No matter you name this coconut-rich dessert, one factor is obvious: it is completely scrumptious

Made with chopped cashews and graham cracker crumbs, full with a dense mouthfeel harking back to carrot cake, this cake is spectacularly distinctive and one among my favorites, particularly for celebrating Easter and welcoming in spring.

The humorous factor is, I by no means knew precisely what made this dessert a pie – not once I first tried it and never even once I began making it fairly usually over 15 years in the past after consuming it at a gathering with the my husband’s household in Monteagle, Tenn.

Judging by their reactions upon tasting it, I do not suppose lots of the individuals I’ve served it to over time additionally knew precisely what made it a torte. “What’s it known as once more?”

However one factor is for certain: individuals find it irresistible.

Earlier than falling in love with this torte, my solely expertise with tortes was in eating places. Not solely was I undecided what a torte was precisely, however I wasn’t certain if it was pronounced “tor-tah” or “tort” based mostly on the spelling. I simply skipped it.

Permit me to humbly inform you that I now know precisely what makes a torte a torte: it’s a kind of cake made with out flour, though it’s not essentially gluten-free. Usually dense and multi-layered, it’s made with crumbs or floor nuts together with cream, jam or fruit. It’s of European origin, denser than a cake and sometimes made in a springform pan. Throughout America, it’s sometimes pronounced “tort” and elsewhere “tor-tah.”

Regardless of being requested a number of occasions a 12 months, no particular person in my household has ever referred to this dessert by its precise identify. My husband asks when I will make “that factor that tastes like carrot cake — simply not so candy — that I like a lot.” My good buddy, who now makes this yearly as a part of her household’s Easter lunch, typically tells me she makes “that loopy coconut cake of yours.”

I really feel like I am portray all of us — my fast household, my buddies, and I — as ignorant rubes, however I do not suppose any of us are. None of us grew up with tortes; they weren’t in our moms’ repertoire. Furthermore, the phrase torte simply would not roll off our tongues. It seems like one thing troublesome to make and should style too fancy for the youngsters on the desk.

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Nevertheless, this coconut cake is unpretentious and easy. The style is unmistakably coconut (therefore the identify), however the different components harmonize properly.

The bottom is comprised of egg whites overwhelmed to stiff peaks with chopped cashews, graham cracker crumbs and coconut added. It’s baked low and gradual, given time to chill, then topped with contemporary whipped cream sweetened with coconut and lemon zest. It is also dazzlingly scrumptious.

I do know you’ll love this coconut cake. Everybody does!

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