Esterházy Torte

Prepare the nuts. I prefer to buy raw hazelnuts and toast them myself in the oven. Pre-toasted nuts go stale much faster, so there's a good chance you'll end up with rancid, low-quality ones from the store. I'd recommend picking up a little extra — about 250 g of hazelnuts (or whatever nuts you've chosen). Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and place in an oven preheated to 200°C (400°F). Toast for 5–8 minutes (I went with 8 minutes). Watch them closely — nuts can burn quickly. When the skins have cracked and darkened nicely, they're done.

Let the nuts cool, then rub off the skins. Check for and discard any that look dark or off.

Finely grind the nuts, then mix in the flour and a pinch of salt.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, gradually adding the sugar. They're ready when the bowl can be turned upside down without the whites falling out.

Add the ground nuts and gently fold them in with a spatula using a bottom-to-top motion, being careful not to deflate the mixture.

You'll need to bake 8 layers in total. To do this, trace a 20 cm (8-inch) plate onto parchment paper, then flip the sheet over. You'll need four sheets with two circles each. I'd suggest doing this ahead of time. Spread the batter evenly into thin circles.

Bake in an oven preheated to 160°C (320°F) for approximately 15–25 minutes. I baked in two batches of four layers each, swapping the top and bottom sheets halfway through baking.

Let the baked layers rest for at least a couple of hours to firm up, then flip them over and carefully peel off the parchment paper.

Make the cream. Combine the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla sugar, and flour in a bowl, add a splash of milk, and mix well.

Heat the remaining milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan until hot. Pour it into the egg yolk mixture while stirring constantly, then pour everything back into the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously with a spatula or whisk, until slightly thickened. Let cool completely.

Beat the butter until noticeably lighter in color. The butter should be at room temperature and soft (take it out of the refrigerator in advance).

Gradually add the pastry cream to the butter, beating until smooth after each addition.

Add the condensed milk and beat until combined. I used a can of condensed milk I boiled myself; you can use store-bought boiled condensed milk if you trust the quality.

This is what the finished cream looks like. Taste it and adjust as you like — you can add a little more condensed milk or powdered sugar.

Assemble the cake by spreading cream between each layer.

Here's how it looks at this stage. Refrigerate the cake overnight to let it soak and set.

For the topping, melt the white chocolate in a double boiler or microwave. When I melted the white chocolate it turned yellow, which is definitely not ideal for a white top, so I gradually stirred in 6 tbsp of 20% heavy cream until the mixture turned white again. Add the bloomed gelatin and stir until dissolved. Let cool.

Pour the white coating over the top of the cake.

Using a piping cone or a small piping bag, draw a spiral of melted dark chocolate over the white surface. Then drag a toothpick from the center outward 8 times, and between those lines drag it in the opposite direction 8 more times. This creates a web-like pattern. Unfortunately, my white coating set quickly while I was melting the dark chocolate, so my design didn't turn out as spider-web-like as I'd hoped. So I want to emphasize: you need to do this immediately, without any delay — pour the white glaze, pipe the chocolate spiral right away, and draw the lines immediately. Have everything ready and within reach before you start.

Press sliced almonds around the sides of the cake.

Here's a look at the slice.

I also decorated the top with sugar pearls. Before serving, be sure to take the cake out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature for about 20–30 minutes — the flavor will really open up and the texture will be softer. Esterházy Torte has not only a stunning appearance but an exceptional taste. It's truly delicious!