Torte

This eats like a cross between a pecan pie, sticky toffee pudding, and a butterscotch sundae.

This pecan-studded chocolate spice-cake is filled with a luscious chocolate buttercream, drenched in a rich espresso-infused ganache and then decorated with edible dark and white chocolate ribbons for an impressive presentation.

As much as I like a pavlova, this dessert takes that classic combination and blows it out of the water. Piña Colada Pastry Cream lightened with softly whipped cream, layered with caramelized fresh pineapple, crunchy-chewy French meringue, and crisp strips of toasted coconut is textural nirvana. Searing fresh pineapple in a skillet adds caramel flavor to balance very sweet fruit. This is a showstopper.

Cook the figs until just softened: Overcooking or intense boiling will render them tough instead of lush.

Rich with chocolate and studded with bits of toasted almonds with a faint coconut flavor, this heavenly dessert is a special finish to a holiday meal. Because the leavening comes from aeration, it is essential that the ingredients be at room temperature before assembling the batter.

The chocolate glaze takes time to cool; have it ready before assembling the torte. This ganache thickens as it sits. The ganache used for the Inside-Out German Chocolate Torte and in step 7 of the Belgian Chocolate Birthday Cake (page 507) should be pourable but thick enough to fully coat the cakes.

Tortes are common throughout central Europe, and Dobos is a popular one, named for the Hungarian chef who invented it in 1887.

This torte is best eaten the day it is baked, when the crust is still crisp. You will need a nine-inch bottomless tart ring; a springform pan will also work. Instead of making the jam, you can use 1 1/4 cups store-bought raspberry jam.

This rustic cake has the flavor and texture of an old-fashioned Eastern European dessert. Use either a nut grinder or food processor to grind pecans.

In Austria, where this handsome dessert originated, linzertorte is enjoyed all year long, but its festive red-and-gold palette makes it especially popular at holiday celebrations. The cookielike crust, rich with ground almonds, is layered with raspberry jam and crisscrossed into a windowpane pattern.

我们的行政总厨和糕点大师(和榛子lover) Lura Smith has made this rich, dense torte for fifteen years to celebrate the hazelnuts of the region. The torte is made with agave syrup, a natural substitute for corn syrup. Agave syrup is available at specialty grocery stores.

There are probably as many apple cakes as there are varieties of apples. This one is easy, rich, and delicious, and it keeps fairly well, too. Use an apple that will soften during cooking, like Cortland, Rome, Golden Delicious, or McIntosh.

Linzertorte is really a big jam-topped cookie, and, for the amount of work—it’s pretty simple—is one of the most impressive desserts around. You can make individual cookies if you prefer. Red currant or raspberry jam is traditional, but you can use any jam you like as long as it is of high quality. If it is not already seedless, strain it to remove the seeds.

Apples grow well in the Carnic mountains, in the northern part of Friuli, and are used in many desserts. This delicious double-crusted tart reflects the deep-rooted frugality of cooks in this tough mountainous terrain. The crust is made with bread crumbs taken from stale bread, probably because of the scarcity of white flour and the time it takes to make a refined pastry dough. But the results, in the Carnic spirit, are delicious.

Sacher torte is known around the world as a specialty of Vienna (at the Hotel Sacher) but is commonly found in pastry shops and in home kitchens of Trieste. It is sure to delight the chocolate lovers in your household. It will keep well for a few days in a cookie tin without refrigeration, but for longer storing time do refrigerate. You can also bake and freeze the cake layers in advance. Defrost and assemble and glaze the torte before serving.