Prinzregent Torte

FILLING
2 C Chocolate pudding 7 oz Butter, unsalted
-(extra strong) 1 2/3 C Powdered 10X sugar

FROSTING
1 oz Cocoa powder, bitter 3 T Water, boiling
1 oz Butter (sweet), melted -(up to 4 T)

In an electric mixer, whip the salted butter. Add sugar, vanilla and eggs.
Beat smooth. Mix flour with cornstarch and baking powder and sift a second
time (you sift it once before you measured it, right?). Add flour mixture
to egg mixture, stirring constantly.

Make 8 layers, each less than about 1/4 inch thick, by baking each in the
bottom of an 8-inch springform layer pan. Do this by cutting a round of
baker’s parchment that exactly fits the bottom of the layer pan, then using
a spatula to spread the dough evenly over the parchment. Make sure that it
doesn’t get too thin at the edges. Bake each layer for 7 minutes in a
preheated 400 degree F. oven. Stack the layers separated by waxed paper.

MAKE THE PUDDING: Use more chocolate in the pudding than you would
normally use. If you want to be lazy and use pudding from a mix, then add
about a tablespoon of top-quality cocoa to the pudding mix. Stir the
pudding while it cools so that it does not congeal. Beat the unsalted
butter until it is very smooth. When the butter and pudding are about the
same temperature, add the pudding to the butter to get an even, smooth
buttercream.

Use the pudding/butter mixture as mortar, and layer the cake together,
spreading the pudding/butter evenly between the layers. Make sure the
layers are even and parallel; if they are not, or if one is not straight,
you can mend things with a little extra pudding here and there. Do not put
pudding on top of the topmost layer, and try not to get too much on the
outside edges.

MAKE A CHOCOLATE FROSTING: Sift the powdered 10X sugar and cocoa together,
add the melted butter while stirring constantly, then add boiling water.
Frost the cake, taking pains to make sure the sides are perfectly smooth
and the top is perfectly smooth. Let the cake sit at cool room temperature
for at least an hour before serving.

NOTES:

* Austrian 8-layer chocolate cake — I made this recipe for my boyfriend
on his birthday and he asked me to marry him (I did). I’m not saying for
sure that the Prinzregent Torte is why Don wanted to marry me, but I’ve
always worried that it might have been. It is a magnificent recipe that
always evokes incredulous cries of pleasure from people that I serve it to.
The cake is a lot of work, so I only make it about once a year, but the
people that I make it for feel very special. Yield: Serves 2-8.

* If you are not an experienced baker, you should be warned that in
recipes like this it is important to measure exactly and to follow the
instructions exactly. People who prefer to cook by testing, tasting, and
adding more ingredients should avoid intricate baking.

* These layers are baked in the bottom of a springform pan. Such a pan
bottom is about 8 inches in diameter, and has a raised lip that is about
1/8 inch high. It resembles a miniature pizza pan. I have never succeeded
in making this torte with layers bigger than about 10 inches; about 8
inches is easier. The baker’s parchment is crucial and there is no good
substitute, though buttered kraft paper (from shopping bags) will work in a
pinch. Use a new piece of parchment for each layer. If you don’t make the
layers straight, then when you pile them up, the cake will be mounded up in
the middle or will sag down in the middle or will tilt to one side.

* If you are not an experienced cake froster, then make double the recipe
of frosting. Unskilled frosters usually use too much frosting, and you
don’t really want to run out. You can charge money to people who want to
lick the spoon if there is any left over.

Difficulty: rather difficult; Time: 1 hour; Precision: measure
carefully.

: Delight Covill
: Fairchild Camera and Instrument