# looking for esterhazy torte



## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

I recently had an esterhazy torte in budapest and it was wonderful. I know i had seen the recipe somewhere, but can't find it in any of my books. I'd like to make it. 
It's a 6 layer cake - the cake is clearly some kind of sponge with ground walnuts in place of flour - i have a recipe for cake like that, whcih would have to be sliced into thin layers, but i suspect it's made like a dobos torte, baked in 6 very thin layers on cookie sheets. 
The filling is walnut buttercream. So i just make a buttercream and add ground walnuts? Or is it like the dobos filling with butter and heavy cream, with walnuts? 
I believe the top is fondant, but i don't remember exactly. 
Any help is greatly appreciated. 
Thanks


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## m brown (May 29, 1999)

http://www.parenthood.com/recipe_display.html?ID=18833

sounds wonderful!!!:bounce:


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

thanks M brown, but i found that link (notice how very few there are in english for that cake?) and it isn't the same. The one i had used walnuts both the cake and in the buttercream - that's what was so exceptional. No almonds, no hazelnuts, no liqueurs at all, 
yeah, it was wonderful.


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## bigbuns (Jun 28, 2004)

I thought that sounded familiar. I have the "Kaffehaus" pastry book and it has a recipe from Hungary called "Esterhazyschnitten". The base layers are ground toasted hazelnuts and almonds, egg whites confectioners and regular sugar. It is layered with a Kirsch buttercream, there's an apricot glaze, then a fondant icing and piped lines of chocolate, as you would see on the top of a napoleon. If this is it, email me at [email protected]. It's a couple pages long...I can scan it and send it to you.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Thanks bigbuns, but the filling in this case was made with ground walnuts, and seemed like a buttercream. There was definately no liqueur, which i don't like and would have noticed and you could really taste the walnuts in the filling, which was the thing that was so unusual
thanks anyway
siduri.


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## mudbug (Dec 30, 1999)

Are you positive it wasn't creme fraiche?


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

really tasted like butter, and walnuts, and nothing else. Do they have creme fraiche in hungary? Some sort of topfen, yes, but creme fraiche? Anyway, it didn;t taste like either.


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

Why not just sub in walnuts for the hazelnuts?


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## mudbug (Dec 30, 1999)

Siduri,

I had a fabulous desert, perhaps the best I've ever had in Wieliczka, Poland. And one of the main ingredients was creme fraiche. Budapest is much larger than Wieliczka!


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Hi Mudbug, 
yeah, i suppose it might be available there, though i tell you, in Rome where i live, which is even bigger i believe, i was only able to find creme fraiche a few years ago when a chain of health food stores began importing certain products from germany - topfen, sour cream (at LAST - was not available ANYWHERE here) and buttermilk!!! ah yay! - no one had ever heard of it). Anyway, this is a very traditional torte and i imagine that unless creme fraiche is a traditional hungarian ingredient, it would not figure in the recipe. Also really tasted more like buttercream. 
But what is this fabulous desert you had in poland??? got the recipe? (Now that i can get creme fraiche). I'm intrigued.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Hi Momoreg, 
I could substitute the walnuts for the hazlenut in the cake, but it's the filling that's wrong, a kirche filling is different from a walnut buttercream, and it makes me think it might be just a different cake altogether. After all, there are plenty of recipes called "esterhazy" in hungary, because that was a very important family. One recipe i have called esterhazy torte is a white cake, two layers, with athick layer of pastry cream of some kind in the middle.


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

I googled the torte to see if we might be able to recreate it for you, and I found your post on Chef2Chef. I see that you have found the recipe. Please let us know how it turns out, and if you need further help.:roll:


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## mudbug (Dec 30, 1999)

Ah... buttermilk. Makes any cake luciously moist and rich. Highly reccommend.

Recipe for the dessert? Alas, no. It was a layered raspberry and creme fraiche cake that was to die for. Very pleasant to the last bite, light and fluffy.... someday when I have time I'll see if I can guess at what recipe it might be.

Yes, let us know how it turns out!


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

you caught me, momoreg!
Just hedging my bets, checking everywhere. I imagine there are plenty of different recipes for it. Thanks for looking. 
I have a birthday dinner coming up, will let you know how it works.


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