Engadiner Nusstorte – Swiss nut tart
I took this Engadiner Nusstorte to a party recently and every single person that tasted a piece came back for seconds (seriously, I’m not lying here). This Swiss nut tart is filled with walnuts covered in a thick caramel sauce. I made this recipe for my “Baking Around the World” challenge.
A little Engadiner Nusstorte history
According to Wikipedia Engadiner Nusstorte (also known as Büdner Nusstorte) originally comes from Graubünden in Switzerland. It’s a traditional tart filled with a caramel and nut filling. Generally walnuts are used for the filling but sometimes, though very rarely, other nuts are used. The tart was invented in the 1920’s. There are several theories on how the original recipe for this Nusstorte was developed, but I suggest you check out Wikipedia for more information about that. I can’t be bothered going into the details. I just want to get on with the recipe!
Let’s get started with the Engadiner Nusstorte recipe
First we need to make our dough, for that we’ll need flour, sugar, butter, an egg, a pinch of salt and some lemon zest.
Add flour in a bowl.
The sugar and a pinch of salt.
Butter.
Lemon zest.
And the egg.
Take two knives and cut till you get a crumbly dough mixture.
When the dough is crumble, use your hands to knead it together and form a ball. Cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge to chill.
Next take your ingredients for the filling: double cream, walnuts, sugar, honey and water. The egg looks nice on the photo but it’s not used in the filling at all, it kinda snuck in while I wasn’t looking… You’ll need it later though, so hang on to it.
Take a saucepan and add the sugar.
Water.
And honey.
Bring to a boil and stir occasionally, until the sugar turns a light golden brown color.
When the mixture is golden brown, add in the walnuts and give it a short stir.
And add in the double cream. Stir in the double cream. You’ll notice that things might get a little sticky where the walnuts stick to the sugar and the double cream will look like it’s all watery and its all going to fail. Don’t worry, the sugar and cream will start to mix and form a caramel, just give it some time. Bring the mixture to a boil and leave to simmer and turn into a dark golden brown caramel.
You’ll end up with a nice dark, thick caramel. Make sure you don’t let the caramel burn, keep an eye on it at all times. When the caramel reaches a nice dark golden brown, thick consistency, take it off the heat and leave to cool.
Take 2/3 of your dough out of the fridge and put it into a springform cover the bottom and make the sides 2-3cm / 0.8-1.1 inch high.
Pour in your cooled down, thick walnut caramel mixture
Spread evenly.
Take the remaining dough and roll out at the size of your springform.
Now here’s where you have to be careful and transfer the dough on your tart, make sure you cover all of the filling. Or if you’re like me, you let the dough slip and fall at the wrong spot and are screwed. It’s not really possible to pick up the dough from the caramel and move it (trust me, I tried…). The good news though is that you can patch things up with some dough.
You can see the patchwork I did. However, if you did things right, you can now fold over the sides of the dough onto your cover and using a fork go all along the outside and lightly press it so the edges will seal. Using your fork, also make small holes all along the top of the tart. Brush with the egg we didn’t use for the filling, lightly whisk the egg and brush the entire tart. Put the tart into the oven.
And there you have it, a beautiful, in my case rustic looking, Engadiner Nusstorte.
Slice a small piece and just look at that delicious, melt in your mouth, caramel filling.
Okay, I’m not going to lie to you, you’ve seen what goes into the tart. This isn’t a diet friendly recipe, it’s calorie rich but sometimes you just have to indulge into something and Engadiner Nusstorte can be just the thing you’re craving. Eat it, enjoy it, just take it easy on the portion size. The tart can keep covered in aluminum foil up to a week. Plenty of time for you to nibble on a little bit every day.
| Prep Time | 60 minutes |
| Cook Time | 50 minutes |
| Servings |
tart |
- 300 g all-purpose flour
- 100 g sugar
- 150 g butter
- 1 egg
- 1 lemon zest of 1 lemon
- pinch of salt
- 250 g sugar
- 80 ml water
- 50 g honey
- 250 ml double cream
- 250 g walnuts
- 1 egg lightly whisked
Ingredients
Pastry
Filling
Other
| |
- Preheat the oven to 175 °C / 350 °F. Grease a 24cm / 9.4 inch springform pan or line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Add flour, sugar, butter, lemon zest , egg and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Using two knives cut into it till you get a crumbly dough. Once the dough is crumbly, use your hands to knead it into a dough. Form a ball and cover with clingfilm. Place in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
- In a saucepan, bring sugar, water and honey to a boil while stirring. Boil until the sugar reaches a beautiful light brown color.
