German Blitz Torte

Yum

This German Blitz Torte recipe is such a quick and easy cake to make! Even though this recipe looks long and complicated, it isn't. Blitz Torte can be whipped together quickly with ingredients you probably already have on hand and the results are yummy! I'm including two recipes here. My Mutti's and mine (Oma's ... that's me!) Check out both and you decide!

For something even more special, add strawberries or other berries to the filling. Decorate this German Blitz Torte with whipped cream and more berries - a real treat! Yes, this is a quick German recipe at its BEST!

1. Oma's German Blitz Torte Recipe

The Blitz Torte, shown above and in the collage below, uses a whipped cream filling instead of the traditional custard-type filling. That makes my version (I'm Oma!) easier. Follow My Mutti's Blitz Torte recipe below except make the following changes:

For the Whipped Cream filling: Use 2 cups whipping cream and 2 packages of Dr. Oetker's Sahnesteif (Whip It) to stabilize it.  Whip the cream, adding the Whip It as per package instructions.  Use this to fill the cake. (The whipped cream held up beautifully in the cake.)

Since you will an extra egg yolk left over (that you're not using for the custard filling), you can added it to the batter and only use 4 Tbsp milk. 

2. My Mutti's Blitz Torte

Ingredients:

Meringue

• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ⅓ tsp baking powder
• ½ cup sliced or chopped almonds

Cake

• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 6 Tbsp milk
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp almond extract

Filling (Custard-type)

• 1 cup milk
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 Tbsp corn starch
• 1 Tbsp butter
• ½ tsp vanilla or almond extract

Instructions:

Meringue

• Preheat oven to 325° F. 
  
• Grease and flour 2 8-inch layer pans with removable bottoms. Set aside.
• In a bowl, beat egg whites until frothy (soft peak stage). Gradually beat in sugar and baking powder until stiff and glossy. Place in fridge until ready to use.

Cake

• In another bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg yolks.
  
• Mix together flour and baking powder. Add to butter mixture. Add milk and almond extract and mix well.
• Spread batter into pans. It will be a thin layer of batter. Use a wet spoon to help spread it out.
• Spread half of meringue over batter in each pan.
• Sprinkle each pan with almonds.

Finish Cake:

• Bake cake until cake tests done and meringue is set, about 35 - 40 minutes. Cool.
• While cake is baking, make filling (see below).
• Remove cake from pans. Let cool on rack. Place one layer on serving plate with the meringue side up. If you have a cake ring (shown in collage below), place it around cake.
• Spread filling on layer.
• Place other layer on top with meringue side up. Carefully remove cake ring, if using. 
• Decorate with Whipped Cream if desired. Keep refrigerated.
• Serves 8 ... use a serrated bread knife to cut or an electric knife ... they both work well.

Filling (Custard-type)

• Mix milk, sugar, and corn starch together. Bring to boil, stirring constantly.
• Remove from heat. Pour some of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolk and mix. Pour egg mixture back into rest of hot milk and return to heat and bring just to boiling point.
• Remove from heat and add butter. Cool and add almond or vanilla extract.

Blitz Torte aka ...

There are so many different names for this cake (or ones very similar) such as Berliner Luft Torte (Berlin Air Torte), Himmelstorte (Heaven's Torte), Tausenblättertorte (Thousand Leaves Torte), Jensen Torte, Jensen Hansen Torte, and even Schwimmbadtorte (Swimming Pool Torte)!

Personally, I like Blitz Torte, which is what I grew up with. Why? Blitz means lightning or with lightning speed, and that's what this cake is. Speedy to make! And, speedy to eat! 

Changing Mutti's recipe and making my own version ...

Below is the first time I made Mutti's Blitz Torte and filled it with whipped cream. This is the only way I've made it since then! So easy and so good!

Pride comes before the fall!

This German Blitz Torte recipe is one cake that I made when I was still quite young and wanted to impress my friends. Nothing quite like showing off with a cake that looks so difficult, tastes so good, and at the same time, so easy to make.

However, I have to admit, showing off is not good. It leads to embarrassing situations. When I was eleven and staying at my Aunt's who lived on the other side of the Ontario, I figured I would show her what a great baker I was. I had this Blitz Torte recipe memorized.

So I started out. What I didn't know, though, was that there were certain rules on how to make meringue. At home I never had any problems. I always used a clean bowl and clean beaters when making this meringue recipe because my Mutti had more than one set.

At my Aunt's, I needed to reuse the beaters I had just used to make the batter. I quickly rinsed them and started to use them. My Aunt tried to tell me that I needed to really clean the beaters to make sure there was no grease of any kind on them. I told her it didn't matter. OH, how I wish I would have listened to her!

Of course, the egg whites wouldn't beat up with the contamination of the batter in them. I needed to start the meringue over with 4 new egg whites in a very clean bowl with very clean beaters. I learned my lesson on PRIDE that day!

Also, I learned to make the Meringue first and then put in the fridge. Then make the batter. No chance of contamination!

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More German Tortes ...

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Want nutritional information for a recipe? Copy and paste the ingredient list and the number of servings into Calorie Count. It will give you an approximate calculation.

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