Every holiday since I can remember, my Mom has made my Aunt’s Famous Double Decker Torte Christmas goodie. I don’t remember the first time we had it, but I remember going bonkers over it.
I’m a choco-holic, so for me to like something like this is a bit strange, but it’s just SO GOOD. I crave it. It’s become a tradition in my family, and I hope it finds its way into yours too!
It’s a teeny bit tricky to make, but it’s well worth it. It all starts out with an 11 x 17 inch jelly roll pan. You can make it in a smaller pan if you like, but it’s really best in a jelly roll pan.
Here, we’ve got the dry ingredients mixed with the butter and shortening.
The wet ingredients.
Bring it together with a fork first.
Then bring it together with your hands until it looks like this.
Split it into 3 separate balls, with one larger than the other two.
Then you let the dough chill in the fridge for about 3 hours, or overnight. Overnight is preferable.
Then the assembly happens. This is a bit labor intensive, but it’s really worth it. It rolls out fairly well, but the dough rips easily. Don’t worry about making it pretty, it’s going to be covered with goodness anyway. So, the first layer goes down in the pan. Make sure you get it up the sides! Then the walnut mixture, another layer of dough, the preserves mixture, then you make a lattice out of the remaining crust. You don’t have to intertwine the lattice, as it gets covered with glaze and more nuts.
Then cut the torte into eighths both ways.
Looks like the snowman couldn’t resist!
Look at those layers, bro. Holy crap.
Need I say any more!? I hope you’ll go as nuts over these as I do!!
I took these to the Food Bloggers Los Angeles Cookie Swap. What a great time it was to get to see everyone’s creations! Scroll down after the recipe to see what everyone else brought! Talk about sugar overload! It was all worth it though.
What is your favorite holiday cookie? If you have a recipe, leave it in the comments!
A Million Holiday Pleasures To You,
- For The Crust:
- 5 Cups Flour
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 4 Teaspoons Baking Powder
- ½ Cup Cold Butter
- ½ Cup Vegetable Shortening
- 4 Egg Yolks
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 1 Cup Sour Cream
- For The Fillings:
- 3 Cups Finely Ground Walnuts
- ½ Cup Sugar
- 16 Ounces Pineapple Preserves
- 12 Ounces Apricot Preserves
- For The Topping:
- 3 Cups Powdered Sugar
- ¼ Cup Milk
- 1 Cup Finely Ground Walnuts
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, 1 cup of sugar, and baking powder. Cut the butter into cubes, and along with the vegetable shortening, add to the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter or a fork, work the butter and shortening into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Alternately you can put everything in a food processor and pulse.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the egg yolks, vanilla and sour cream. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, and incorporate slowly with a fork. Once the wet mixture is mostly incorporated, finish bringing the dough together with your hands, until the mixture resembles dough.
- Cut the dough into three parts, leaving one part slightly larger than the other two. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for three hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- To assemble, roll out the larger dough to fit a 11” x 17” jelly roll pan. Place the dough in the pan, making sure to get the dough up the sides of the pan. If the dough breaks, piece it together. It doesn’t have to look pretty.
- Mix the three cups of finely ground walnuts and ½ cup of sugar, and spread on top of the crust.
- Roll out one of the remaining dough balls to the size of the pan, and place on top of the walnuts. This time, it does not need to go up the sides of the pan. Again, if the dough rips, piece it together.
- In a bowl, mix both of the preserves, and spread on top of the second piece dough.
- Roll out the final dough ball, roughly the size of the pan, and with a fluted pastry roller, cut into strips a half inch wide. Lay the strips across the top of the jelly mixture at a 45 degree angle one way, about a half inch apart, piecing them together if they break. Then lay another layer of strips perpendicular to the first layer, making a lattice pattern.
- Place into the oven, and bake for 30 minutes, until the crust in the middle is a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least two hours or overnight.
- When the torte is cool, mix 3 cups of powdered sugar, and ¼ cup milk, and mix until well combined. Drizzle the glaze onto the torte with a fork, covering it evenly until it is all used up. Then top with one cup of finely ground walnuts.
- Cut into eighths each way, yielding 64 rectangular bars.
Food Bloggers Los Angeles Cookie Recipes
Wonderful pictures Natalie!
I don’t usually touch sweets very often, but after your pictures above, I might have to change my mind on that.
I have never seen a dessert like this before, but it looks awesome. I bet this would be a very popular holiday treat with all the different layers and flavors.
DDT is sooo dang good, would’nt be Christmas with out this Wiser treat!!
Looks awesome! hope you had a great holiday!
I have the same recipe from my godmother/ aunt. I haven’t made it in a couple of years, but plan to make it today. Yum!