What is Skradinska Torta?
Skradinska torta is a traditional walnut cake from Skradin town. This flourless walnut cake is simplicity made to perfection. Rare are desserts with such elemental ingredients that look and taste sophisticated.
Skradinska torta ticks those boxes. Here is a time-tested Dalmatian cake that will make any celebration extra special.
Skradin locals traditionally present this cake as a gift at weddings. Every family brings their own as a special wish for the newlyweds: a life together perfect as a circle and fragrant as a rose.
The recipe below shows that the flower decoration is not optional. Serving Skradinska torta adorned with a scented geranium or a rose is just as important as the ingredients that give the cake its flavor.
Why is Skradin so special?
Most of you will have heard of the Krka Waterfalls National Park. If you have visited this breathtaking location, you passed through Skradin town.
It’s a unique place where the Krka River meets the Adriatic Sea, giving the area green fertile fields.
With its balmy climate, Skradin is rich in fruits and flowers. This natural advantage is imprinted in the town’s signature dessert.
You’ll see when you follow the Skradinska torta recipe. This cake celebrates locally grown walnuts, honey, and roses.
The singular ingredient of this cake is the fragrant rose liqueur, which has been made in this area for centuries. Without it, the cake is not the same. You might know it as rozulin or rakija od ruže. Don’t fuss if you can’t buy it in your corner of the world. I’ll let you know in the recipe below how you can substitute it.
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Essential Ingredients
Skradinska torta uses eggs as a leavening agent. So, it’s a perfect flourless and gluten-free dessert.
Sugar makes the egg yolks fluffy, but it’s the ground walnuts that keep the sponge light and airy.
Each bite of this cake is an explosion of mellow, flowery aromas. Honey and orange zest give it depth, but the scent of roses elevates it to unforgettable heights. For this, you’ll need rose liqueur or water.
Skradinska torta is finished with chocolate glaze and unique flower decorations.
Ingredients for the Sponge
The sponge for Skradisnka torta gets its bounce from 10 eggs. Egg yolks and sugar are beaten separately until the mixture becomes pale and fluffy.
Egg whites need to form firm peaks to lighten the sponge. Once we gradually add the ground walnuts, egg whites keep the sponge aerated.
When it comes to aromatics, use the zest of organic orange and good-quality honey. I love to use the so-called meadow honey with an attractive flowery scent.
Finally, there is the rose liqueur, which gives Skradinska torta its signature flavor. Skradin town has a long tradition of making rose liqueur. If you visit there, get a bottle of the homemade kind. Otherwise, use rose water.
Ingredients for the Glaze
Skradinska torta has a firm chocolate glaze. The precise ingredients will help you apply it without getting your hands or the serving plate messy.
The glaze is quite dense even when the chocolate melts, so you have enough time to apply it to the sides. Later, it’s easy to wipe away any drops.
Ingredients for the Decoration
If you want to stick to the Skradinska torta originalni recept, include these three components... walnut halves, flowers, and leaves.
Scented geranium (also known as pelargonium) is the most traditional flower of choice. It’s attractive and edible, but only available in the summertime. In any other season, use organic roses or rose petals.
I love to use candied rose buds, which I prepare myself. I will explain the process in the recipe below. Once I am candying the roses, I do the same with mint leaves. They go around the cake and are great for masking any remaining chocolate smudges.
Tips & Tricks For A Perfect Cake
As simple as it appears, Skradinska torta requires an experienced hand. A few things can go wrong when baking the sponge, so let’s review them.
Baking The Perfect Sponge
First off, you need to beat the egg yolks for at least 7-8 minutes. They should be pale, fluffy, and almost double in volume. Remember that the eggs provide volume to the sponge, so we must build lots of air into them.
Walnuts must be fluffy and evenly ground. The only way to achieve this is to use an old-fashioned nut grinder. Do not use a food processor. If you do, the walnuts will stick together and vary in size.
Now comes the folding technique. Once you have the fluffy egg yolk mixture, stiff egg whites, and ground walnuts ready, the trick is to fold them perfectly.
Do it with a light hand; don’t overmix the sponge. Add a little bit of each component, fold gently, and repeat. When the sponged is adequately prepared, the cake will rise so much that it fills the entire cake pan. As the cake cools, the sponge will come down, forming an even round shape.
