Einfache Torte mit Fruchtgelee

Mom’s handwritten torte recipes typically separate the eggs, the whites are beaten until stiff and then folded into the main ingredients.  I suppose that’s why the name indicates it’s just a simple torte or cake.   This one is topped with a bit of jelly.  Bing Translated “Fruchtgelee” to “Marmalade”.  Mom liked and possibly would consider topping this one with  marmalade, but the German word for it is the same:  “marmalade” so she would have said so.

German:
Einfache Torte mit Fruchtgelee.
250 gr Butter, 250 gr Zucker werden zu Sahne gerührt u. danach gibt man 6 Eigelb 250 gr feinstes Mehl, 1 P. Backpulver und den von 6 Eiern geschlagenen Eischnee darunter u läßt ihn gelb backen, nach dem Erkalten wird die Torte kreisförmig mit Stückchen gelee belegt.

Google Translate
Simple cake with fruit jelly.
250 grams butter, 250 grams sugar are stirred into cream and then there is 6 egg yolks 250 g of flour, 1 package of baking powder and the beaten egg whites of 6 eggs underneath u can bake it yellow, after cooling the cake is circular with bits gelee occupied.

My Interpretation:

Einfache Torte mit Fruchtgelee
Cream 240 g. butter, then add yolks of 6 eggs, 250 gram flour, 1 packet baking powder. Fold in the stiff-beaten whites of the 6 eggs, then bake until light brown. After the cake cools, swirl the top with jelly.

Fruchttorte – Mürbeteich

Oh my! It’s a pie with a lattice crust! Basic premise of this recipe is to make a dough, cover the baking pan with it, put on the preserves and make strips to put on top. Now, it doesn’t go into detail about how to weave it in and out to make it pretty, but none of Mom’s recipes goes into very much detail. You just know!

I was doubtful about Google’s translation……what’s that “nitty gritty” all about? Further research using only the word “Eingemachte” could result in either “nitty gritty” or preserved and indicated that colloquially, the ” nitty-gritty “are stored for winter food stocks. Hmmmmm….. I tried the Bing Translation and it understood that “Eingemachte” is something like “preserves” and is more likely what the recipe means. Preserves are quite a bit sweeter than what I would use for pie filling. I imagine making something like a shortbread cookie crust, topping it with the preserves and designing some sort of lattice top. Reminds me of thumb-print cookies during the holidays.

German:
Fruchttorte – Mürbeteich
Auf 1 £ Mehl nimmt man ¼ £ Zucker, ¼ £ Butter, 2 Eier, 1 Guß Rum u 1 Paket Backpulver. Dieses wird mit der Hand geknetet, ausgerollt und auf die Springformplatte gelegt, dann kommt das Eingemachte darüber, hierauf 1 cm breite Streifen mit Eigelb bestrichen und bei starker Hitze gebacken.

Google Tranlate:
Fruit Tart – shortbread pond
At 1 pound flour you take £ ¼ sugar, ¼ £ butter, 2 eggs, 1 cast rum u 1 packet of baking powder. This is kneaded by hand, rolled out and placed on the tin plate, then comes the nitty-gritty about hereupon 1 cm wide strips coated with egg yolk and bake at high heat.

Bing Tranlate:
Fruit tarts – brittle pond
£1 Flour take £¼ sugar, £¼ butter, 2 eggs, 1 cast rum u 1 packet baking powder. This is hand kneaded, rolled out and placed on the Tin plate, then the preserved in this 1 cm wide strips with egg yolk painted and baked at high heat.

My interpretation:
Fruchttorte – Mürbeteich
Mix together 1 lb flour, 1/4 lb. sugar, 1/4 lb. butter, 2 eggs, a squirt of rum and 1 packet of baking powder by hand.  Roll out the dough and place in a pie tin. Cover with preserves.  Cut 1 cm wide strips and lay over the preserves.  Brush with egg yolk and bake at a high heat.

