Zuger Kirschtorte

A diamond pattern drawn in white powder and golden almonds on the sides catch the eye. Inside this neatly finished cake, there are no whole cherries. Instead, it contains a pale sponge soaked with kirsch, a distilled spirit. This cake, named after Zug in Switzerland, is made by enclosing a spirit-soaked sponge in cream and placing it between two thin layers of nut-based japonais. It is made to preserve the strong aroma of the spirit and the softness of the sponge, while allowing the cake to be cut without losing its shape.

A kirsch-soaked sponge between two layers of japonais

The japonais on the top and bottom is made by folding almonds or hazelnuts into a foam of egg whites and sugar and baking it into thin discs. Separately, a sponge is baked from egg foam. The cream is based mainly on butter and combined with sugar, kirsch and other ingredients. A small amount of beet juice gives it a pale pink color. Some confectioners also add vanilla cream. A thin layer of this cream is spread on one japonais disc, the sponge is placed on top, and the sponge is evenly soaked with kirsch syrup.

Cream is also spread on top, and the second japonais disc is placed over it. In this way, the soft sponge in the middle is enclosed between kirsch-scented buttercream and japonais. Some japonais softens after assembly while some stays crisp, and the protected production method permits both textures.

Older recipes (the proportions of ingredients and the method) also suggested using raspberry syrup or red jam for the pink cream. Beet juice, which is now commonly used, adds a color reminiscent of cherries while keeping the aroma of kirsch at the center. In some methods, white cream is set aside for the outside, and crushed japonais is mixed into it.

A tool for adding syrup evenly and a two-stage cream finish

The kirsch is added to a syrup and then soaked into the sponge. Instead of a red sauce of cooked fruit poured over the cake, the aroma of a clear distilled spirit spreads through the whole sponge. The aim is even moistness, without leaving only the center waterlogged or crushing the sponge’s air-bubble structure.

The amount of kirsch has increased over the history of this cake. The spirit was once added for flavor, but today it is an important element that defines the whole cake. Around 1935, Carl Speck devised a tool for pouring the syrup evenly. Confectioners developed new methods not only for baking the nut layers but also for soaking the liquid evenly into the sponge.

The cream does more than hold the layers together. According to the Federal Office for Agriculture’s specification, it completely covers the sponge on all sides so that the kirsch liquid does not leak out. The finish has two stages: the cake is coated once and chilled, then given a second thin layer of cream before it is decorated. The thin layer of cream encloses the moist sponge, and the cake is finished and decorated with powder on top and nuts on the sides.

A diamond pattern in white powder, and how to cut the cake

The sides are smoothed with cream and covered with toasted sliced almonds. The top is dusted with a white mixture of powdered sugar and starch, and crossing diagonal lines are drawn to form diamonds. Even without red cherries as decoration, the white pattern, golden edge and pale interior together define the cake’s appearance.

The recommended way to cut it is to first cut gently through the top japonais and then pass a flat blade through the sponge inside. The thin layers above and below differ in firmness from the soaked sponge. This final step helps keep the neat exterior while preserving the soft interior.

Höhn’s opening, the 1915 advertisement and the cake’s later spread

Heinrich Höhn opened his first shop with his wife Hanna in 1913. It was a small shop on Alpenstrasse near the station. A kirsch distillery was nearby, and Höhn developed trial versions of a cake using its spirit. On December 23, 1915, he placed an advertisement in a newspaper. By 1917, the combination of two japonais layers and a spirit-soaked sponge had taken shape.

As the cake became popular, other confectioners in Zug also made Kirschtorte, and in the 1930s the use of the name “genuine Zuger Kirschtorte” was even disputed in court. In 1933, the recipe appeared in a cookbook from the Salesianum home economics and cooking school, so a specialty shop’s signature cake also entered culinary education. In 1943, head confectioner Jacques Treichler took over Höhn’s shop.

Two stories about its creation and earlier kirsch cakes

Ueli Kleeb, who has researched the local cherry culture, compares several origin stories in a 2015 account. In one story, distiller Johann Etter suggested soaking an English-style Punschtorte with kirsch instead of punch. In another story, Anna Stadler-Christen and Karl Fehri-Doswald, who ran nearby hotels, wanted a fine dessert made with spirits for their guests and tasted the trial version at the workplace. Kleeb presents the latter as the better-supported story.

The same research also cites a kitchen record of a “Kirschwasser-Torte” served at a banquet in Zurich in 1819. Cakes containing kirsch appear to have been made before Höhn’s cake. Höhn’s cake encloses the spirit-soaked sponge in cream and places it between japonais layers so that the syrup does not leak out. Local kirsch, demand from hotel guests and the confectioner’s production techniques all appear to have played a part in the creation of Zug’s specialty.

The clock-tower trademark and protection of the name by geographical indication

In 2015, the name was protected as a geographical indication. Production was limited to the canton of Zug, and the spirit was specified as Zuger Kirsch or Rigi Kirsch. This protection of the name is also connected to the region’s fruit growing and distilling, and to confectioners’ production methods.

The registered product specification sets out the shape, with a diameter of at least 8 centimeters and a height of no more than 4.5 centimeters. It also requires alcohol of at least 4 percent by weight. The cake must be assembled by hand, but auxiliary equipment for distributing the syrup evenly is permitted. Ingredients are restricted, but both soft and crisp japonais are permitted.

The clock-tower trademark that Höhn protected in 1922 and the 2015 geographical indication are separate. The former is a mark identifying his shop’s products. The latter protects a name used by producers in the region who follow the specification.

The protected spirits are made from fruit harvested from tall cherry trees around Zug and the Rigi. Because the cake requires local spirit, it is also connected to the work of caring for the fruit trees and preserving that landscape.

A gift and teatime sweet for Easter and Christmas

According to a survey by Swiss Culinary Heritage, sales peak at Easter and Christmas, and the cake is also sent as a gift to people far away. It is served by the slice with coffee or tea. It is a specialty that visitors enjoy, and it also carries the name of Zug to places beyond the region.

Glossary