The end of the Napoleonic wars, which I feel like we were just talking about in the context of the Malakofftorte, beget the Biedermeier period of European history. In the Austrian context, a newly-emerging middle class, excluded from the corridors of power and the country's political and economic elite, essentially turned in on itself, retreating with their freshly-minted wealth to the drawing room and the coffee house, where a new cultural sensibility was born. Life for the middle class in the Biedermeier period was marked by a fascination with interior decor, an appreciation for nature, summering in Austria's spa towns, and patronage of the arts. Its inwardness means the word Biedermeier is most closely associated with furniture and architecture, but such is the nature of a so-called golden age that frankly there's a Biedermeier everything: Biedermeier poetry and Biedermeier painting, Biedermeier music, Biedermeier theatre, and Biedermeier dance.
And, a Biedermeier cake. I like to think of the Biedermeiertorte (the example shown above comes from Aida) as the everything cake, for the sheer number of layers and their variety is staggering. From the bottom up, first we have a chocolate genoise sponge. Second, a hazelnut cream, which gives the Biedermeiertorte its predominant flavour. Third, and this unfortunately I must guess at, a hazelnut filling or sponge that has been doused with a little cherry liqueur. Fourth, a redcurrant jam. Fifth, a plain genoise sponge. Sixth, a vanilla cream. And seventh and finally, a crown that most closely resembles Swiss roll filled with quince (or maybe it's apricot) marmalade. I must confess I'd been overlooking this creation in the dessert case for a long time until finally, one Sunday a few weeks ago, I decided to give it a go -- a decision, suffice it to say, I do not regret.
