Old Viennese Esterházy cake

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 10 egg whites
• 170 g sugar, fine (preferably Viennese baking sugar)
• 1 pinch of cinnamon
• 30 g candied lemon, finely chopped
• 180 g hazelnuts, finely grated
• 70 g wheat flour
• 5 egg yolks
• 40 g flour or cornstarch
• 3.3 dl milk (whole milk)
• 130 g powdered sugar
• 220 g butter
• 3 cl cognac (or kirsch, arrack, good rum …)
• ½ jar apricot jam
• 100 g chocolate coating (half dark, half milk)
• 1 tbsp Nutella
• ½ tbsp oil (nut or sunflower oil)
• 20 g chocolate, white

Instructions

Working time approx. 2 hours 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 6 hours; Total time approx. 8 hours 30 minutes

finest hazelnut meringue bases with yolk buttercream

For the meringue base, beat the egg whites until stiff and gradually add the sugar, beating well again. Stir in the cinnamon, the very finely chopped candied lemon peel, and the hazelnuts. Finally, carefully fold in the sifted flour. The original recipe calls for five round cake bases, each about 3-4 mm thick. For simplicity’s sake, I make three square ones, the size of a baking sheet, which I cut in half after baking (see photo). Bake the bases at about 200°C for 12-15 minutes until light brown. Once cooled, remove from the baking paper and sandwich them together with the cream. For the cream, beat the egg yolks with the flour, pour in the milk, and bring the mixture to a boil while stirring. Once cooled, cream the butter until very fluffy and gradually add it to the sugar until it forms a completely white mixture. Then fold in the cooled cream a spoonful at a time (careful: do this slowly! And make sure the cream and butter mixture are the same temperature, otherwise the cream will curdle!). Finally, flavor with the alcohol and assemble the cake layers with the finished cream. Place the top cake layer upside down and spread evenly with apricot jam. Then let the cake sit in a cool place overnight, or allow the jam to dry slightly. The next day, temper the chocolate coating, mix it with Nutella and nut oil until smooth, and cover the cake with it. Melt the white chocolate as well, stir it with a teaspoon of oil until smooth and decorate the cake with the typical Esterházy pattern (this is my version, as I find the typical sugar glaze too sweet! But you can do it however you like, the only thing that matters is the pattern!). The cake tastes best when it has been allowed to stand for 2-3 days (if it isn’t eaten beforehand!).