Last month for Relief Society we had a progressive “Dinner Around the World.” We had an appetizer from Ecuador, a main dish from England, and this Strawberry Torte from Germany. I was asked to make the torte. The recipe is actually fairly simple but does require time. It tastes heavenly!!!!

I changed the instructions of the recipe just slightly because meringue is finicky and will fall if not handled right. A couple of other ladies who made the dessert had trouble with their meringue falling but if you follow these instructions you should be all right. {I hope}

Strawberry Torte

Cake:

1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup sugar
4 egg yolks, beaten
4 TBSP milk
1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP flour
1 tsp. baking powder

Meringue Topping:

4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a large springform pan. For cake mix shortening and sugar with an electric mixer. Blend in egg yolks, milk, flour, and baking powder. SPread over bottom of springform pan. For the meringue topping beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add sugar, cream of tartar and salt; beat until thick and glossy. Spread over cake layer. Bake 25 minutes. DO NOT OPEN OVEN! Turn oven off and leave pan in oven for 10 – 15 minutes. Take out and let cool completely. Loosen and remove sides of spring form pan. Refreigerate one hour then arrange the following on top of cake.

Cream Topping for Cake:

1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 orange
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 lb fresh strawberries
1 16 oz tub of whipped topping

Wash orange and get zest from the whole orange. In a mixing bowl combine orange zest, juice from the orange, sugar, and vanilla. Mix well. In a separate bowl fold yogurt and all but one cup of whipped topping together. Fold in juice mixture. Spread mixture over top of torte. Wash and remove stems from strawberries. Cut in half and arrange on top of yogurt mixture. Garnish with leftover whipped cream.