Skradinska Torta - Croatian flourless cake with walnuts and honey
This flourless cake is packed with healthy walnuts, and its aroma is boosted with fragrant honey and rose liqueur. The traditional decoration of the cake makes it perfect for special occasions.
Servings 16 slices
Calories 417 kcal
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.
Nutrition
Calories: 417kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 14g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 115mg | Sodium: 152mg | Potassium: 251mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 304IU | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 98mg | Iron: 3mg