Amsterdamer Special

Photo by Andreas Thumm

Recommended amount of hash: 8g for 20 people, 0.4g per slice

For an adjustable cake ring or spring form pan with a 24 cm diameter. This is definitely the most complicated recipe, but offers insight into the good old confectionery arts, which came out before the ready-made-mix and other food chemistry.

German Butter Cream:

For the torte crust, whisk together the eggs with the sugar and the other spices in a fireproof pot and set it in a double boiler filled with 40 degree Celsius water.

In the mean time, melt the butter in a casserole dish. Warm the hash in the oven, and crumble it into the butter.

Beat the egg-sugar mixture cold, until it expands. A mark should remain when you run your finger through it.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Mix the flour and the cornstarch, sift it, and carefully fold it in.

Carefully mix in the hash at the end (it should be not warmer than body temperature).

Fill the cake ring or spring form pan with the mixture, and bake it in the preheated oven on the middle rack for 30-40 minutes. The torte crust is baked through when it bounces back from a light poke.

Advice: The crust is easier to cut if you bake it one day before the garnishings.

For the butter cream, boil the milk, vanilla cream powder, and the two egg yolks until it becomes creamy, stirring in the yolks and the powder. Let the boiled cream cool on a plate and sprinkle the surface with vanilla sugar so that it doesn't form a skin.

Whisk the butter, vanilla sugar, powdered sugar, and salt together until they become a flexible mass. Add the vanilla cream bit by bit.

Beat the egg whites stiff with the granulated sugar and fold in the butter cream.

Cut the crust with a pie knife in three or four pieces. Turn the crust while cutting. Spread 4 tablespoons of cream evenly thin on the crust. Put the next layer on and press down lightly (preferably with a torte plate, or the bottom of a spring form). Repeat this with the rest of the layers. Brush the leftover cream first on the surface, then the edges. A dough scraper can be very useful to make the edges straight. Let the torte set and the first brushing cool. Repeat this with the rest of the cream.

Cut the torte into 20 pieces. Squeeze a cream rosette on each piece and garnish them as needed. As a variation for in home use, brush the surface a bit thicker, and make a pattern with a tablespoon. You can also sprinkle a bit of cocoa on top. If you like, intersperse shaved almonds around the edge.

For the foodies with a bit of time for gusto, you can make a "Gelee spiegel" (jelly mirror). For the "Gelee spiegel", cut out a 6cm marzipan coin and lay it on a grill rack from the oven to dry. Put some finely chopped grass into warmed up corn syrup, then pour it over the marzipan. Put a hemp leaf on top and press it down lightly.

With a bit of luck, you can find the corn syrup used by bakeries and pastry shops. Unfortunately it is becoming rarer, as the mass produced type pushes it out of the market.

Tip: If the Vienna crust fails due to a lack of baking experience, you don't have to throw it away, or eat it dry. It is an ideal basis for "Hashimisu" on page 56!

Here are three delicious variations to give aroma to the cream:

Marzipan Amaretto Cream:

Hold back a third of the butter cream (without marzipan) for garnishing. Knead the marzipan with a bit of cream until it is soft. Fold it into the rest of the cream. Add the liquor and work it into a homogeneous mass. If it is too hard, warm it up and make it even with a whisk.

Chocolate Chartreuse Cream:

Hold back a third of the butter cream for garnishing. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and fold it into the cream. Add the liquor and work it into a homogeneous mass. If it is too hard, warm it up and make it even with a whisk.

Orange Cointreau Cream:

Hold back a third of the butter cream for garnishing. Fold in the orange juice and the Cointreau. If it is too hard, warm it up and make it even with a whisk.