There was this gorgeous German bakery down the street, and their cakes were the most heavenly thing you could put in your mouth.  Light, fluffy white cake with buttercream frosting, and the most razor-thin layer of apricot preserves in the middle.  I don't even LIKE fruit in my cake, but this was so good it transcended the rule.

So when I started to make my list of desserts for 2012, I wanted to include a German treat.  Before you start yelling at your screen, I now know that it's really an Austrian dessert, but that's how I found it anyway. Call it Google serendipity.

This recipe (from the Joy of Baking) is both very simple and very difficult.  Making the shortbread dough is the easiest thing in the world with a Cuisinart---just toss the toasted nuts, flour, and spices in and whirl it up.  Then it all moves to another level. Because the dough is very crumbly, making the lattice on top requires Ninja-like spatula skills and lots of patience.  I was originally going to weave it on top, but that quickly went out the window with the first strip.  I think it looks like Martha Stewart got wasted and then decided to make a crust with one hand tied behind her back. Whatever.

I should note that this torte smells absolutely fabulous while it's baking.  First you have the toasted almonds and hazelnuts wafting around, and then the blackcurrant filling bubbling, and by the time it is ready to come out of the oven you're sitting in a puddle of saliva.

How.ever...it seems that I might have messed up the filling.  Rather than making the filling that's shown in the recipe, I wanted to use the traditional blackcurrant preserves (and there aren't fresh blackcurrants sitting around our grocery store), so I used store-bought preserves and guesstimated the amount.  Not good.  It was waaaaaaaaaaay too sweet.  Like, your teeth melt and your eyeballs roll back in your head sweet.  Did I mention that I added the confectioners sugar and a dollop of whipped cream on top?  Too too sweet.

My recommendation would be to follow the entire recipe, and leave off the sugar and whipped cream, then eat it with a cup of strong black coffee.  I might make it again, just to try the filling the correct way.  Let me know if you try it, because I've never been more disappointed by a final recipe.  It SMELLED so good!