Mes amis,

After skipping over Italian buckthorn day, 7 Ventôse, we’ve arrived at Violet Day.  I thought about making candied violets, but having just made candied ginger, I decided to go in a different direction. Both Escoffier and Larousse Gastronomique suggest violet souffles, but I don’t have a souffle dish. Instead, I went with the spanische windtorte, an austrian meringue cake.

The Great British Baking show featured the windtorte in season six, so it’s a little hard to sort through Google to find information about it not related to the show. It seems to have been an Austrian confection, created during the baroque period. It was the cover picture for the Time Life Cookbook, “The Cooking of Vienna’s Empire” published in 1968. In that cookbook, in the Great British Bake Off and in nearly every photo of the cake in a Google image search, it is decorated with violets. Escoffier has an identical dish, but calls it German Meringue.

The ingredients for the torte couldn’t be simpler, but it took me many hours of baking and preparation. The end result was quite pleasing, but I think you might be better served with an Eton mess or a Pavlova. Identical taste, but much less elaborate construction. The spanische windtorte needs a top and bottom cap of meringue and several rings of meringue to make up the walls of the cake. Once those have cooked at a very low temperature for an hour, you assemble the windtorte and pipe more meringue to fill in cracks, etc. Bake again. Then, make swiss meringue on the stove and pipe on the decorations. Fill with (traditionally) raspberries or strawberries – I used pineapple – and cream and eat immediately (because it starts to fall apart).

Spanishe Windtorte / Violet Meringue 

Shell 

8 egg whites

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

2 cups sugar

Decorative Meringue 

4 egg whites

1 cup sugar

Filling 

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup diced pineapple (or fruit of choice)

Heat the oven to 200 degrees. First, line two baking trays with parchment paper. Then, draw 5 circles of 7 or 8 inch diameter. I used a smallish pan lid. Whisk the eggs and cream of tartar for the shell in an electric mixer. When they form stiff peaks, slowly add in the sugar a little at a time.

Using a piping bag or ziplock with a corner cut out, pipe two full circles and three rings of meringue on the parchment. Bake for 45 minutes and then remove and let cool. When the meringues are dry, start the assembly of the shell. Place the bottom and the three rings on a serving platter that can go in the oven. Using the remaining meringue, fill in cracks between the rings and generally make the outer shell smooth. Bake again for 45 minutes. Remove and let cool.

Now, for the decorative meringue. Make a double boiler and start whisking the eggs and sugar over simmering water until the mixture reaches 160 degrees. Remove from heat and continue to whisk until stiff peaks form. Using a piping bag or Ziploc with a decorative nozzle, pipe a decorative border on the bottom and top of the shell as well as decorations on the (as yet unused) top lid.

In an electric mixer, whip the heavy cream and then add the powdered sugar. Once thick, add the fruit. Gently spoon the fruit mixture into the middle of the shell and place the top on. Add violets as you see fit. Serve immediately.