Austria

I am very happy that in the week of love I happen to prepare a cake from such a famous pastry school as the Austrian. I’ve been to Vienna twice and my personal impressions of the pastries there are more than wonderful. I know that when you hear Austria, most of you immediately imagine the Sacher cake. Well, did not choose to prepare it, but decided to intrigue you with a less famous cake, but personally much tastier for me. On my first trip to Vienna, I tried Saher in its origins, so to speak – the patisserie at the Sacher Hotel. The setting and the cake were very aristocratic, but was to chocolate for my taste. And I don’t like chocolate cakes much.

The one, that I will prepare, is called “Esterhazi”. Still, it is argued whether it is Hungarian or Austrian, but considering that it was invented during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, this dispute is meaningless according to me. Its name comes from Prince Paul Third, Esterházy de Galanta (diplomat and extremely rich man in the Empire). History is quiet about whether he is its author, or just loved it very much. Some sources claim that it was created by his court chef for his son’s birthday. It is most characterised by its chocolate “web” on white glaze. I’ve already prepared it a few times, and so far I do not know anyone who hasn’t fallen in love with it. The airy layers of meringue and finely ground almonds enfolded with gentle and rich egg cream, are a real pleasure for the senses. If you have never tried this temptation so far, hurry to do so by preparing it  or at least ordering it in a pastry shop. And why not in Vienna itself? 😊

The cake is not of the ones you prepare easily, but is great for your family celebrations and deserves to beautify your table and delight your guests.

For the cake layers:

8 egg whites

200 grams of finely ground blanched almonds

170 grams of sugar

For the Cream:

9 yolks

150 grams of powdered sugar

50 grams of flour

250 ml of fresh milk

250 grams of cow butter

vanilla

For the sugar fondant:

1 egg white

about 200 grams of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

about 30-40 grams of milk chocolate for the “web”

coated almonds to cover the cake on the side

Steps of preparation:

We start with the cream because it should have the time to become tight. About 200 ml of milk should be warmed to boiling. Beat well the remaining 50 ml of milk with the egg yolks, flour, sugar and vanilla. Remove the hot milk from the hotplate. Reduce the hotplate temperature by half because it should be lessened for the next stage of the cream preparation. On a thin trickle add the warm milk to the egg mixture, stirring very intensely. Return the mixture to the hot plate and do not stop stirring with a wire stirrer until a thick cream is obtained. Constant stirring and a slightly warm hotplate are very important for getting the perfect cream, do not underestimate them. Leave the cream to cool and add the softened cow butter. Stir until it becomes smooth and homogeneous. Put a foil for fresh storage directly on the cream to avoid the appearing of a crust, and put it in the fridge while making the cake layers.

Prepare your baking paper and outline circles of the same diameter with a pencil. The classic look of the cake requires 5 cakes (26 cm in diameter), but you can do it with more if your cake pans are smaller. Beat the egg whites at low speed and gradually add the sugar. Increase the speed of the mixer and beat down until the egg whites become as thick as snow. A very important condition is that the cooking pot and stirrers are perfectly dry and that the egg whites are at room temperature. Otherwise, you may not be able to break the mix well. Finally, add the ground nuts (you can also use almond flour) and stir gently a few times with a spatula or wooden spoon.

Grease the baking paper well in order to easily take out the baked cakes. Bake each of them in the oven for about 6-7 minutes at 180 degrees. Be careful not to burn them. They should become light pink around the edges, but overall should remain bright in color. The baked cakes are then put aside to cool completely. Assemble the cake by putting a cake and covering it with the cream until they both finish. The last cake must be spread very lightly with a cream so that the decoration with the fondant does not fail. Leave a little cream and cover the cake sides too.

It is time to prepare the fondant. Beat the egg whites to foam, and add the lemon juice. Then gradually add powdered sugar until a thick (but not too dense) mixture is obtained. It should be able to spill over the surface of the cake, but without leakage. The amount of powdered sugar is indicative because it depends how much egg whites you are crushing. Unfortunately, I can only say that it depends on your feelings and your appreciation of how dense you can make the fondant. There are no precise measures.

Now melt the chocolate in a water bath. Put it in a posh with a thin nozzle. The sugar fondant and the melted chocolate should be ready before you start decorating because you need to quickly use the chocolate after you have placed out the fondant.

Put the fondant on the cake and spread it flat everywhere on its surface.

With a syringe, make a lot of chocolate circles, starting from the middle of the cake.

Then pass a toothpick through the dots – first from the edge to the middle, and then backwards.

Cover the cake sides with almonds.

Put the finished cake into the refrigerator for at least 5 hours.

That’s it. It’s neither easy nor quick, but it’s so delicious at the end …

I was enjoying the stop in Austria. The exploration of confectionery there, my personal impressions of it and the experience I have in preparing Austrian desserts make me put this country in top 3 of the sweet destinations. If you have not tried Sacher, Esterházy, Linzer or any Austrian dessert  so far, it’s now the time to catch up.

Next destination – Azawad.