Hungary

Esterházy torte

Five crisp walnut meringue layers, vanilla cream and a feathered icing top. A torte with a title.

210 minTime

9 gProtein each

mildSpice

Make it your way

Grandma's wayThe original. Handle with reverence.

The original

542kcal

9 gprotein

2 gfibre

210minutes

Per serving, worked out from the ingredient table. Grandma's way is the starting point the other versions are compared with.

Egg white8 whites

Sugar2¼ cups, divided

Walnuts3 cups, finely ground, divided

Maida (all-purpose flour, plain flour)¼ cup

Cinnamon powder¼ tsp

Milk1⅔ cups

Egg yolk8 yolks

Cornflour (cornstarch)¼ cup

Vanilla essence (vanilla flavouring, imitation vanilla extract)1 tsp

Butter¾ cup plus 2 tbsp, soft

Apricot jam (apricot preserves)3 tbsp

Waterabout 5 tsp

Dark chocolate (bittersweet chocolate)30 g

7 steps

1Heat the oven to 160 C and draw five 22 cm circles on baking paper. Whisk the whites to soft peaks, then add 200 g sugar a spoon at a time until stiff.
2Fold in 250 g ground walnuts, the maida and cinnamon. Spread thinly on the circles and bake 12 to 15 minutes each until golden. Peel off while warm.
3Make pastry cream with the milk, yolks, 100 g sugar, cornflour and vanilla. Cool to room temperature.
4Beat the butter until white and beat in the pastry cream a spoon at a time. Layer the discs with cream, finishing with a disc smooth side up.
5Spread the top thinly with warm apricot jam and chill 30 minutes.
6Mix 150 g powdered sugar with the water to a thick icing and spread it on top. At once pipe parallel lines of melted chocolate and drag a skewer across them in alternate directions.
7Cover the sides with the remaining cream and walnuts and chill at least 4 hours or overnight.

Serve it like this

Cut thin slices with a hot knife and serve chilled, feathered top facing the guest.

Bloom picks tonight's dinner for your diet and allergies, then cooks it with you step by step.