What’s the difference between a cake and a torte? It depends on whom you ask. But essentially, torte is the German word for cake. As opposed to a pound cake or a more casual affair, a torte denotes a rich, dense cake made with many eggs and little or no flour, using ground nuts (and sometimes breadcrumbs) for texture. Tortes are also are shorter and wider—often no more than 2-1/2 inches high, and 10 to 12 inches in diameter.
It’s even flour less! Raced back to check the post online again, twice. I’m one of those who scribbles the recipe down on an old envelope, or used sheet of paper trying to save the environment. I don’t print out extra stuff, the printer cartridge has not been replaced, because that’s the easiest way to go…print,print & print. This way, I do my teeny bit, save paper, save trees, get some writing practice, get a recipe review while jotting to down, & do a quick check on the ingredients! It also teaches the kids an invaluable lesson of being careful of resources; earlier they were constantly printing like there was no tomorrow! Now, when they forget or don’t plan in advance, it gets pencil to paper like magic! A lady by the name of Kelly Sonara sent me a link to this article some time back … “Eco-Kitchens: 100 Big and Little Ways to Make Your Kitchen More Earth-Friendly”. Take a look at it; you might find it interesting & inspiring!
Do you like the pretty lace? It’s got memories crocheted into to it. I bought it from Calcutta many years ago from a small charity shop run by nuns from Mother Teresa’s charity. It is special because it brings to mind the one time I met her on a British Airways flight from London to Calcutta, transiting through Delhi. I was supervising the flight, & went to check on transit passengers. She was in the first class cabin radiating light & peace, with time for everyone. She blessed us all, every loader, every cleaner, flight crew, cabin crew, ground staff…everyone, & gave me a few of her silver coins as a blessing. I went on to meet her a few times on our aircraft after that, & she was as wonderful each time.
CHOCOLATE WALNUT TORTE as adapted from Canela & Comino
The one at Canela & Comino was a Chocolate Hazelnut Torte.
Ingredients:
Butter – 2 tbsps, chilled + 1 small knob, softened
Walnuts – 1 1/2 cups (finely ground with 1 tbsp of sugar)
Egg yolks – 4
Granulated vanilla sugar – 1/4 cup
Powdered sugar – 1/4 cup
Dark chocolate – 100 grams, melted and cooled
Instant coffee powder – 3 tsps
Hot water – 2 tbsps
Egg whites – 4
Pure vanilla extract – 1 tsp
Powdered sugar for sifting 
Method:
-
Preheat oven to 180 C.
-
Cover a 9-inch spring form pan with a little knob of softened butter. Run walnuts in the food processor with 1 tbsp of sugar till ground. Drop in 2 tbsps of chilled butter & pulse till it all comes together.(I added butter to the nuts after reading the comments at the bottom of her post) Press nuts evenly onto bottom and sides of the spring form pan.
-
In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks with an electric mixer on high speed about 5 minutes or until thick and lemon colored. Gradually beat in 1/4 cup of the vanilla sugar & the extract. With mixer on low speed, beat in melted chocolate. Dissolve instant coffee powder in hot water, stir into chocolate mixture. Wash and dry beaters of mixer.
-
In a large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form (tips curl). Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup of powdered sugar, beat until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Pour chocolate mixture over the egg whites; gently fold in. Spread evenly in spring form pan.
-
Bake for 20-25 minutes of until set. Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes (center will dip during cooling). Loosen torte sides from the pan, then remove the sides of the pan. Cool about 2 hours or until completely cool. I chilled it after it completely cooled down…it was fabulous…& looked just like Gretchen’s torte…much to my delight!!
-
To serve, sift powdered sugar over the torte. Cut torte into wedges.
-
Makes 8-10 servings. Adapted From Better Homes & Gardens Holiday Baking.