Baumstamm

Other recipes I found for Baumstämme were typically similar to a jelly roll with chocolate filling and the frosted exterior to look like tree bark.  It doesn’t look like that was the intent of this recipe.  The directions indicate their should be some streaking going on, possible with the chocolate cream, although it looks like it was added to the egg, sugar and flour mixture earlier.  Hmmmmmm……Maybe it tastes like a tree trunk!

German:
Baumstamm
4 Eier, 120 gr. Zucker, 1 Eßl. Zitronenzucker, 120 gr. Mehl, 150 gr. Schokoladencreme. Die Eigelb werden mit dem Zucker schaumig gerührt, sodann werden Mehl und Eischnee darunter gezogen. Ein Blech wird mit Butter bepinselt , die Masse ½ cm dick ausgestrichen und hellbraun gebacken.

Google Translate
tree trunk
4 eggs, 120 g sugar, 1 tablespoon lemon sugar, 120 grams of flour, 150 gr chocolate cream. The yolks are stirred frothy with the sugar, then flour and egg whites are drawn underneath.
A sheet is brushed with butter, the mass ½ cm thick and streaked light brown baked.

 

My Interpretation
Baumstämme
4 eggs
120 g sugar
1 tablespoon lemon sugar
120 g flour
150 g chocolate cream

Separate eggs and whip egg whites until stiff.  Comgine eggs, sugar, lemon sugar, flour and chocolate cream. Fold in the egg whites. Brush the baking sheet with butter, then spread mixture about 1/2 cm. thick.  Bake until light brown.

 

Nut or Almond Torte

The nut and almond torte is Polish in origin and its uniqueness lies in the fact that no flour is used to make it. Instead, Mom’s recipe uses “Noßbrot” which I couldn’t really get translated. Yes, I can see that Mom wrote “Noßbrot” but Google didn’t know that word, asking me if instead I meant “Nußbrot” or “Nussbrot” which means “nut bread”. I found another recipe that used crushed lady fingers, so maybe nut bread was something easily obtained at the Bäckerei that you could crumble.

This recipe uses 14 eggs. I can’t help being reminded of Mom often making angel food cakes because she had plenty of eggs and it took nearly a dozen eggs to do it. Only problem was, she kept the yolks to make very, very yellow scrambled eggs either for breakfast or Friday’s dinner. I didn’t like those eggs, much. Very dry and intense!

German:

Nuß- oder Mandeltorte.
14 Eigelb, 400 gr. Zucker, 400 gr. Nüsse oder Mandeln, 80 gr. Noßbrot, ½ Zitrone, 14 Eiweiß, ½ lt Wasser, die Eigelb werden mit dem Zucker und der abgeriebenen Zitronenschale schaumig gerührt, Nußkern oder Mandeln und Noßbrot dazu gegeben und zuletzt wird das geschl. Eiweiß durchgezogen.

Google Translate:
Nut or almond cake.
14 egg yolks 400 g sugar, 400 gr nuts or almonds, 80 g Noßbrot, ½ lemon, 14 egg whites, ½ lt water, the egg yolks with the sugar and grated lemon rind stirred frothy, almond or nut-kernel u Noßbrot added u the last is closed. Protein pulled through. 

My Interpretation:
Nut or Almond Torte
14 egg yolks
100 g sugar
400 g nuts or almonds
80 g Noßbrot
1/2 lemon rind, grated
14 egg whites
1/2 liter water

Stir egg yolks with the sugar and grated lemon rind until frothy, then add the nuts and Noßbrot. Fold in beaten egg whites.

 

Krümmel-Torte

Nothing about this recipe gives me an idea of why it would be a crumb cake, but researching other recipes of the same name informed me that these proportions of ingredients leads to a crumbly mixture, not a batter.  Thank heavens!  I couldn’t imagine how to spread a layer of applesauce on batter!  The recipe that revealed this to me used apple slices and raisins instead of applesauce and I must say it would make a prettier presentation.  

