Ukrainian Festive Walnut Torte

This year for Christmas Sue came up with the idea of doing a traditional Ukrainian Christmas (Click HERE to see our dinner post). I'm all about pierogies and cabbage rolls so I said, heck ya! Let's do it. 

I searched Pinterest for research on Ukrainian desserts and came across this torte from Suburban Grandma (Click HERE to see the original recipe). I was sooooo excited to try it. I love chocolate and coffee flavors. Unfortunately, I had an elbow injury on Christmas Eve and was not able to make it. Our sister, Orra, was my savior and volunteered to do it for me! It is a bit of fuss - there are 3 recipes you have to make - but, trust me, it is totally worth it! I cannot stress enough how much I LOVED this dessert. It is very rich and decadent so a little goes a long way. It also makes a large torte so is perfect for serving a larger crowd. This is normally a holiday recipe BUT I know I'm going to be making this more often than that. 

Ukrainian Festive Walnut Torte

(Ever so slightly adapted from Suburban Grandma) 

Ingredients 

Torte

10 oz walnuts, finely ground (approx 2 1/2 cups)

1/3 cup flour

2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp baking powder

12 large eggs, separated

pinch salt

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla

Mocha Frosting

3/4 cup butter, room temp

2 tsp vanilla

6 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted

6 cups icing sugar

3/4 cup strongly brewed coffee

Coffee Cream Filling

2 cups heavy cream

2 tsp instant coffee granules

1/4 cup icing sugar

Topping 

3 Tbsp walnuts, chopped

Directions

Prepare torte - Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 - 10 inch pans with parchment paper and lightly spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

Combine the ground walnuts, flour, cornstarch, and baking powder. Set aside.

In another bowl, combine egg whites and salt. Beat to stiff peaks, then set aside. 

In another bowl, beat the egg yolks on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add in the 1 1/4 cup sugar and vanilla and beat until mixture becomes thick and fluffy - about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Sprinkle the walnut mixture over the egg yolk mixture and stir briefly. Fold in half the egg whites until still streaky. Fold in the remaining egg whites until combined. 

Divide the batter evenly between the 2 prepared 10 inch pans. Bake for about 30 minutes - or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. 

Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan and then invert cakes onto wire racks to cool completely. 

Prepare Mocha Frosting - In a mixing bowl, beat together butter, vanilla, melted chocolate, and 1 1/2 cups of the icing sugar until creamy. Alternately add in the coffee and remaining 4 1/2 cups icing sugar. Set aside.

Prepare Coffee Cream Filling - In a mixing bowl, beat together cream, coffee granules, and 1/4 cup icing sugar until stiff peaks form. 

Assemble the torte - Split each torte in half diagonally making 4 equal discs. Place one disc on a serving platter, cut side up. Spread about 3/4 cup mocha frosting on top. Then spread 1/3 of the coffee cream filling. Repeat with the second and third disc. Place the final disc on top (cut side down) and decorate with the last of the mocha frosting. Sprinkle with the 3 Tbsp of chopped walnuts. 

Chill until ready to serve. 

Guuuuuys! It's ridiculous. 

So. Many. Yummy. Layers. 

Someone ate a lot of this. Not saying who. It may or may not have been me. I'm not admitting to anything. Just saying.... it was really good. 

The torte layers are quite fragile - Orra said she was going to try and frost the sides of the cake but decided against it because she was afraid it would tear apart. I love the rustic look she created by leaving the sides bare. It makes it easier to see all those gorgeous layers. 

FYI - I mentioned it above but I will say it again. This is very rich and a little goes a long way. Unless you are me.... and can eat mocha frosting and coffee cream by the bucket full.... you will only need a small piece. 

Strawberry Torte

 

So I had to google the word “torte” to find out what it meant. Don’t get me wrong.... I’ve always had some idea of what a torte was but not exactly what it was. According to Wikipedia it is bazillion different things! The definition I have chosen to accept as the meaning is - “A torte is a rich, usually

multilayered, cake that is filled with butter creams, mousses, jams or fruits.” Mainly because it suits my purposes for this blog today. I reserve the right to change the meaning to suit my needs at a later date.

The reason why I wanted to make this torte is because I had to find a recipe to use up some ladyfingers that my friend Kerry had bought. They didn’t work for her purpose and then nobody wanted to eat them plain because, let’s face it, they aren’t that fantastic on their own. After drifting through Google for about half an hour I decided to make my own creation after Frankensteining several recipes.

It appeared to go over well at the office so I think I did okay. It tasted like strawberry shortcake to me!

 

 

Strawberry Torte

Ingredients

12 oz cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup white sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups whipping cream

34 ladyfinger cookies

1 lb fresh strawberries

1/4 cup cranberry juice

1 Tbsp cornstarch

Directions

In large pan, mash strawberries and sprinkle with a little sugar. Add cranberry juice and cornstarch and bring to a gentle boil. Stir constantly until thickened. Remove from heat and let cool. (Put in freezer or fridge to speed cooling process)

In medium bowl, whip cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together.

In a separate bowl whip 2 cups of whipping cream until stiff peaks form. You do not need to add any additional vanilla or sugar.

Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture.

Line a 5 X 14 1/2 inch loaf pan with plastic wrap.
Place a layer of ladyfingers along the bottom of the pan. (This should take 9 ladyfingers) Cover with half of the cream cheese mixture. Then layer half of the strawberry mixture on top of that.
Press another layer of ladyfingers into the strawberry mixture. (This should take about 13 cookies - it takes more because the pan slopes out as it goes up - at least, mine does!) Layer the other half of the cream cheese mixture over these cookies.
Here is where we switch up the layers a bit - instead of putting the rest of the strawberries, you are going to put another layer of ladyfingers. (I layered them the opposite way than I did the first two - again because there is more room - so it used 12 cookies) see photo below....

 

First pic is the first layer you put in the pan and the second pic is the last layer you are going to place. Don't worry about them not lining up to cut through - the cookies get squishy so you can cut right through them.

Make sure you press the last layer of cookies down firmly into the cream cheese.

Now, save the remaining strawberry sauce for after you have chilled the torte. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. (I did mine over night and it was okay.)  

Peel off the plastic wrap from the top. Carefully place a tray on top of the torte and invert. Carefully lift off pan then remove plastic wrap.

 Gently spoon remaining strawberry sauce over the top of your torte. Garnish with extra strawberries if you wish. Chill until ready to serve.

I think it would have looked even prettier if I garnished with a little whipped cream but, alas, I did not have any left. I need to get a new camera so the true colors can be seen. It was very pretty! Perfect for a Canada Day dessert.