Torte

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A torte or (from Italian torta) is a rich, usually multilayered, cake that is filled with whipped cream, buttercreams, mousses, jams, or fruits.

Ordinarily, the cooled torte is glazed and garnished.

Tortes are commonly baked in a springform pan. A torte may be made with bizcochuelo base or with little to no flour, but instead with ground nuts or breadcrumbs, as well as sugar, eggs, and flavorings. It can be covered with meringue and almonds.

Video Torte

Origin

The most well-known of the typical tortes include the Austrian Sachertorte and Linzertorte, the German Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, and the many-layered Hungarian Dobos torte. But other well-known European confections are also tortes, such as the French Gâteau St. Honoré.

In Poland, Ukraine, and Russia cakes are usually called tortes without differentiating between cake and torte. In Polish, as an example, the English word torte is translated into Polish as tort, but tort can be also translated as layer cake or cream cake. Birthday cake is tort urodzinowy and wedding cake is tort weselny (though the general word for cake is ciasto). The diminutive of tort, torcik is translated as tart or gateau.

Maps Torte

Icing

An element common to some tortes is sweet icing (exceptions are several French tortes, such as Gâteau Mercédès and Gâteau Alcazar.) When the cake is layered, a thick covering of icing is placed between the layers, and there is almost always icing on the tops and sides of the torte. An example is the whiskey cake. A number of European tortes do not have layers. Some, for instance German-style "Käsesahnetorte", are unbaked.