Splitska torta
If there’s one cake that screams Croatia to me, it has to be this Splitska torta. Yes, I’ve eaten my fair share of Hrvatski (Croatian) cakes – ones I’ve made and many I’ve tried in cafés.
Loads of them satisfy, yet only a generous handful stands out as fitting the entire brief of being deliciously rich and somewhat elaborate in appearance.
Native to the stunning seaside city of Split – hence the cakes name – this torta is as delicious as it looks. Layers of baked meringue filled with a confetti of raisins, dried figs and ground walnuts – all held together with a luscious rum-spiked vanilla custard.
Can you picture yourself sitting at one of the waterfront cafes in Split, forking into a slice of this torta? Or maybe tucked away in one of the old cobbled laneways, by a fountain in this ancient Roman city?
The top of Splitska torta generally has some kind of chocolate adornment. Chocolate sprinkles, maybe some dried fruit, nuts or even freshly whipped cream.
I’ve piped some dark chocolate over mine, plus some thinly shaved chocolate and a few slices of dried fig. It needs something, otherwise it’s a little plain looking.
Why don’t you get busy this weekend and make this glorious cake?
Adapted from here
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servings
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- 150 g walnuts ground
- 140 g raisins chopped
- 100 g dried figs finely chopped
- 35 g plain flour (4 tbsp)
- ¼ tsp salt
- 9 egg whites
- 125 g caster sugar
- 150 g dark chocolate to decorate
- 9 egg yolks
- 100 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp rum
- 375 g unsalted butter softened
Ingredients
Cake
Custard
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- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a shallow 30 x 40 cm baking tray with baking paper, then grease with oil or butter.
- Combine the walnuts, raisins, figs, flour and salt in a small mixing bowl. Rub it all together with your fingers to coat the fruit with the flour and walnuts so that clumps don't form. Set aside.
- Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, add the caster sugar and continue whisking for a couple more minutes.
- Fold the fruit and nut mixture through the egg whites then spread the mixture evenly over the prepared baking tray, smoothing the top. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden on top. Set aside to cool completely.
- To construct the torta, take the cooled sheet of meringue and carefully take it off the baking paper. Cut it evenly into 4, then spread the top of each portion with the cooled custard. Lay one portion onto a serving board or platter, then stack each of the others to form a 4-layer cake. Straighten the sides if you need to, then refrigerate the cake for a couple of hours, or preferably overnight.
- Put the egg yolks, sifted icing sugar, vanilla and rum into a medium saucepan and whisk by hand to dissolve the sugar. Gently heat the saucepan over low heat, continuously whisking by hand to cook the yolks and allow it to thicken.
- As soon as it starts to thicken, take the pan off the heat and continue whisking. Add the butter to the egg mixture and whisk it in until it emulsifies and the custard is nice and thick without any lumps. Set aside to cool completely in the fridge. Refrigerating will also make it even thicker.
Before serving, scrape or grate curls from the block of dark chocolate - about ⅓ cup. Set aside. Melt the rest of the chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler. Pipe the melted chocolate over the top of the cake in whatever pattern you like. Stripes, squiggles, dots, use your imagination. To finish, scatter the grated chocolate curls down the centre of the cake.
