Austrian Walnut Torte With Coffee Whipped Cream

"This lovely dessert would have been the featured pastry at "Jause" --a lovely old German/Austrian custom of pausing in the afternoon for cake and coffee and conversation. Prep time does not include time for cooling the torte layers."
 
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photo by ncmysteryshopper photo by ncmysteryshopper
photo by ncmysteryshopper
photo by ncmysteryshopper photo by ncmysteryshopper
photo by ncmysteryshopper photo by ncmysteryshopper
Ready In:
1hr
Ingredients:
14
Serves:
8
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ingredients

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directions

  • Butter 3 Nine inch round cake pan and line the bottom of each one with a round of buttered parchment paper.
  • Dust the pans with flour and shake out any excess.
  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with 3/4 cup of granulated sugar until the mixture is doubled in volume and forms a ribbon when the beaters are lifted (about 5 minutes).
  • In a food processor or blender, pulse the walnuts with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar until ground fine.
  • Add the walnuts, the bread crumbs, the coffee and the rum to the yolks and fold gently.
  • In another bowl, with clean beaters, beat the egg white just to stiff peaks.
  • Gently and gradually fold the whites into the yolk mixture.
  • Divide the batter among the three cake pans, spreading it evenly and giving each cake pan a good thump against the counter to make sure there are no air bubbles.
  • Bake the layers 20 to 25 minutes, or until the sides pull away from the pans and the tops spring back when pressed gently.
  • Cool in pans on racks for ten minutes.
  • Run a sharp knife round the sides of the layers and carefully invert the layers onto the racks.
  • Remove and discard parchment paper and allow layers to cool completely.
  • Make the Coffee Whipped Cream:

  • In a large, chilled bowl, stir together 3 tablespoons of the cold heavy cream and the instant coffee until coffee is dissolved.
  • Add remaining cream and confectioner's sugar and beat until cream forms stiff peaks.
  • This will provide enough whipped cream to fill the two layers and to garnish the top.
  • You can place the cream for the top in a pastry bag and decorate the top with rosettes.
  • Garnish with the toasted walnut halves.

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Reviews

  1. Made this for Christmas Eve dinner with friends - and it was a hit! I did, however, make just a few modifications. I toasted the walnuts in advance, as I prefer their flavor that way. To the batter I added orange zest, which really added to the flavor. I added the rum, but instead of espresso I added 1 1/2 tablespoons of Triple Sec - an inexpensive orange liqueur. I also added a few dashes of vanilla extract, but they may not have had much influence. I did NOT add coffee to the whipped cream! I'm a purest and only like powdered sugar and some vanilla. I had plenty to fill both layers and the top. I topped it with 12 toasted walnut halves around the edge, that I had tossed in melted brown sugar and butter, and sprinkled with powdered sugar when they were totally cooled. Everyone loved it! There were nine people, so there wasn't enough for anyone to have seconds - but my husband and I polished off the remaining three pieces as soon as the last person was out the door!
     
  2. This was delicious! I loved the creamy filling and the torte layers were wonderful! I used pecans instead of walnuts and omitted the coffee from the cream topping but kept it in the cake layers. Wonderful! Thanks Kate
     
  3. You had me at "Hello".
     
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Tweaks

  1. This was delicious! I loved the creamy filling and the torte layers were wonderful! I used pecans instead of walnuts and omitted the coffee from the cream topping but kept it in the cake layers. Wonderful! Thanks Kate
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p>I have always loved to cook. When I was little, I cooked with my Grandmother who had endless patience and extraordinary skill as a baker. And I cooked with my Mother, who had a set repertoire, but taught me many basics. Then I spent a summer with a French cousin who opened up a whole new world of cooking. And I grew up in New York City, which meant that I was surrounded by all varieties of wonderful food, from great bagels and white fish to all the wonders of Chinatown and Little Italy, from German to Spanish to Mexican to Puerto Rican to Cuban, not to mention Cuban-Chinese. And my parents loved good food, so I grew up eating things like roasted peppers, anchovies, cheeses, charcuterie, as well as burgers and the like. In my own cooking I try to use organics as much as possible; I never use canned soup or cake mix and, other than a cheese steak if I'm in Philly or pizza by the slice in New York, I don't eat fast food. So, while I think I eat and cook just about everything, I do have friends who think I'm picky--just because the only thing I've ever had from McDonald's is a diet Coke (and maybe a frie or two). I have collected literally hundreds of recipes, clipped from the Times or magazines, copied down from friends, cajoled out of restaurant chefs. Little by little, I am pulling out the ones I've made and loved and posting them here. Maybe someday, every drawer in my apartment won't crammed with recipes. (Of course, I'll always have those shelves crammed with cookbooks.) I'm still amazed and delighted by the friendliness and the incredible knowledge of the people here. 'Zaar has been a wonderful discovery for me.</p>
 
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