Nash Holos recipe: Kyivsky torte

The Kyivsky torte consists of layers of sponge cake containing ground hazelnuts separated by butter cream filling.

A torte is a layer cake in which some of the flour has been replaced with dry bread or cake crumbs, or nuts ground to a fine meal. Ground nuts should be dry; take care not to over process them, or they will become oily. For best results, use a nut grinder instead of food processor.

Bake a torte in a pan with a removable rim, either a spring form or a tube with a removable bottom. Never grease the sides of the pan.

For the Kyivsky Torte you will need:

¾ lb of ground walnuts or hazelnuts (about 3 ½ cups)
12 eggs, separated
¾ cups granulated sugar
3 Tbsp fine bread crumbs
1 ½ cups extra strong coffee
1 square unsweetened chocolate or 2 squares semi-sweet chocolate
5 egg yolks
2 ½ Tbsp flour
1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 cup sugar

Beat the 12 eggs yolks until light. Beat in the sugar gradually (a tablespoon at a time), until lemon coloured, light and fluffy. Fold in the breadcrumbs, and the nuts.

Beat the 12 egg whites until stiff. Lighten the nut mixture with a bit of the egg whites and then gently fold in the rest of the whites.

Butter the inside bottoms of two deep layer pans 9 or 10-inch spring form pans and sprinkle with fine breadcrumbs. (Make sure they are deep; shallow pans may cause the batter to run over in the oven.) Regular pans can be used, in this case use parchment paper for the bottom of the pan (butter the paper also).

Bake in a 325º oven for about 30-35 minutes. Test cake with a toothpick in the centre of the cake; if it come out clean the cake is done. Cool for ten minutes and with knife gently go around the cake to loosen, then gently invert onto a cake rack.

For the filling and icing, in the top pan of a double boiler add one-cup hot strong coffee. Cool the remaining half cup. Add the chocolate to the hot coffee in the pan, mixing well to melt.

In a separate bowl, beat the 5 egg yolks until light and set aside.
Blend 2 ½ tablespoons of the flour in the remaining cooled coffee. Blend well until smooth and free of any lumps. Add the flour mixture to the whipped egg yolks and mix well.

Add this mixture to the melted chocolate (in the double boiler), whisking quickly. Cook until thickened, stirring frequently, for about ten minutes. When mixture has thickened set it aside to cool.

Beat unsalted butter with one cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat the cold chocolate mixture, a little at a time, into the butter and beat until fluffy.

Fill and frost the cake layers, and enjoy! (If you wish more layers, cut each cake in half lengthwise, for four cake layers.)

Smachnoho!