Looking for a torte recipe

[luv2bake2]

Hi everyone! I am new here and hope someone can help. Years ago my mom regularly purchased "tortes" from a Ukranian restaurant and I would love to find some similar recipes. After doing a little research I have discovered that Germans (and maybe others) use the word torte to describe any cake. The type that I am looking for was unique. It had about 5 very thin layers (each different) and about 5 different fillings. I recall chocolate, yellow and nut layers with various fruit, chocolate and even coffee fillings. Most multi-layer cakes I have come across only have one type of layer and one or two different fillings. This type of cake must be extremely labor intensive but I would love to try it. Any ideas for websites, cookbooks or even the correct name would be GREATLY appreciated.

[David Cottrell]

Oh my, what a challenge! First welcome in Luv2bake2, surely someone has an idea. How about CharlieD. If you find the five different layers and five different fillings The best I've done is about ten layers - all the same with one pastry and one filling but with chocolate poured over. You are definitely describing a Ukrainian constuction with a bunch of thin layers.

[Finmar001]

I love to make almond torte for special occasions

[CharlieD]

First of all welcome to the site. I'm sure we can help you some how.

Ukrainian and Russian cuisine have a lot of so called "torts". If you could describe the tort a little bit more maybe I can dig it out or talk to friends and see what they have to say. What kind of layers are you talking about, was it simple dough or something else, i.e. meringue? Also could you tell me where you are located? Maybe you can just go to Russian/Ukrainian store and see what they have available. You can either purchase or simply get better idea of what you want to make.

[luv2bake2]

Thanks everyone for your quick responses. What a great community you have here!

I would be thrilled with any Ukranian recipe. I no longer remember the exact layers but I know that some cake layers were more like a meringue, some like very dense and moist cake. I found a few recipes online for the meringue layer but none of the cake layers seemed right. It would probably be easy enough to make coffee and chocolate buttercream. But I know there were other layers and really would love to find a complete recipe.

Thanks again. By the way I am in Chicago and tried the Ukranian bakery in Ukranian Village. They aren't selling any currently and I really would like to bake this myself. Thanks again

[CharlieD]

Did it have any nuts? If it did I bet you are in for a serious surprise. There is this one "tort" that is out of this world but very involved and very labor intensive.

[CharlieD]

Also, you should go to some of the Russian stores. There are plenty in Chicago. Check them out. I bet you'll find something simular to what you want and then give me the name, I'll try to find the recipe. Now if you are up for chalenge I have a simple tort recipe called "Limonnik" here if you want you can start with that. Here is the link: Limonnik:

It is not as fancy as the one you describe, but a good begining.

[luv2bake2]

Thanks for the Limonnik recipe! Are you Russian? I did not realize that Russians also baked torts. I will check the Russian neighborhood in our city for torts.

There actually was a layer of nutty cake in the torts I have had. Do you have a recipe for such a cake? I recall the nuts were not ground and so left that layer with a grainy texture - yet very moist. The fruit layers also were not just plain jam but had almost a jellied texture like fruit cake... Any ideas?

Thanks again. If you can't back to me again I am grateful for the info you have been able to give me.

[CharlieD]

I have a recipe for a tort called Kievskij (Kiev is a capital of Ukraine and was famous for ammasing cakes/torts). I am from Kiev originaly. The only problem with the recipe it is in Russian and it would have be translated into english. The only problem I am extrememly busy for next month or so. But I will try to do it after that time, if you are interested of course.

[luv2bake2]

Oooo. Sounds tempting.. Thanks for offering but I appreciate that it would be time consuming to translate. If I haven't found anything else I 'll post again about this next month. If not, thanks again for your help.