German:
Krümmel-Torte
1 £ Mehl, ¼ £ Butter, ½ £ Zucker, 2 ganze Eier, 1 ½ Päckchen Backpulver werden zusammen vermengt. Diese Masse gibt man zur Hälfte in eine zubereitete Springform, dann eine Lage Apfelmus und dann die andere Hälfte und bäckt ihn eine Stund

Google Translate:
Crumb cake
1 pound of flour, ¼ £ butter, ½ £ sugar, 2 eggs, 1 ½ tsp baking powder are mixed together. This mass is one half in a prepared springform pan, then a layer of applesauce and then the other half, and it bakes one hour,

My Interpretation:
Krümmel-Torte
Mix together 1 lb flour, 1/4 lb. butter, 1/2 lb. sugar, 2 eggs and 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder. Put half the mixture into a prepared springform pan, then a layer of applesauce, and then the other half of the mixture. Bake for one hour.

 

Gold and Silver Torte

The slices of this two layer torte must be a pretty presentation as one is white and the other is yellow.  The recipe is essentially giving the ingredients and how to assemble it.  When google translated from German to English it did not translate “Bakpulver” but when I asked it to translate only that work, it indicated that it was Swedish for baking powder.  Although Eiweiß was translated as protein, I know that “Ei” is “egg”, and “weis” is white, so you get the picture:  Egg White!

German:
Gold und Silbertorte
Zur ersten Lage, zum Silberkuchen nimmt man 200 gr. Butter, 250 gr. Zucker, 400 gr. Mehl etwas Citrone, ½ Paketchen Bakpulver ein Tasse Milch u. neun Eiweiß.
Zur zweiten Lage, dem Goldkuchen nimmt man dasselbe, nur anstatt Eiweiß, Eigelb.
Nachdem beide Lagen einzeln gebacken, bestreicht man die Böden mit Marmelade u legt sie aufeinander.

Google Translate:
Gold and silver cake
To the first position, the silver cake, take 200 grams butter, 250 grams of sugar, 400 grams of flour a little lemon, ½ cup of milk and one little package Bakpulver nine protein.
The second layer, the gold cake, take the same, only instead of white, egg yolk.
Once both layers baked individually, one sweeps the floor with u jam it one upon another.

My interpretation:
Gold and Silver Torte
For the first layer (silver cake) use 200 g. butter, 250 g. sugar, 4 g. flour, a little lemon, 1/2 cup of milk and one little package of baking powder and 9 egg whites.  For the second layer (gold cake) use the same ingredients except use 9 egg yolks.  Bake both layers individually.  Spread the first layer with jam, then stack the second layer on it.

Käse (Cheese) Torte

This recipe is probably similar to what we think of as a Cream Cheesecake.  In order to understand the translation I researched other Käse Torte recipes and found that many used a shortbread type shell instead of a graham cracker crust that I typically use for a cheesecake.  Research also leads me to believe that “white cheese” refers to cottage cheese rather than cream cheese. As usual, this recipe is long on stirring time and short on baking temperatures.  An experienced baker would just “know” what those are, wouldn’t they?

German:
Käse-Torte
½ kg weißer Käse wird durch ein Sieb gestrichen. Dann rührt man 60 Butter schaumig, gibt zwei ganze Eier, 90 gr. Zucker, etwas Zitronenöl, den durchgesiebten Käse u 90 gr Mehl hinzu. diese Masse wird auf einen halb angebackenen Mürbeteichboden 2 Finger hoch aufgefüllt, mit Eigelb bestrichen mit Korinthen bestreut u. bei mäßiger Hitze gebacken.

Google Translate:
Cheese Pie
½ kg of white cheese is rubbed through a sieve. Then stirred for 60 frothy butter, is adding two whole eggs, 90 grams of sugar, some lemon oil, the sifted flour 90 gr cheese u. this mass is a semi-baked-filled shortbread pond bottom 2 fingers up, brushed with egg yolk and sprinkle with raisins baked in a moderate heat.

My Interpretation:
Käse (Cheese) Torte
For the shortbread crust prepare a dough of 135 gram butter, a pinch of salt, 50 g. sugar and 250 g. flour and line a springform pan with it, pressing up two fingers high on the sides. Partially bake the crust. Rub ½ kg of cottage cheese through a sieve. Whip butter until very creamy, then add two whole eggs, 90 grams sugar, a little lemon extract, 90 grams sifted flour and the cottage cheese. Brush the semi-baked shortbread crust with egg yolks and sprinkle with some raisins. Bake in a moderate oven.

