Mandarin Whipping Creme Torte

Yesterday I worked on another cake experiment. Ok, most of my baking is an experiment because most of it never happened in my kitchen before. But, this one was a bit different because the recipes was talking about a big torte and I wanted to make little ones. So, I wasn’t sure if it would work the way I envisioned it nor how much I would get out of it. The result was a success.

I was still looking for a torte that I could make during the next baking class with the Kochlöffel & Nudelholz Club. It has to be something that can be done in 3 hours and that every participant can do. Sure, I could just show them how to make a torte, but I find it much more rewarding if everyone can get hand on experience. I believe with this recipe I found what I was looking for.

Ingredients Dough:

– 300g flour
– 175g ground almonds
– 1 tsp. baking powder
– 125g sugar
– Pinch salt
– 2 packages vanilla sugar or 1 tsp. vanilla
– 1 egg
– 1 egg yolk
– 200g butter

Measure all ingredients. Sift the flour, baking powder and ground almond into a large bowl, then make a dent and cut the butter in smaller pieces and place around the edges. Crack the egg and check if it is fresh before pouring into the dent. Separate the egg yolk and also add. Pour the sugar and salt as well as the vanilla sugar around the edges. Quickly, with both hands, combine all ingredients to a smooth dough. Form a ball and wrap it in foil before placing in the fridge for 30 min.

Tip 1: Short crust dough is easier to handle if chilled. If you have a large amount it is good to separate into smaller amounts and leave the rest in the fridge.

I took a part of the dough, rolled it out and used a rice bowl to cut round plates. I didn’t want to make a big torte but several small ones. I kept doing this until I had 18 plates and my dough was gone. I baked the plates like the big ones.

For one big torte: Separate into 4 equal pieces and roll out into a round plate, about 26cm in diameter. Bake each plate at 200°C for about 10 to 12 min, until slightly brown on the edges. Remove from the oven and let them cool down. Cut one plate while still warm into 12 equal pieces for the top.

Ingredients Filling:

– 350g mandarins (canned)
– 2 packages galantine
– 600ml whipping crème
– 75 sugar

Drain the mandarins and catch the liquid. Set aside. Whip the crème in a stand mixer, slowing adding the sugar until you have a smooth crème. Prepare 2 packages of galantine, using the mandarin juice, according to package. That means: 100ml cold mandarin juice and 100ml hot mandarin juice. Whisk the galantine into the cold one and let it sit until thick. Then add the hot juice and stir until well dissolved. Add this to the whipped crème, combine well and place in the fridge until solid.

Also:

–          50g almond slices for decoration

For the small tortes I started with the bottom plate, spreading some creme and placing mandarins on it. Then I added another plate and repeated the steps. The final plate (4th one) does not get any mandarins but rather the almond slices. A variation would to spread additional cream around the edges, which will make it look like a torte more.

For the big torte: Spread the whipping cream equally on three plates, leaving enough for the top. Then spread the mandarins equally as well and carefully place the plates on top of each other. Finally, add the rest of the whipping cream on the 12 pieces and places those on top of the torte. Decorate with almond slices.

Tip 2: You can roast the almond slices before you use them. Either roast them in the oven, right after you made the short crust plates, or you fry them in a pan without any oil. You can also add some sugar to coat them. This will give the torte an extra colour kick.

Happy baking!