How To Prevent Cracks?
I taught you how to make the cake airy and bouncy. However, this much air in the sponge can create cracks on top.
You can prevent this by choosing the correct baking temperature. Skradinska torta needs to bake at 150 °C [300 °F] for 70 minutes.
Lower temperatures and longer baking times will prevent the sponge from ‘exploding’ along the surface.
Should You Avoid A Refrigerator?
According to traditional wisdom, Skradinska torta should be stored in a cool place. An old-style pantry is a good choice. A refrigerator, apparently, is not.
When I asked the locals why, they said it keeps the cake fresh and moist for longer. Think of our changing climate, though: frequent heatwaves and nights that are too hot to sleep.
If you make the cake in the summertime, I suggest storing it in the fridge. The chocolate glaze will keep the sponge moist enough so you can enjoy it for 2-3 days.
Step-by-step Guide To Baking Perfect Skradinska Torta
Skradinska Torta - Croatian flourless cake with walnuts and honey
Ingredients
For the sponge:
- 10 whole eggs
- 300 g granulated sugar
- 30 ml rose liqueur
- 1 tbsp honey
- 400 g ground walnuts
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp vanilla-flavoured sugar
- Pinch of salt
For the glaze:
- 200 g dark chocolate
- 75 g butter
- 30 ml whipping cream
For the decoration:
- Mint leaves
- Fresh or candied flowers of scented geranium (pelargonium or rose)
- 16 walnut halves
Instructions
To make the sponge
- Separate the eggs. Beat the egg yolks and sugar (including the vanilla-flavored sugar) until they turn very creamy, fluffy, and lighter in color. This step is essential because the cake has no flour!
- Dissolve the honey in rose liqueur and pour it in. Add orange zest. If you need to substitute the rose liqueur, add rose water.
- Preheat the oven to 150 °C [300 °F]
- Get your ground walnuts ready. Whisk in baking powder and a pinch of salt.
- Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Now, bring these three ingredients together in batches. Add a bit of walnuts and a bit of egg whites to the egg yolk mixture. Fold gently. Repeat until you get a smooth, airy mixture.
- Pour the sponge into the greased and floured cake pan and bake for about 70 minutes.
- The cake will rise quite a lot. Insert a cake tester or a skewer in the middle where the cake is the highest. If it comes out clean, it's done.
- Leave the cake to cool to room temperature. Then, unmold it and turn it upside down on a serving plate.
To make the glaze
- For the glaze, melt the chocolate, butter, and whipping cream in a double boiler. Pour the mixture over the cake and spread it with a spatula.
- Visually divide the cake into 16 slices. This sounds harder than it is. Just imagine you’re cutting the cake in half. Place two walnut halves on each end. Then, imagine another line cutting the cake in half at the 90° angle. Place two more walnut halves at each end. Repeat until you’ve used 16 walnut halves. Pop the cake in the fridge.
To candy the roses and mint leaves
- This stage is all about decoration. Skradin cake is eaten on special occasions, so it needs to be decorated in a unique way: flower(s) in the middle and greenery around it.
- In the summertime, the flower is usually a red-scented geranium (pelargonium), which is edible. In the wintertime, it’s a red rose(s). Since I was baking my cake in January, I wanted to give it a wintery feel by candying the roses.
- Roses are edible, too, but they need to be grown organically and not treated with chemicals, especially those that prolong their shelf life. Follow along to learn how to candy flowers and herbs.
- Lightly whisk an egg white with 1 tbsp water – it should be just slightly foamy and still liquid.
- Wash and dry roses (or rose petals) and mint (leaves or branches). Use a small brush to coat the petals and leaves with the egg white mixture, reaching all the way inside and between the petals.
- Let them dry slightly (about 5 minutes). Then, hold them in the air and sprinkle them generously with granulated sugar. Keep turning the rose so sugar coats it from all sides.
- Blitz granulated sugar in the coffee mill to make crystals a bit smaller. Leave the flowers on baking paper to dry completely (a few hours). Do the same with mint leaves.
To decorate the cake
- Decorate the cake by placing a few small roses in the middle. Make a little hole in the chocolate glaze and poke the stem inside. Place mint leaves around the cake. Now, the cake is dressed up for the occasion.
- Skradinska torta can keep for 2-3 days in the fridge. Make it the night before your special celebration.