Spice Torte

Here are two recipes for a Spice Torte.  The first one uses burnt sugar to enhance the spicy flavor.  Mom liked the bitterness of burnt sugar frosting and we would often see it on her cakes. Both recipes are not specific about the measurements for the spices added, so can we assume it means “to your own taste”.  Most American recipes give measurements for spices, but aren’t those guidelines really?

German:
Gewürz-Torte, Nr. 1
1£ Butter u ½ £ Zucker werden schaumig gerührt u mit 4 Eier ganz verrührt, ½ £ Zucker wird gebrannt, wenn er braun ist gibt man schnell ¼ lt. Milch hinein u rührt weiter, daß der Zucker nicht klumpig wird Diese braune Zuckermasse gibt man zu der gerührten Butter u nach u nach 1 £ gutes Mehl u 2 Eßl. Kakao, Zimmt, Zitronat, Mandeln, Nelken, Pfeffer, Muskat Korinthen u 1 Packchen Backpulver. Backen ¾ – 1 St.

Google Translate:
Spice Cake, Number 1
1 pound butter ½ u £ sugar foamy stirred u stirred with 4 eggs whole, ½ £ sugar is burned, if it is brown it is fast ¼ lt u further stirred into milk, not that the sugar is lumpy This brown sugar mixture is added to the stirred butter after u u u good for 1 pound flour 2 tbsp cocoa, cinnamon, lemon peel, almonds, cloves, pepper, nutmeg, currants u 1 Packchen baking powder. Bake ¾ – 1 pc

My Interpretation:
Spice Torte #1
Stir together 1 pound butter, ½ pound sugar and 4 whole eggs until foamy. Make burnt sugar by quickly browning ½ pound sugar then combine with ¼ liter milk until sugar is dissolved, then combine with stirred butter mixture. Add 1 pound flour, 2 tablespoons cocoa, cinnamon, lemon peel, almonds, cloves, pepper, nutmeg, currants and 1 packet baking powder. Bake ¾ to 1 hr.

German:
Gewürz-Torte, Nr.2.
375 gr. Butter, 375 gr. Zucker, 375 gr. Mehl, 10 Eier, etwas feingeschnittene Sukade einige gehackte Mandeln einen Teelöffel Zimmt ½ Tlf. Nelken gemahl., etwas geriebene Mus- katnuß 2 Eßl. Rum, 1 Pt. Backpulver. Nachdem Butter, Eigelb, Zucker recht schaumig gerührt sind, gibt man das Gewürz hinzu, danach wird ge- schlagene Eiweiß leicht durchgehoben, ebenfals Mehl u Backpulver. Die Masse in eine Springform gegeben u bei mäßiger Hitze 1 St. gebacken

Google Translate:
Spice cake, No.2.
375 gr butter, 375 g sugar, 375 grams of flour, 10 eggs, a little finely chopped Sukade some chopped almonds ½ teaspoon cinnamon Tlf. Cloves Consort., Some grated muscle katnuß 2 tbsp rum, 1 Pt. Baking powder. After butter, egg yolks, sugar are stirred quite frothy, are added the seasoning, then ge-battered protein is easily lifted, ebenfals u flour baking powder. The mass given in a springform pan over moderate heat baked u 1 pc

My Interpretation:
Spice Torte #2
375 gr butter
375 g sugar
375 g flour
10 eggs
A little finely chopped citron
Some chopped almonds
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Some grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons rum
1 packet baking powder

Beat egg whites until stiff. Stir butter, egg yolks and sugar until quite frothy or creamy. Add the seasonings, and fold in the egg whites, flour and baking powder. Pour batter into a springform pan and bake in a moderate oven for 1 hour.

Brot Torten

Here are two recipes for a Brot Torte.  The word “torte” translates in Google to either cake or pie.  Research informed me that the word “torte” comes from the Italian word “torta,” which means a round bread or cake. In Europe, most cakes are called tortes, however, a French torte may be called a “Gateau”. A torte can have layers, but might not. Cakes also can have layers, but angel food cake and bundt cake do not have layers.  A torte can have a sweet icing like a cake, but if you are making a French torte it might not have any icing at all.

