Himmeltorte - Heavenly Torte

Submitted by Molly53

"The story is that the original recipe was created in Austria in the 1830's to console the Duke of Vienna, who was bereft from the loss of one of his chefs. The base is very like a shortbread cookie. Some versions of this recipe call for the base to be baked in a larger pan and assembled in one large layer. When I made it, I baked the base in one big piece and divided it equally into thirds to stack. Baking time approximate. From the Wisconsin Dutch Chapter of the United States Regional Cookbook, Culinary Arts Institute of Chicago, 1947"

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 10-12

ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 cups butter
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon lemon rind, grated
• 4 cups flour, sifted
• 1 egg white, unbeaten
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1⁄2 cup pecans, chopped
• 3⁄4 cup seedless raspberry preserves

• Filling

• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 egg yolks, beaten
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

directions

1. For the filling: Mix sugar and cornstarch together and add to egg yolks.
2. Stir in sour cream and cook in double boiler until it coats the spoon.
3. Add the flavorings and stir well.
4. Let cool to room temperature before assembling cake.
5. For the base: Preheat oven to 450°F.
6. Cream butter and 1/4 cup sugar; add salt and egg yolks, one at a time and beat until smooth after each.
7. Add lemon rind and flour.
8. In another bowl, mix egg white, sugar, cinnamon and pecans together lightly.
9. Divide dough into thirds and pat into three 7" x 11" pans; spread the tops with the egg white mixture.
10. Bake for ten minutes, then reduce heat to 350F and bake approximately 10 to 15 minutes more.
11. Turn out onto cooling rack.
12. When torte is cold, spread two of the layers with raspberry jam and some of the filling.
13. Stack layers and cover all with remaining filling.

Reviews

[twitchhugstrees]

I made this for a small get together and it was a hit! Very tasty!

 

[Shelly Morton]

I don't even know where to begin...this is not a cake. It is three layers of a thick pie crust. Just awful. The sour cream filling was good enough. We scraped that part off and threw away the rest. What a waste of my time and money.