Tortes are a unique treat because they aren’t exactly cakes or pastries, nor are they exactly desserts. Additionally, what is the current obsession with coconuts and desserts?
This is National Coconut Torte Day, a day to commemorate the history of the combination of tortes and coconut into the delectable dessert it is today.
National Coconut Torte Day: History
“Torte” is the German word for cake and is a type of cake made primarily from groundnuts instead of flour. Tortes are usually made with several layers and filled with whipped cream, buttercream, or jam.
Linzer Tortes were the first tortes to exist, made with almond shortcrust pastry and red currant jelly. Based on its origin in Linz, Austria, it is regarded as the oldest known cake in the world. It was originally believed to have originated from Vienna Stadt und Landesbibliothek during the 1600s.
It is a collection of recipes provided by the most famous chefs and bakeries of the period. Today, bakeries all over the world produce a wide variety of torte, including the delicious coconut torte.
While coconuts, on the other hand, may have been around much longer than people think, originally being traded by Arab traders carrying coconuts from India to East Africa almost 2,000 years ago.
The same traders introduced the coconut to Europeans along the Asian Silk Roads, most famously Marco Polo, who called the coconut “The Pharaoh’s Nut” in the 13th century. In the 16th century, it gained its name because of its similarity to the Portuguese word cocuruto, which means “crown of the head”, since it looked like a skull of a person.
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The coconut was used as decorations and food until the 19th century. It was believed to possess magical healing properties, which is probably why it was used in desserts.
In the 1920s, coconut cakes were served at ladies’ gatherings, and from there, coconut was experimented with, resulting in the coconut torte.