When comparing tortes and cakes, a cake is lighter than the torte. Cakes are probably made with cake flour which makes them very light because of the gluten content of cake flour. In order to make a more dense cake or torte, some of the flour has to be substituted with something heavier than the flour. Often, the substitute is almond meal or some other nut meal, but sometimes breadcrumbs are used. Nut meal adds density because it is heavier than the flour and it adds oil to the batter as it cooks. Nut meal also adds flavor to the torte.

These recipes add breadcrumbs to the batter.  The #1 recipe doesn’t list sugar as an ingredient but directions mention sugar. I decided that the chocolate must be a sweet chocolate used instead of sugar.  Since no flour is listed, I decided that the sweet almonds was actually almond meal.  I bought some at Trader Joe’s once but never really found a use for it.  The directions indicate the sugar and egg yolks should be stirred for 1 St. or 1 hour……that’s a long time, even if you’re only stirring by hand and not beating with an electric mixer.

Mom made some really dense breads one year so maybe this is what she was aiming for.  They almost had the consistency of a fruit cake, especially if she added raisins, dates or citron.  I must say they made some nice clean slices.

German:
Brot-Torte Nr. 1
8 Eigelb, 4 Eier, 100 gr. geriebene Schokolade, ½ süße Mandeln, 100 gr. geriebenes Schwarzbrot 20 gr. Zitronat, 8 gr. Zimmt, Stange Vanille 10 gr. Nelken, ¼ abgeriebene Zitronenschale, 2 Eßl. Rum, 2 Eßl Backpulver, Eigelb u Zucker werden 1 St. gerührt, nach u nach die Mandeln, Schwarzbrot, Rum, Gewürze, Backpulver u zuletzt den Eischnee dazugegeben, 1 ½ St. backen.

Google Translate:
Bread Cake # 1
8 egg yolks, 4 eggs, 100 gr grated chocolate, ½ sweet almonds, 100 gr grated rye bread 20 g candied lemon peel, 8 gr cinnamon, vanilla stick 10 gr cloves, ¼ lemon zest, 2 tablespoons rum, 2 tbsp baking powder , yolk u sugar are stirred for 1 St., according to the u almonds, brown bread, rum, spices, baking soda u recently added the beaten egg whites, 1 ½ hours baking.

My Interpretation:
Bread Torte #1
8 egg yolks
4 whole eggs
100 gr sweet chocolate, grated
50 gr almond meal
100 gr grated rye bread
20 g candied lemon peel
8 gr cinnamon
vanilla stick
10 gr cloves
¼ lemon zest (grated lemon peel)
2 tablespoons rum
2 Tablespoons baking powder

Separate eggs and whip the whites until stiff. Combine chocolate (instead of sugar?) and yolks and beat until quite creamy. for 1 hour. Then add almond meal, brown bread crumbs, rum, and spices. Fold in egg whites. Bake for 1 ½ hours.

German:
Brot-Torte Nr.2
Man rührt 100 gr. Zucker zu Sahne, gibt nach u nach drei ganze Eier, ½ kg braunen Zucker, ½ kg geriebenen Zwieback u 1 l Milch hinzu. Dann mischt man 500 gr Mehl, 2 Pakete Backpulver u 2 Messerspitzen Zimmt durch den Teig u läßt ihn ½ St. stehen, der Zwieback weichen kann, füllt ihn in die Tortenform u backt ihn 1 St. Man überzieht ihn mit weißem Zuckerguß

Google Translate:
Bread Cake No.2
Stirring 100 g sugar to cream are added to u after three whole eggs, ½ kg of brown sugar, ½ kg grated biscuit u 1 liter of milk. Then you mix 500 g flour, 2 packages yeast u 2 pinches cinnamon through the dough u let him stand ½ St., the biscuits can differ, it fills u in the cake pan bakes him 1 St. He covers with white icing

My Interpretation:
Bread Torte No. 2
Stir 100 g. sugar into three whole eggs and beat until creamy.  Add ½ kg of brown sugar, ½ kg bread crumbs and 1 liter of milk.  Then mix in 500 g. flour, 2 packages yeast and 2 pinches cinnamon.  Let the dough rest ½ hour or pour it in a cake pan.  Bake 1 hour.  Cover with white icing.

