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Blitz Torte


Fernwood

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For Easter dinner I am trying to channel a dessert my godmother used to make decades ago. We all remember lemon filling, meringue, almonds on top. I think there was a layer of cake involved, as well. Googling around, I came across this recipe for Blitz Torte. It may not be quite what my godmother made, but with a lemon filling I think it will be close enough.

Well, it would probably be close enough, but I can't resist the temptation to tweak a bit. I would like to make the cake layers almond-y. I think I would like a bit more meringue in proportion to cake.

Can I bake a meringue topping over any butter cake-type batter? The linked recipe proportions are 4 oz butter : 4 egg yolks : 3.5 oz sugar : 4.5 oz flour : 1.5 oz milk and they refer to it as "stiff." Should I just add almond extract to the recipe given? Can I add ground almonds, as well? Is there an almond cake recipe that I should consider, instead?

Would it be OK to increase the meringue volume by 50%--is it likely to affect the way the layers bake?

I have already made the Pierre Herme lemon cream for the filling.

I assume that these meringue-topped layers would not do very well baked (one day) ahead, but I'd love to hear otherwise.

I would be grateful for any advice. Thanks, Fern

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  • 5 weeks later...

fern - just reading this post now, and realize that you must have already experimented with tweaking your recipe - how did your cakes turn out?

i used to make blitz torte often when i worked for a european style bakery many years ago. i remember that the cake layers were a little on the heavy side - more like a pound cake than a sponge cake. also, the cake layers were deliberately made kind of thin - the emphasis was on the meringue & the filling for this cake.

looked up the old recipe & found these amounts (produces 8 8" cakes, scaled at 6 oz. each, i.e. 4 2-layer completed cakes): 6 oz. butter, 12 oz. sugar, 12 egg yolks, 13 oz. ap flour, 2 tbl. baking powder, 8 oz. half & half. sometimes the cake was flavored with additional almond extract, and sometimes not.

loved this cake - have trouble making it at high altitude now, but think of it fondly often :biggrin:

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you could bake the cake and meringue separately. I use alice medrich's super stable meringue...it lasts at least 3 days in the refrigerator. So just top it on your cake and torch it. if you don't have a torch, you can put the cake with meringue under the broiler and watch it like a hawk!

the combo of almonds and lemon is really good. I did a bar once with a frangipane cake base, then lemon curd, and topped with slivered almonds. it was delicious, both light and rich at the same time.

Stephanie Crocker

Sugar Bakery + Cafe

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