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Walnut Layer Torte With Coffe-Butter Icing
(Tort Orzechowy)
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| What You Need: |
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TORTE
1 tablespoon butter, softened
2 tablespoons flour
10 egg whites
10 egg yolks
1˝ cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound shelled walnuts (4 cups), finely grated in a nut grinder or pulverized with a mortar and pestle
4 tablespoons dry white bread crumbs
ICING
1 pound unsalted butter, softened
1˝ cups confectioners' sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons instant coffee, dissolved in 3 tablespoons boiling water and cooled
6 ounces (1˝ cups) shelled walnuts, coarsely chopped
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| How To Cook: |
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1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a pastry brush, spread the tablespoon of softened butter over the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan about 3 inches deep.
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2. Sprinkle the flour over the butter and tip the pan from side to side to spread it evenly. Invert the pan and rap it sharply on the bottom to remove the excess flour.
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3. In a deep bowl, beat the egg whites with a wire whisk or a rotary or electric beater until they are stiff enough to stand in firm, unwavering peaks on the beater when it is lifted from the bowl. In another deep bowl, using the same unwashed beater, beat the egg yolks for 1 minute.
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4. Then, beating constantly, sift in 1˝ cups of confectioners' sugar a little at a time, add the vanilla, and beat for 4 or 5 minutes, until the mixture is thick enough to fall in a slowly dissolving ribbon from the beater.
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5. Scoop the egg whites over the egg-yolk mixture and, with a rubber spatula, fold them together, using an over-under cutting motion rather than a stirring motion.
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6. When no trace of white remains, gently but thoroughly fold in the pulverized nuts, ˝ cup or so at a time. Then fold in the dry bread crumbs. Pour the batter into the buttered and floured pan, spreadiqg it and smoothing the top with the spatula.
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7. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 1 hour, or until the torte has puffed and begun to pull slightly away from the sides of the pan. Turn off the oven, open the door and let the torte rest for 10 minutes.
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8. Then remove the sides of the pan, slide a thin knife under the bottom of the cake, and carefully slide it onto a wire cake rack to cool to room temperature.
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9. Meanwhile, prepare the coffee-butter icing. In a large bowl, cream the pound of softened butter and 1˝ cups of confectioners' sugar together, beating and mashing them against the sides of the bowl with a spoon until they are light and fluffy.
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10. Beat in 2 egg yolks, 1 at a time, and stir in the dissolved coffee. Continue to beat until the icing is creamy and thick, To assemble the torte, slice the cake horizontally into two layers with a long, sharp knife, preferably one with a serrated blade.
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11. Place the bottom slice cut side up on a serving plate and, with a metal spatula or knife, spread it with a ˝-inch-thick layer of the icing.
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12. Set the second layer over it, cut side down, and spread the top and sides with the remaining icing. Gently press the chopped walnuts onto the top and sides of the cake and refrigerate until ready to serve.
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| Serving Size: one 9-inch round cake |
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