Forgotten torte is an old fashioned dessert made from egg whites and whipped cream. You make it the night before and forget it in the oven until morning. It is simple and oh so delicious.
This cake is really like a giant meringue that is “forgotten” in the oven overnight. Top it with whipped cream and this old fashioned torte really becomes special.
We love it with a sprinkling of orange zest because it compliments the vanilla so nicely. This vintage recipe deserves a renaissance.
After making a giant batch of crème brulee for New Year’s Eve, I found myself with another round of extra egg whites and cream. I had just made a delicious raspberry cocoa pavlova, so I wanted to do something a little different this time.
This forgotten torte is more or less the same ingredients as the pavlova, but the texture and presentation is completely different. It was so much fun to give this a try.
I had only heard of the forgotten torte recently so it was exciting to make one come to be so quickly. I was helping out at a local gourmet kitchen shop and the owner mentioned it.
She is a wealth of information, so I was immediately intrigued. I knew I had to learn more and make one.
This old fashioned recipe is actually pretty simple to make. I was worried that the fan in my oven may ruin it.
You see, my oven turns on a fan and vents the heat after a cycle. So it cools faster than an old fashioned oven would.
That has been an issue for a couple of recipes that involve a long rest in the oven. Sometimes I’ll make up for it by turning the oven on to 200F a couple of times during the rest time to slow down the cooling process.
Luckily it worked for this recipe. Though ideally you would just preheat the oven, load the meringue, turn it off and leave it.
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They should really have a way to turn off the silly fan. I guess they didn’t have this recipe in kind when they designed it!
It is hard to describe the texture of this torte. It ended up having a nice crunch bottom with a much softer cake-like texture to the body than you would imagine.
It was a really interesting cross between a soft meringue like a pie topper and a crunchy meringue cookie. The whipped cream makes it delicious.
All of the textures and the soft flavor come together in such an interesting way. This is one you will have to try to get the full experience.
Don’t worry if you need something to do with all of the egg yolks. Make a vintage gold cake to go along with the torte.
Decorating your torte
We like piling lightly sweet vanilla whipped cream on ours. You could very easily adjust the flavors or color the whipped cream for a fun change.
A little orange zest adds a nice flavor. It goes perfectly with the vanilla of the cream and the meringue.
As with anything, fun sprinkles would jazz it up. You could also make some cocoa whipped cream for a chocolate twist.
Because of the whipped cream, you want to store the torte in the refrigerator. For the best texture you’ll want to eat it in the first couple of days, but it’s so delicious that shouldn’t be a problem.
Forgotten Torte
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 egg whites at room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- zest of an orange optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F
- In your mixer, combine the 6 egg whites, ¼ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon cream of tartar. Mix on medium until frothy.
- Slowly add 1½ cups granulated sugar. You want to add it a bit at a time and make sure it has a chance to be fully incorporated before you add more.
- Beat until egg whites form stiff glossy peaks. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and ⅛ teaspoon almond extract.
- Spoon into prepared tube pan and spread evenly.
- Place into preheated oven, shut door and immediately turn oven off.
- Leave overnight.
- In the morning, run a knife along the edges of the pan. Unmold onto serving dish. You can leave it like that until you are closer to being ready to serve.
- Whip 1 cup heavy cream, 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste. Spread over torte. I zested an orange, allowing the spray from the process to land on the whipped cream and sprinkled the zest around the torte. You would be surprised how much orange flavor this gave the dessert! It was so good.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve. The torte holds well in the fridge.
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The recipe says to spread into a “prepared” tube pan. I didn’t see how to “prepare” it. Do you use cooking spray? Parchment paper?
Sorry about that, you want to grease the bottom of the tube pan. Buttering it is good or spray it with a little bit of cooking spray.
Aw this looks and sounds fabulous. I like the addition of the orange flavoring. Thanks for sharing.