Blitz Torte – Reis Torte

The Blitz Torte doesn’t bother with separating eggs and beating the whites into “snow” or meringue.  It seems much like shortcake recipes.  The Rice Torte, on the other hand is not a cake and contains no flour.  It is more like a rice pudding lightened up with whipped egg whites, then molded and baked in a spring form pan. I found a similar recipe online for a Hungarian Rice Cake.  After the cake is cooled, it is removed fro the pan, transferred to a serving platter and dusted with confections sugar.  Servings are cut wedges served with a dollop of plum preserves and whipped cream.  Sounds similar to the way we always have rice pudding with canned plums on top.

Blitz-Torte
6 ganze Eier, ¼ £ Zucker, etwas Zimmt, das abgeriebene einer Zitrone wird gut verrührt. Dann streut man unter fortwährendem Rühren ½ £ Mehl und ½ £ geschmolzene Butter, tut es in eine ausgestrichene Form streut geschnitzte Mandeln, Zucker und Zimmt darauf u läßt es ½ St geschwind backen.

Reis-Torte
Man kocht 250 gr. Reis in 1 ¼ lt. Milch gar u. recht steif u läßt ihn kalt werden. Dann gibt man 125 gr. ausgewaschene Butter sieben Eidotter, 100 gr. Zucker, eine halbe Zitronenschale und das geschlagene Eiweiß hinzu. Die Masse wird in einer Springform in nicht zu heißem Ofen ¾ St. gebacken.

German:
Blitz-Torte
6 ganze Eier, ¼ £ Zucker, etwas Zimmt, das abgeriebene einer Zitrone wird gut verrührt. Dann streut man unter fortwährendem Rühren ½ £ Mehl und ½ £ geschmolzene Butter, tut es in eine ausgestrichene Form streut geschnitzte Mandeln, Zucker und Zimmt darauf u läßt es ½ St geschwind backen.

Google Translate:
Lightning Cake
6 whole eggs, ¼ £ sugar, a little cinnamon, the grated lemon is a well stirred. Then sprinkled with continued stirring flour and ½ £ ½ £ melted butter, do it in a smeared form carved almonds, sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on it, it makes u ½ St bake quickly.

My Interpretation:
Blitz Torte
Stir together well 6 whole eggs, ¼ kg sugar, a little cinnamon and the grated peel of one lemon. spread Combine and stir well.  Then continue stirring while gradually addding ½ kg flour and 1/2 kg melted butter.  Put batter in a greased baking pan and sprinkle with slivered almonds, sugar and cinnamon.  Bake immediately for ½ hour.

German:
Reis-Torte
Man kocht 250 gr. Reis in 1 ¼ lt. Milch gar u. recht steif u läßt ihn kalt werden. Dann gibt man 125 gr. ausgewaschene Butter sieben Eidotter, 100 gr. Zucker, eine halbe Zitronenschale und das geschlagene Eiweiß hinzu. Die Masse wird in einer Springform in nicht zu heißem Ofen ¾ St. gebacke.

Google Translate:
Rice-cake
Boil 250 grams rice 1 ¼ lt milk and even rather stiff u let him get cold. Are then washed 125 g butter added seven egg yolks, 100 grams of sugar, half a lemon and the beaten egg whites. The ground is baked in a springform pan in a hot oven to ¾ not St.

My interpretation:
Rice-Torte
Boil 250 grams rice with 1 ¼ liter milk until cooked and set.  Cool.  Separate 7 eggs and beat the egg whites.  Add 125 grams butter, 7 egg yolks, 100 grams of sugar and the juice and zest of half a lemon to the rice mixture, than add the beaten egg whites.  Pour the batter into a spring form pan and bake in a not too hot oven for 3/4 hour.