Haselnusstorte

the Viennese hazelnut torte: a flourless sponge of ground toasted hazelnuts, light with beaten egg, layered and cloaked in hazelnut buttercream, served in a slice with coffee

Origin: Austria

From the journey of Hazelnut.

The Haselnusstorte is one of the classic tortes of the Viennese coffee house, and it belongs to the great Central European tradition of the nut torte, in which finely ground nuts, rather than flour, give the cake its body, its moisture, and its fragrance. Vienna raised this idea to an art: cakes built on ground almonds or hazelnuts, lightened only with beaten eggs and the smallest amount of breadcrumb or flour, and layered and enrobed in buttercream, became the pride of the Kaffeehaus and the Konditorei. The hazelnut version, made with the toasted, ground nut, has a deep, warm, roasted flavour that many prefer to the more delicate almond, and it is filled and cloaked in a hazelnut or coffee buttercream and often finished with a scatter of chopped nuts or a ring of whole ones. Dense, moist, and intensely nutty, cut into a neat slice and set on a little plate beside a Melange, the Haselnusstorte is the very taste of the Viennese afternoon, of marble-topped tables and newspapers on cane frames, and of a baking culture that treasures the ground nut above almost any other ingredient.

Ingredients

Sponge

  • 250 g hazelnuts, toasted, skinned, and finely ground
  • 6 whole eggs, separated
  • 180 g caster sugar
  • 40 g fine dried breadcrumbs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch salt

Buttercream

  • 250 g unsalted butter, softened
  • 150 g icing sugar, sifted
  • 100 g hazelnuts, toasted and ground to a paste (or hazelnut praline paste)

Decoration

  • 50 g whole toasted hazelnuts, to decorate

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan) and grease and line two 20 cm round tins. Whisk the egg yolks with half the sugar and the vanilla until pale and thick. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites with the salt to soft peaks, then add the remaining sugar and whisk to a firm, glossy meringue.
  2. Fold the ground hazelnuts and breadcrumbs into the yolk mixture (it will be stiff), then fold in a third of the meringue to loosen it, followed by the rest, in two gentle additions.
  3. Divide between the tins and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until risen, golden, and springy to the touch, and a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
  4. Make the buttercream: beat the softened butter with the sifted icing sugar until pale and fluffy, then beat in the hazelnut paste until smooth.
  5. Sandwich the two sponges with a third of the buttercream, then spread the rest over the top and sides. Press chopped nuts around the sides if you like and decorate the top with a ring of whole toasted hazelnuts. Chill briefly to set before serving.

Notes

The torte can be split and filled with whipped cream or a chocolate ganache instead of buttercream, and a Haselnusstorte finished with a dark chocolate glaze is very traditional. The breadcrumbs can be replaced with the same weight of fine sponge or a spoonful of flour; for a strictly gluten-free cake, use gluten-free crumbs or ground nuts in their place. The quality of the cake rests entirely on the nuts, so toast them well and grind them fresh.

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