Solothurner Torte
Solothurn’s very own cake was founded in 1915 by Albert Studer.
The town went crazy for his light hazelnut cake, filled with airy buttercream.
The bakery where he worked, today called Suteria, has had a handful of owners in the past century or so, but all have worked to preserve the cake, adding small improvements to the original recipe (slightly less sugar, slightly fluffier buttercream) and protecting it with a copyright as Solothurn’s only real Solothurner Torte (although other Solothurn bakeries make the cake and there is debate around whose is best).
Elisabeth Pfluger (valiant chronicler of all things Solothurn and author of dozens of folk histories and recipes from the canton) talks about the torte in her Solothurner Liebesbriefe cookbook, even providing a recipe.
She calls her version the Solothurnerkuchen (leaving the ‘Torte’ to the bakery) and relates the popularity of the cake, either homemade or purchased, which is often brought to parties and special events throughout the year.
More on Solothurn, and why the city loves the number eleven, here.
There are a few recipes online: the one from Helvetibox is a copy of Pflugers, which omits hazelnuts in the meringue.
Other notable versions include one from the supermarket chain Volg, and from Swiss oven manufacturer V-ZUG, who strongly suggest the hazelnuts be roasted first (agreed).
Finally, it appears in one of my favourite Swiss cookbooks Kochkunst und Traditionen in der Schweiz from Mondo Verlag, with a excellently retro accompanying photo.
My version below is a mix of the above.
Meringue:
3 egg whites
100 g sugar
80 g ground hazelnuts
1 tbsp cornstarch
Preheat the oven to 150 C / 300 F / gas mark 2.
Line two baking sheets with parchment. Draw two 22 cm circles (using the base of a cake form) on the paper.
Using a large bowl and an electric mixer, start whipping the egg whites. Once they are frothy, begin to add about half of the sugar a tablespoon at a time. Keep beating until the mixture is stiff and glossy.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the other half of the sugar, hazelnuts, and cornstarch. Fold this gently into the beaten whites.
Scoop into a piping bag with a large nozzle and pipe a 22 cm meringue disc onto each parchment-lined sheet, following the template.
Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the meringues look dry.
Set aside.
Sponge:
3 egg yolks
80 g sugar
1 tbsp warm water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
60 g ground hazelnuts, lightly roasted
80 g flour
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking powder
3 egg whites
Preheat oven to 200 C / 400 F / gas mark 6.
Line the bottom of a 22 cm (8 inch) springform pan with parchment paper and lightly grease the sides.
In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, water, salt, and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, whisk the hazelnuts, flour, cornstarch, and baking powder. Fold gently into the egg mixture.
Using a large bowl and an electric mixer, whip the egg whites until they are stiff and glossy. Fold gently into the batter.
Spread into prepared pan.
Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the top is golden and the cake has started to pull away from the sides.
Let cool completely.
Buttercream:
150 g butter
120 g icing sugar
50 g ground hazelnuts, lightly roasted
shot of hazelnut liqueur
Beat the butter until soft and fluffy.
Sift in the icing sugar, beat well, then beat in the hazelnuts and liqueur.
Assembly:
whole hazelnuts, roasted and chopped
hazelnut liqueur
Assemble as follows:
Put a few strips of parchment or wax paper along the border of your serving plate, and a small blob of buttercream in the centre (this will hold the first layer in place).
Place a meringue layer on the bottom, bottom (flat) side down, then spread with about a third of the buttercream.
Slice a very thin layer off the top of the sponge (this will help it absorb more hazelnut liqueur), then place it on top of the buttercream and meringue. Using a pastry brush, blot the top with hazelnut liqueur.
Top with the rest of the buttercream, spreading evenly on the top, as well as the sides of the sponge (but not the sides of the meringue).
Press the chopped hazelnuts into the buttercream on the side of the cake.
Place the second meringue on top.
Take care when piping the meringues, as the layers are quite thin. If you have piped too thickly and are running out of mixture, use an offset palette knife or butter knife to spread it to the edges of the template.
For me, there is only one hazelnut liqueur: Distillery Studer’s Nussknacker.
(Anyone who reads my blog knows that my lovely sister-in-law Fränzi works for Distillery Studer and she (very kindly) keeps us in the booze. I was absolutely blown away the first time she brought us a prototype bottle of their Nussknacker—like drinking fresh (albeit boozy and sweet) roasted hazelnuts. Get a bottle if you can.)
A serrated (bread) knife is best for cutting through the delicate meringue layers.
Another classic Swiss cake?
Zuger Kirschtorte
