A Viennese gateau made easy

Press, 19 May 1984, Page 12

A Viennese gateau made easy

Food & Fable

David Burton

Up until 1918, Vienna was the centre of the sprawling Austro-Hungarian Empire which had lasted more than 600 years. Yet visiting that city today you might never know the empire had existed, were it not for those excessively ornate palaces smothered inside and out with scrolls, leaves, and rosettes — and for those fabulously decorated Torten, or gateaux, which are doubtless inspired by them. But who knows, maybe it was the other way round; after all, the bakers of Vienna were practising their craft at the Court of Emperor Maximilian I as early as the 1500 s — centuries before the Baroque and Rococo styles were even heard of.

By 1661 Vienna’s gingerbread makers had their own guild. There were also the chocolate makers, the cake bakers, the bread bakers, the roll bakers, the luxury bakers and the sugar bakers, the latter restricted by law to the use of “burnt sugar, burnt almonds and zwieback (sliced toasted rolls).” For most of this century, however, the Viennese bakers’ art has been in decline, a result not only of rationing and restrictions imposed by two world wars, but also of changing public tastes. In an age where the rake has replaced the pear as the ideal body shape, these heavy calorific cakes are pure guilt by the mouthful.

Nevertheless, there are times when all of us become slaves rather than masters of our senses. On an average day in Vienna you are still likely to see in the windows of the Konditoreien (confectioners shops) such sinful creations as Dobosch Torte (caramel topped cake filled with eight layers of chocolate).

Linzertorte (a single layered cake filled with raspberry jam and covered in latticed strips of dough); Kirsch Torte (Cherry Cake), Spanische Windtorte (a meringue cake filled with

cream •— a sori of swept up pavlova); or Rehrucken (a log-shaped, chocolate-iced cake imitating a saddle of venison, with slivers of almond representing the lardoons.)

Most of these torten are very complicated and are left mostly to the professional patissier. There are also the simpler and less calorific cakes, which are made at home.

One of these is Gugelhupf, which used to form an important part of a Viennese “Jause” — served at five o’clock with a cup of milk coffee.

There are many versions of Gugelhupf, of which the recipe below is only one. It can be made from yeast dough as it is here, or it can be made from a sponge cake mixture; it can be very plain or very rich, containing raisins, nuts and

lemon rind; some are marbled with cocoa, while others are served with a hot rum or orange sauce. All that seems to be required is that it be baked in the typical Gugelhupf mould. This is a ring mould with fluted walls. There are now several brands on the market in New Zealand, available from kitchen shops and department stores, although an ordinary ring mould can, of course, be substituted. Whatever mould you use, it should be a large one for this recipe. Gugelhupf 4'A cups flour (550 g 1 cup milk (approx.) 2 x 35g cakes fresh yeast 1 cup sugar (200 g 200 g butter 2 whole eggs 4 egg yolks 3-4 almonds, chopped

grated rind of 2 small lemons Vi tsp grated nutmeg 1 tsp salt In a large bowl, make a well in the centre of the flour and put in the yeast, cup lukewarm milk and 1 teaspoon sugar. Let it disolve for 2-3 minutes. Carefully melt the butter and add to the flour. Gradually add the rest of the sugar, the lightly beaten eggs and yolks, the almonds, grated lemon rind, nutmeg, salt, and the rest of the milk. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon until the mixture becomes shiny and pulls away from the spoon and the sides of the bowl. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place such as a hot water cupboard for l¥z hours or more, until it doubles in bulk.

When sufficiently risen, turn out onto a floured board. Flatten it with your hands or a rolling pin, using extra flour to stop it sticking. Make it into a rectangular shape, bearing in mind the shape of your cooking mould.

Now for the filling: lVz cups baked, dried and grated gingerbread (or substitute pulverised gingernuts.) Mi cup honey 60g butter

% cup chopped walnuts or almonds Mi tablespoon cinnamon Vz tablespoon sugar Sprinkle the ground gingerbread or gingernut over the flattened dough. Melt together the honey and butter and dribble this over. Sprinkle over the nuts, and finally the sugar and cinnamon mixed together. Now roll the dough up into a tube and place seamside up in a large gugelhupf or ring mould. The mould must have been well greased with butter, then dusted with flour.

Bake at 180 to 200 C (350400 F) for about an hour. Leave to cool, about 10 minutes, then turn upside down on a cake rack. Dust with icing sugar to accentuate the fluted troughs.