UKRAINIAN ROYAL TORTE

UKRAINIAN ROYAL TORTE image

Yield 1 torte

Number Of Ingredients 20

Ingredients

ALMOND BATTER:
7 egg whites (room temperature), whipped until soft peaks form
250 grams (1 3/4 cups) confectioner's (icing) sugar
250 grams almonds (just under two cups of whole nuts)-blanched, peeled and ground (do not use packaged pre-prepared nuts, as they often have less taste or have a chemical under-taste)
BUTTER BATTER:
110 grams (½ cup) unsalted butter
2 egg yolks
50 grams (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
170 grams (1 cup) all-purpose white flour
1.25 ml to 2.50 ml (1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon) REAL vanilla extract (or to taste)
CHOCOLATE FILLING:
220 grams (1 cup) unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 egg yolks
145 grams (5 ounces) semi-sweet ("dark") chocolate (use good quality imported eating chocolate, not cheap grocery store baking chocolate)
0.62 ml. (1/8 teaspoon) REAL vanilla extract (or to taste)
JELLY FILLING:
1 jar (250 ml or 8 ounces) red-currant jelly (use tart good quality jelly, or if using jam, strain out all seeds; other jellies can be substituted for the red-currant, but make sure that what is used is tart, as a sweet preserve will make the torte too bland)
ICING:
230 grams (8 ounces) semi-sweet ("dark") chocolate
(optional) 15 to 45 ml. (1-3 tablespoons) cream or evaporated milk

Steps:

ALMOND BATTER: Add sugar to whipped egg whites, and mix well. Fold in almonds. Divide into 3 portions, and pour each into 25 cm. (10") round cake pan (spring-form with removable sides) lined with parchment paper. Bake in pre-heated 350F oven until golden, 20-25 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool. Invert to give smooth top for icing. BUTTER BATTER: Cream butter. Mix in egg yolks. Mix in remaining ingredients. Divide into 2 portions, and pat each down into 25 cm. (10") round spring-form cake pan lined with parchment paper. The layers are very thin, and take time to pat down. Bake in pre-heated 350F oven until light golden, 15 to 20 minutes. (They will not rise.) Remove from pans (if you wait, they will fall apart). Let cool. CHOCOLATE FILLING: Cream butter. Add egg yolks and mix well. Melt chocolate (microwave is easiest), let cool slightly (or else will melt butter) and add to butter/egg yolk mixture. Add vanilla. Mix well. JELLY FILLING: Use half a jar of jelly per layer, spreading it about 2 mm (1/16") thick. ICING: After torte is fully assembled, melt chocolate (microwave is easiest). (If desired, add cream or evaporated milk, stirring forcefully to avoid lumps, to make icing more spreadable; that also makes it darker and shinier for some reason.) Let cool only slightly before using. ASSEMBLY: There will be 5 layers of cake and 4 of filling. Use almond-based layer as bottom one, then alternate butter layers and almond ones, ending with an almond one on top. Chocolate filling covers each almond layer (except on top of torte), and jelly filling covers each butter layer. The sequence (bottom to top) is as follows: almond layer, chocolate filling, butter layer, jelly filling; almond layer, chocolate filling, butter layer, jelly filling; almond layer. Ice top and sides of torte with chocolate icing. Refrigerate. Wait at least 4-5 days for flavor to develop and layers to soften.