Ian Wallace
Ingredients
Method
1.Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease a deep 22cm-square cake pan with butter.
2.Beat eggs in a small bowl with an electric mixer about 10 minutes or until thick and creamy. Add caster sugar, one tablespoon at a time, beating until sugar is dissolved between additions. Transfer to a large bowl.
3.Sift flours together twice into a separate bowl, and then sift a third time over the egg mixture, then fold ingredients together. Spread mixture into pan.
4.Bake sponge for 25 minutes. Turn sponge out immediately, top-side up, onto a wire rack lined with baking paper to cool.
5.Meanwhile, dissolve coffee in the water in a small heatproof jug. Stir in marsala and liqueur. Cool.
6.Beat mascarpone and icing sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in cream and 1/3 cup of the coffee mixture.
7.Split sponge cake in half vertically, then each of the halves in half horizontally. Place one of the cake rectangle on a serving plate, cut side up. Brush with a quarter of the remaining coffee mixture, then spread with 2/3 cup of mascarpone mixture. Repeat layering process, finishing with cake, cut-side down. Spread remaining mascarpone mixture on top and sides of cake. Refrigerate cake for 2 hours.
8.To serve, decorate cake with coarsely chopped Vienna almonds.
To prevent the torte from leaning to one side, alternate the sponge pieces when layering so that the cut side of the sponge is on different sides of each layer.
Vienna almonds are toffee-coated almonds, available from specialist nut shops.
Note
