Esterházy Torte

Eszterházy torta is a Hungarian cake of thin, nut-enriched layers stacked with cream. Brown lines are piped onto white icing, and before it sets, a fine tool is drawn across the lines to create a delicate, feather-like pattern. Both the round torta and the rectangular Schnitte share the thin layers and the white-and-brown finish.

Baking thin layers of egg white and nuts and stacking them

The batter is made by whipping egg whites with sugar and combining them with ground nuts and a little flour. Rather than baking one large, thick cake and slicing it into many layers, thinly baked layers are stacked. Some methods spread the batter in circles on a baking sheet; others bake it thin and then cut it into circles of the same diameter.

Some versions use almonds and others walnuts, and a Hungarian training text for craftspeople lists five to six almond layers. Versions in which walnut and egg-white layers are baked one at a time and filled with walnut cream are also made at confectioneries in Hungary. The choice of nut is not determined simply by country; recipes also vary from one maker to another.

Made without egg yolks, the batter differs from a thick sponge and becomes a thin layer of egg-white foam studded with nut particles. Folding it in without deflating the foam too much, and spreading it to an even thickness before baking, keeps the stacked layers uniform as well.

Eszterházy torta with walnuts (left) and with poppy seeds (right). The cake layers and feather pattern are visible. Photo: Magellan, 2008-11-16, location unknown. Original image / CC BY-SA 3.0. Original size, no additional processing.

Combining cooked cream and butter

Some buttercream fillings combine butter with a cream cooked from milk, eggs and sugar. A training text for craftspeople describes a method in which a cream cooked from whole eggs, sugar and milk and a cream cooked from milk, sugar and flour are made separately. The latter is cooled and whipped with butter, then the former is added, and the cream is flavored with orange liqueur or similar. In this method, two creams made from different ingredients are cooked separately and then combined.

In another method, a single cream is made from egg yolks, milk and custard powder, and butter is combined into it. A Viennese recette (a recipe’s ingredient proportions and method) flavors this with cherry spirit. Here, the cream is not cooked as two separate kinds; instead, butter is blended into a single cream.

The flavorings also vary: some versions pair walnut cream with orange liqueur, while others use brandy and vanilla and include fresh cream. The flavor and mouthfeel change not only with which spirit is added, but also with whether nut aroma is layered in or the lightness of fresh cream is added.

As moisture from the thinly spread cream moves into the layers, the baked layers absorb it and gradually meld with the cream. Stacking the layers evenly and then chilling the cake brings out fine stripes in the cut surface.

Pulling through lines drawn on the icing to make a feather pattern

A thin coat of apricot jam is spread on the top layer, and warmed white fondant is spread over it. Lines of chocolate are piped, and while they are still unset, a fine tool is drawn through them in another direction so that the white and brown move together to form a pattern. This finish is created by two actions: drawing the lines and pulling through them.

In some methods, the brown lines are made not with chocolate but with fondant mixed with cocoa. In a Viennese recette, one layer for the top is set aside, its underside is coated with jam and icing, and it is placed on the stacked cake. When semicircular lines are drawn and pulled through from alternating directions, fine, feather-like streaks line up. The sides are smoothed with cream and covered with sliced almonds, chopped walnuts or similar.

Two naming theories linked to the Esterházy family

The figure most often cited as the source of the name is the nobleman and diplomat Pál III Antal Esterházy (1786–1866). In Vienna, the cake is presented as having originated in Budapest in the early 20th century; by that chronology, it would have been named after the prince following his death.

On the other hand, Hungary also has a story linking the name to Miklós I Esterházy. This is a tale associated with the prince who built a lavish court, and it differs from the theory commemorating the 19th-century diplomat in both the person and the era it assumes. Under either theory, the craftsman or shop that first made the cake and how it came to be named remain uncertain. Whether the prince himself ate the same cake as today’s is also uncertain.

The round torta and the rectangular Schnitte

The “Esterházy Schnitte,” cut into rectangles, is also sold at Viennese court confectioners. In some cases, thin rectangular layers are baked separately and assembled, and the Hungarian training text for craftspeople also distinguishes the torta from the rectangular Schnitte. Today there is a range from shop to shop, from versions using almonds, walnuts or hazelnuts to those using sponge. Whether it is a round cake or a rectangular slice, the stacked thin layers and the feather pattern are the clues for recognizing a confection by this name.

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