Way back when we first found Great British Bake-Off, the Schichttorte caught Joe's eye. I would be writing my to-do list for Thanksgiving day and he would sneak over while I peeled potatoes to add SCHICHTTORTE at the bottom. Whenever I was thinking about what kind of cake to make for a special occasion, he'd say "Schichttorte?"
A Schichttorte is a many-layered cake that you build up under the broiler, adding a few spoonfuls of batter at a time. I've made teeny-tiny skinny layers before for Dobos torte, but this recipe directs you to make 20 layers. Twenty is a lot of layers, my friends.
Joe wasn't sure what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday today, but it hit me: I could make him a Schichttorte while he was working. He would be so surprised! He would feel so loved!
I used the BBC recipe but it is kind of frustrating. You have to combine a thick paste with egg whites beaten to soft peaks, which is an excellent strategy for deflating your egg whites. If I ever wanted to make another one, I would try this recipe instead, which seems less likely to yield a lumpy batter.
My first layer went into the garbage can, because my broiler seems to have more oomph than the one in the BBC test kitchen. I wound up with 18 layers rather than 20, and after scorching the first one I was less aggressive about broiling the rest of them. So my layers aren't as visible as the ones in the BBC picture, but trust me: they're there.
Here's the before picture:
And here's the after:
The finished product was a little dense, which I suppose is an unsurprising outcome if you keep piling new layers on top of old ones when your only leavening is beaten egg. Although I added some salt, it could have used a little more. (What is it with European desserts and salt?) It was not the most delicious cake I've ever made, but it was a fun experiment anyway.
Joe, who was newly 2 when I started blogging, is now 19.
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