Red Gooseberry Cream Almond Torte

by Lora Wiley-Lennartz

Fine, my mother in law made this torte for a family celebration in June and I just about fell on the floor when I tasted it. It was that good.

I begged for the recipe because I just had to make this torte. Stat. Unfortunately, the gooseberry season here in Germany is in late July. Fine used fresh ones she had frozen. Well tough luck for me because I was leaving the following week for the States and would not be back until September.

When I returned to Germany last week, Fine greeted me with a surprise. While I was away over the summer, she bought me a box of these beauties and froze them so I could make the torte upon my return. How thoughtful. I was so touched she remembered.

Apologies for posting a recipe made without of season berries but if you are in a place where you can still get red gooseberries – Make. This. Now.
Red Gooseberry Cream Almond Torte


Ingredients:

  • 3 cups Red Gooseberries
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 3/4 cup butter
  • 5 eggs separated
  • 1+1/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1+1/2 cups thin sliced almonds
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 2 table spoons vanilla sugar
  • 3 tablespoons whipped cream stabilizer
Directions:

For the Red Gooseberry Sauce:

  • Put the berries in a saucepan over medium heat.
  • Add 3/4 cup of the sugar and mix together.
  • Stir occasionally to break up the berries.
  • When the mixture looks like a sauce, whisk the cornstarch one table spoon at a time until the sauce is thickened.
  • Turn the heat down low and simmer for about 15 minutes.
  • Remove from heat and cool completely.

For the Cake Layers:
  • Preheat oven to 360 Degrees
  • Line the bottom of two springform pans with baking paper.
  • Mix together the flour and baking powder and set aside.
  • Cream butter and 3/4 cup of the sugar together.
  • Add 5 egg yolks one at a time.
  • Add in the flour mixture in thirds.
  • Separate the batter between the two pans and set aside
For the Meringue:
  • Beat the egg whites and 3/4 cup of the sugar until stiff.
  • Spread over cake mixture in each pan and sprinkle with the almonds.
  • Bake both pans for 30 minutes or until the almonds are nice and brown
  • Let cool completely.
For the Red Gooseberry Cream:
  • Whip the cream adding the vanilla sugar and the whipped cream stabilizer.
  • Fold in the cooled gooseberry sauce.
For Assembly:
  • Remove the cake parts from the pan, peel off the parchment paper.
  • Set one on a cake plate. (I recommend using a cake ring for this process.)
  • Fit a cake ring around this bottom layer and pour the gooseberry cream on top.
  • Put the second cake part on top and put the cake in the fridge for at least a half hour before serving.

You may also like

7 comments

Lora February 28, 2011 - 10:42 am

@West Compton Manor. Thank you SO much for catching that mistake in this post. I have fixed it now. The answer is 1+1/4 cups flour. I really appreciate your feedback.

Reply
Anonymous February 24, 2011 - 6:27 pm

How much flour is in the receipe, as you don't list it in the ingredients?

Reply
Anonymous September 20, 2010 - 6:32 am

Is gooseberry the same thing as johannisberren?

Reply
Ali. September 17, 2010 - 7:59 pm

The only thing better than the gift of food is a thoughtful, sentimental (and, in this case, somewhat rare and out of season) gift of food.

Such a pretty torte.

Reply
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella September 16, 2010 - 5:17 am

What a lovely friend to do that for you! 🙂 That looks magnificent! 😀

Reply
Reeni September 16, 2010 - 1:45 am

I never had a gooseberry! But this looks absolutely heavenly! And so pretty.

Reply
Jamie September 15, 2010 - 6:35 pm

What a sweet mother-in-law! And this is so like a recipe I made once a long time ago and have been wondering why I don't make it anymore! I love it! You have inspired me!

Reply

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.