks were watermelon juice, cold brew latte, classic einspänner, baum affogato, shell baum ice cream, café vanilla / café mocha smoothie, fruit smoothies (mango, strawberry), lemon bergamot ade, milk tea, grapefruit sweet black tea, and choco latte!

Three baumkuchen tried at the second-floor window

I sat on the second floor of The Baum Gyeongbokgung Branch, and photos centered on the pretty ginkgo tree view outside came out beautifully! I'll definitely have to come back to The Baum in autumn when the leaves turn. Just looking at that full window view feels healing.

Here's what I ordered: caffeine-free hibiscus blended tea for ₩6,800, brûlée apple custard baum for ₩7,800, cheese baum for ₩4,000, and chocolate Eifelbaum for ₩7,500. I picked a variety centered on dessert!! These are seriously fancy-looking desserts ✨

• Chocolate Eifelbaum — a hard-type baumkuchen with a distinctive grain, flavored with chocolate for a rich, deep softness
• Brûlée apple baumkuchen — a harmony of soft custard cream and apple filling inside plain baumkuchen, topped with sweet, crunchy brûlée
• Cheese baum — the fantastic combination of crisply baked baumkuchen and rich cream cheese

Each of the three desserts had its own distinct character, so let me walk you through how they tasted!

The brûlée apple baumkuchen has a sugar coating on the outside, but inside it's a moist castella-and-custard-cream combination, perfect for when you're craving something sweet. The apple filling gave it a slight tartness that I loved!! The cheese baum has thick cream cheese with a crisp tart-like exterior, not too sweet, so I'd recommend it to older folks — it had a cream cheese tart feel, but with a unique twist!

The chocolate Eifelbaum has a dense, rich texture. It tasted like concentrated chocolate! Not too sweet but soft, so it was a delicious chocolate-flavored dessert!

For the drink, I ordered hibiscus, but I probably should have gone with a decaf Americano instead. A nutty Americano seems like it would be the perfect match for the desserts. I'll try that combo next time.

Is the Seochon hanok café The Baum worth a return visit?

I spent a healing afternoon at the tranquil Seochon hanok café The Baum, eating traditional German cake, and the chocolate Eifelbaum, brûlée apple baumkuchen, and cheese baum each had such different charms that I really can't rank them..👏 They were all elegant and delicious ✨ This café perfectly matches the mood of Gyeongbokgung Station, and I'd genuinely recommend it — I was satisfied enough that I want to visit again. The staff were also kind, which was a plus. If you're looking for a café in Seochon, why not have a different kind of dessert time along with your coffee?😍 I highly recommend it as a healing café near Gyeongbokgung Palace ❤️

If you leave a Naver receipt review, they'll give you a plain baumkuchen slice dessert, so make sure to participate ✔️