- Add the walnuts and give it a quick stir. Stir in the double cream. You'll notice that the walnuts will stick to the sugar and the double cream will look a bit runny. You may think it'll fail now but don't worry. The sugar and cream will start to mix and form a caramel, just give it some time. Bring the mixture to a boil and leave to simmer and turn into a dark golden brown caramel (15-20 minutes). Keep a close eye on the caramel while it's simmering, stir it occasionally. You want to make sure the caramel doesn't burn. When the caramel reaches a nice dark golden brown, thick consistency, take the pan off the heat and set aside to cool.
- Take 2/3 of your dough out of the fridge and put it into a springform, cover the bottom and make the sides 2-3cm / 0.8-1.1 inch high.
- Pour the cooled, thick walnut caramel into the springform and spread evenly over the pastry.
- Take the rest of the dough and roll it out to the size of your springform. Place the rolled out dough onto your filling and flip the sides over the cover and press lightly with a fork to seal the edges. Lightly prick the top of the tart with a fork.
- Lightly whisk the egg and brush the tart with the eggwash. Place the tart in the oven and bake approximately 35-50 minutes, until the tart has a golden color.
Hi, I’ve made this several times for a swiss born relative and an airbnber who came from Engadin. They both loved it and so does anyone who tries it.
I made when living in Edinburgh but after moving south a lot of kitchen items seemed to have found their way into the skip before moving!!!!
what size springform is perfect for your recipe? It will be a hit as a Secret Santa present.
Hi Juan, so happy to hear you and those you’ve made it for have enjoyed it!
I use a 24cm / 9.4 inch springform.
Thanks for the pictorial – really helpful!
You’re welcome!
I saw this on a French TV show Zu Tisch
This torte is called Engadiner Nuss torte.
Engadine is a place up on the Swiss Alps
where people speaks 4 languages.
I am looking forward to make this for
‘Advent’ Sunday or Christmas Day dessert.
At the start of the recipe you said to use a greased or lined spring form tin but at the end you are putting the nusstorte on a tray and pressing the edges to seal it. Confusing!!
Hi Jen, my apologies, you’re right. I meant to say springform, not baking tray. I have updated the text, thanks for pointing it out.
My Swiss friend brought this for our Bible study last night. I loved it, so I looked for the recipe online and came across yours and it looked like its the same exact thing. Can you please give me the measurements in cups? I don’t have scales. Thank you.
I currently don’t have the measurements available in Cups yet. I will add them once I have them.
Hi what is double cream?
Double cream is similar to heavy cream.
Can you freeze this, to make ahead of an event? If so, whats the best way? Thank you!
Hi Lisa,
You can freeze this tart. Just make sure to wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in a freezer bag.
Made this for a charity coffee morning it went down a treat…I used to buy it from a bakery in my hometown 25 years ago
Glad to hear the tart went down a treat! I hope it brought back some nice memories for you 🙂
Hei
Recently we had nusstorte during holiday. It’s fantastic. Lady over the counter is polite to give me the name of it. When I am looking yours is the first recipe in such detail. Thank you very much.
Is it possible or worth trying to replace the butter with coconut butter. Any idea.
Hi Suresh,
I haven’t tried it with cococnut butter before myself. It would be an interesting test to see if it’ll work. I can’t tell you if it will work though, since I haven’t tried it myself. Best way to find out is to give it a try!
Recently made this for someone who loves it.
Turned out really well. They said it was like being in Switzerland. Great instructions. Thanks
My book club is reading the book The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain. As the hostess, I want to serve a Swiss Nusstorte which is mentioned several times in the book. Thank you for this recipe.
Ooh, I haven’t read that book. I’ll put it on my list to read :). I hope you and your book club enjoy the recipe!
Love this. Hope to make it for Christmas Eve or Day. Thank you.
Nice! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂
That tart looks absolutely fantastic. And you actually use the time-honored two knives! Way to go.
Hi Jeff, using the knife method is classic! Gotta have at least one recipe using that technique 😉
This looks really delicious. If I make a low sugar version, how much sugar may I cut out of the crust/filling without compromising the textures of the crust or filling? <3
Hi Winnie,
I haven’t tried making a low sugar version of this recipe yet so I can’t give you accurate measurements to use. The best thing to do is just try it out. Start by cutting out a small amount and see how it goes.
A friend brought me a small Nusstorte to try that she had made just before Christmas. She didn’t know what it was called but I loved it so just wrote in Google: Torte made with nuts, sugar, cream & pastry on the off chance it would find a link of some kind. I am thrilled to bits to come across your recipe – thanks you so much for posting!
Hi Pauline, I’m happy to hear you found my recipe. Hopefully my version tastes as good as the torte your friend brought you ?
Just made this and my dough fell apart too. lol. It’s easily patched, though. I just took a slightly damp finger and pressed it together. It just came out of the oven and looks beautiful! Thanks for posting this recipe (and for the assurance that the caramel would indeed form).
Hi Darien,
I’m glad you managed to fix the dough 🙂 I hope you enjoy the pie as much as I do 😀