August 21: National Pecan Torte Day

Not to be confused with tort, a civil wrong at law.

This is difficult to define, but commonly taken to mean a rich and often layered and filled cake usually made with little or no flour; instead, fine bread crumbs or grated nuts are used. Rich butter icing, chocolate or whipped cream complete it.

A torte is a cake made primarily with eggs, sugar, and ground nuts instead of flour. Variations may include bread crumbs as well as some flour. Tortes are Central European in origin. The word torte is derived from the German word Torte, which has a somewhat different meaning), which was derived from the Italian word torta, which was used to describe a round cake or bread.

The most well-known of the typical tortes include the Austrian Sacher torte and Linzertorte, the German Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte and the many-layered HungarianDobos torte. But other well-known European confections are also tortes, such as the French Gâteau St. Honoré. Tortes are commonly baked in a Springform pan.

An element common to most tortes is sweet icing. (Exceptions include several French tortes, such as Gâteau Mercédès and Gâteau Alcazar.) When the cake is layered, a thick covering of icing is placed between the layers, and there is almost always icing on the tops and sides of the torte. A number of European tortes do not have layers.

CLICK HERE FOR A PECAN TORTE RECIPE