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02/04/2008 Archived Entry: "New Appearance Schedule and a Love Torte"

As you all know, “Arthur Schwartz’s Jewish Home Cooking: Yiddish Recipes Revisited” is being published in March by Ten Speed Press, which is famous for its gorgeous full-color cookbooks. This debut will be keeping me very busy this spring with personal appearances all over the New York metro area. I’ve prepared a new illustrated lecture based on the book, using both Ben Fink’s photography from the book, which makes our old-time Yiddish dishes look as delicious and glamorous as any fashionable cuisine, plus many of the historic visuals I have collected over the years – old restaurant menus, restaurant postcards, even some material from the Catskill Mountain resorts, the Borscht Belt. I will also be doing demonstration cooking classes at several area cooking schools, book signings and informal talks at bookstores … . This is all to tell you that my new appearance schedule is now posted on www.thefoodmaven.com (aka www.arthurschwartz.com). Take a look. I am hoping to see many of you at these events.

COLATURA ANYONE?
Who knew I had so many anchovy lovers in my crowd? One mention of anchovy essence, colatura, which I explained in my last newsletter (see the archived entry in the Maven’s Diary on my website: Things I Bought in Italy), made many of you salivate and want to buy some yourself. Those of you with a passion for the little fry could form a club. I nominate myself for president.

I have good news for members who are interested in purchasing colatura. I said I didn’t know where you could purchase it on this side of the Atlantic, but I did a little research – actually, only very little was necessary -- and found out that colatura is quite available by mail order from several internet sources. I found it on Amazon, in fact -- just put the word colatura on the search line. The price is high. In the shop where I buy it on the main street of Vietri sul Mare, a tourist shop after all, I pay 6 euro 50 for my three-and-a-half-ounce bottle (100 grams). Even with the terrible exchange rate, that’s about $10. On line, the best price I found was $28 for the same amount. It can be as high as $30. Take a look at this letter as it is posted in the Maven’s Diary. I give a link to a commercial source for this elixir.

THE LOVE TORTE
Speaking of lovers, Valentine’s Day is coming all too soon (how’s that for a corny transition?), and I have an elegant but gluttonously rich Valentine’s Day dessert recipe to share with you.

Story: It was called Love Torte when it was first published apropos Valentine’s Day in Newsday in the mid 1970s, when I was the assistant food editor of Long Island’s newspaper. My boss, the food editor, Barbara Rader, was sent this recipe by the Lazzaroni company that makes Amaretti di Sarrono, the crisp macaroons with the bitter-almond flavor on which the liqueur Amaretto di Sarrono (now called “Disaronno Originale,” I just noticed), is based. In fact, I have a feeling that this was a recipe disseminated by the company to promote the introduction of the liqueur in the American market. Only Italians (from Italy) knew these products before the late 1960s/early 1970s, and the cookies were popular for years before the now much more popular liqueur. Recipes are one way food companies market alcoholic products to people who don’t drink, as well as to those of us who do. On the other hand, you can’t sell much liqueur based on the two tablespoons called for in this recipe. On the other, other hand, you’d have to buy a whole bottle to get those two tablespoons.

I am here to testify that it is worth the purchase. And the work it takes to produce this very special dessert. It is a spectacular cake. The “torte,” a word that means the cake is made without flour and that it is leavened only by eggs, is composed of ground hazelnuts and ground Amaretti. The filling is lightly sweetened, Amaretto-flavored whipped cream. The icing is a true buttercream, rich with egg yolks, flavored with chocolate and a tablespoon of Amaretto. If you like, you can slightly increase the amounts of liqueur in both the whipped cream filling and buttercream. With amounts given, it is elegantly subtle. Still, you can add as much as double the amount without throwing off the texture of either the whipped cream or the buttercream. Instead of Amaretto with its bitter almond flavor, you can also use Frangelico liqueur, which is flavored with hazelnut. They are the nuts in the torte, after all.

THE LOVE TORTE

Serves at least 10

For the cake:
1 3/4 cup hazelnuts
15 amaretti di Saronno cookies
5 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 2 tablespoons

For the icing:
5 egg yolks
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 tablespoons Amaretto di Saronno liqueur
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the filling:
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon Amaretto di Saronno liqueur

To prepare the torte layers:
Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan. Cut out a piece of parchment to fit the bottom of the pan. Put it over the buttered and floured base of the pan.

Put a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Preferably using a hand-held rotary grater, grind the nuts. They should be fine and powdery. You should get 2 1/2 cups of ground nuts.

In the same way, or using a mini-processor, grind the amaretti cookies until powdery. You should have 3/4 cup.

In a small bowl, combine and stir together the ground hazelnuts and amaretti.

Separate 3 of the eggs, using the yolks for the torte base, the whites for a meringue that gets folded into the batter.

In a stand mixer, using the whisk, beat together the 2 whole eggs and 3 egg yolks on medium-high speed. With the motor running, add the 1/2 cup of sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Increase the speed to high and beat until light colored and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

In a clean bowl, beat the 3 egg whites until frothy, then sprinkle in the last 2 tablespoons of sugar as you continue beating until the whites hold firm peaks.

By hand, using a rubber spatula, alternately fold the egg whites and ground mixture into the beaten eggs, using half of each for each dose.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Gently even out the batter in the pan. Bake for 40 minutes, until the center of the cake tests dry with a toothpick.

Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before removing the cake from the pan: Before attempting to remove it, insert a thin-bladed sharp knife between the cake and the pan.

To prepare the icing:
In a stand up mixer, with the whisk, beat the egg yolks on medium-high speed until light colored. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar. The mixture will be very thick.

Lower the speed and whisk in the melted chocolate, then the Amaretto liqueur. Finally, add the butter, about 1 tablespoon at a time. When the butter has all been absorbed, the icing should be very smooth.

The icing can be made several days ahead and kept refrigerated. Make sure to bring it back to room temperature. Before attempting to ice the cake, the buttercream must be very soft.

To prepare the filling:
In a stand up mixer, with a hand-electric mixer, or even by hand, beat the cream with the sugar and the liqueur until it holds firm peaks.

To assemble:
When the cake has fully cooled, slice it horizontally to make 2 layers.

Line a serving plate with 3 squares of waxed paper that can be pulled out from under the cake when it has been filled and iced. Place the bottom layer of cake on the serving plate, cut side up.

Spoon all of the whipped cream onto the cake layer and spread evenly.

Top with the second cake layer, cut side down. Using a metal spatula, ice the cake on top and down the sides.

Keep refrigerated, but bring back to near room temperature before slicing and serving.