Greta Torte

This is a wonderful old cake of an exceptional taste. At the first bite the initial striking sensation is nuttiness with accentuated chocolate flavor. It’s just incredible that a few seemingly small changes in the ratios of the common cake ingredients produce such totally new and unexpected result. If you look at the recipe ingredients list you will notice there is nothing new and unusual, but believe me the end result is new, inviting and worthwhile your attention. The first occasion I made Greta was a few years ago for my wife’s birthday and it was an instant hit, very tasty and flavorful. I remember that across the week the longer the cake was kept in the refrigerator it became more fragrant and tastier. The chocolate filling was slowly getting absorbed into the cake layers, and the taste of ground walnuts was becoming much more pronounced. Needless to say the most delicious was the last piece.

This time I decided to make Greta for my birthday. I adopted the base of the recipe from wonderful Tanja’s Blog that I have been following for quite some time. My version involves 2-3 changes to the original recipe. Namely I used granulated  instead of confectioner’s sugar for making a buttercream filling. In my opinion a granulated sugar is much more suitable since that is what creates small air pockets in the butter and allows it to become light and fluffy. For a chocolate ganache I substituted butter with 35% cream and then briefly whipped up ganache before application.

The cake is very rich with strong chocolate nutty flavor that keeps lingering on your palate.

Like all good cakes, you need 3-4 hours to make it. It’s a pretty simple procedure to follow and can easily be done, but of course it requires patience and attention to detail.

Print Recipe

Greta Torte

Balkan style walnut and chocolate cake.

Course

Dessert

Cuisine

Balkan, Serbian

Prep Time

0.5 hour

Cook Time

1.8 hours

Passive Time

1 hour

Servings

servings

Ingredients

Ingredients for each layer (need total of 4 layers for the cake)

• 3 egg whites
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp ground walnuts
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp all purpose non bleached flour

Chocolate ganache filling

• 150 g semisweet chocolate
• 150 ml heavy cream 35% butterfat

Buttercream filling

• 12 egg yolks
• 12 tbsp granulated sugar
• 50 ml milk
• 250 g butter tempered to room temperature
• 150 g granulated sugar

Course Dessert Cuisine Balkan, Serbian Prep Time 0.5 hour Cook Time 1.8 hours Passive Time 1 hour Servings servings Ingredients Ingredients for each layer (need total of 4 layers for the cake) 3 egg whites 3 tbsp granulated sugar 3 tbsp ground walnuts 1 tsp vegetable oil 1 tbsp all purpose non bleached flour Chocolate ganache filling 150 g semisweet chocolate 150 ml heavy cream 35% butterfat Buttercream filling 12 egg yolks 12 tbsp granulated sugar 50 ml milk 250 g butter tempered to room temperature 150 g granulated sugar

Instructions

Preliminary Work

1. Separate 12 egg whites in 4 groups of 3. You will use egg whites to bake one cake layer at the time. Keep separately all yolks together.
2. Grind the walnuts and mix together with flour. Divide the mix into four equal parts.
3. Butter and than fit the bottom of 9" springform baking pan with parchment paper.
4. Position a rack in lower third of the oven and preheat at 170 °C (340 °F).

Cake Layer (need 4)

1. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add granulated sugar and beat until stiff, shiny peaks form. Mix in the vegetable oil.

   
2. Using silicone spatula, carefully fold in the ground walnuts into the egg whites. Use a scooping motion from the outside towards the middle of the bowl. Make sure the nuts are loose and not clumped together before you add them to the egg whites. You want to minimize folding time to avoid deflating the egg whites.
3. Use an offset metal spatula to spread the nut batter evenly into the baking pan.

   
4. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
5. Repeat the same procedure for another 3 layers. Let all 4 layers cool to the room temperature.

Chocolate Ganache Filling

1. Cut chocolate into a small mixing bowl.

   
2. Pour cream in a small saucepan and bring to simmer over medium heat.
3. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Whisk it all together until is unified, smooth and shiny. Let it cool to the room temperature and than put it in the fridge for about 1 hour.

Buttercream Filling

1. Over a double boiler, at the medium heat, whisking constantly, heat up the mixture of egg yolks, granulated sugar and milk. It will take about 15-20 minutes until the yolk mixture thickens up. Put it aside and let it cool to the room temperature.

   
2. In a medium size mixing bowl mix together butter and granular sugar at high speed until soft and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

   
3. Add cooled off yolk mixture to the bowl and mix for another few minutes until everything is fully incorporated and smooth.

Assembling the Cake

1. Whip a chilled chocolate ganache for a few minutes, until light and fluffy. Divide ganache frosting into 4 equal parts and using an offset spatula evenly spread over the top of each of 4 cake layers.

   
2. Divide buttercream filling into 5 equal parts. 4 parts will be used for cake layers and 1 for the assembled cake side. Using an offset spatula evenly spread buttercream on top of the ganache filling.
3. Carefully stack up all the cake layers. Using an offset spatula spread the last part of buttercream filling around the cake side.
4. Decorate the side of the cake with ground walnuts. Pipe melted chocolate on top of the cake, creating a random pleasing pattern.
5. Leave the cake in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Before serving temper it to the room temperature for about 30 minutes.

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