Esterhazy cake

The origin of Esterhazy torta is not really identifiable, this is the reason why so many versions circulate in the different recipe collections. This Hungarian cake was invented in the 19th century by unknown confectioner(s). It’s only a presumption that the torta was named after Prince Paul III Anton Esterhazy de Galantha (1786–1866), a member of the Esterhazy dynasty and diplomat of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Legend makers chose him probably because he was said to be a big gourmet, and the famous Esterhazy steak is also related to his name.

Uncertainty about the recipe is, if possible, much bigger, but there are a few cornerstones that serve as a guide to making a traditional Esterhazy cake. The number of layers is 5 or 6, the cake layers don’t contain flour, they just consist of sugar, egg whites and ground walnuts or almond.

The filling is a cooked vanilla pastry cream combined with butter. It can be flavoured with rum, walnut liqueur or amaretto. Characteristics of the Esterhazy cake is the spider web like decoration. The torte is iced with a fondant glaze and decorated with a chocolate striped pattern. Most of the recipes recommend to use white chocolate instead of fondant, which is time-consuming enough to prepare. (Let me point out that it’s not the end of the world if you can’t reproduce the required decoration, taste of the cake won’t change.)