Kitchen Stories - Strawberry Torte

By She Said

Our kitchen doesn't have a working oven, so we don't bake at home. But I'm hoping to change this real soon.

We have been using a very old Whirlpool brand gas range, and by all standards I would say it's an antique. It's been in our kitchen for over 35 years now.  Some parts of it still work though. We use the two top burners, and... that's it! The other two burners conked out one after the other and the oven hasn't been working in years. *sigh*

We do however, have a broiler that we use to cook whole chicken and we also have a small toaster oven for reheating bread and leftovers, and that pretty much takes care of most of our meals.

Which brings me to my story.

I've been trying to get my daughter to help out more in the kitchen these days and she always says that she wishes we could bake cookies and cakes. I've also been wanting to try some cake recipes myself, from one of our cookbooks. I love Pavlova and other meringue based desserts that are filled with lots of fruits. Yum!

So, while contemplating which brand of cooking appliance to replace our old one with, I decided to satisfy my cravings with a little bit of improvisation.

 

By definition, a torte is is a multilayered cake  filled with cream, often made with eggs, as well as sugar or ground nuts. I'm guessing some Pallilos de Milan would be an appropriate alternative for a torte type of dessert. They are sweet, light pastry sticks topped with meringue, so I think this would be a good base for the mock Strawberry Torte I'm making with she said :)

 Pallilos de Joe from Blue Kitchen
 

Simply layer whipped cream, pastry and fruits. Refrigerate no longer than two hours, or meringue will turn soggy. 

 We made this one Sunday morning and we just couldn't stop popping pieces of strawberries, meringue and whipped cream into our mouths that we were already seriously considering just devouring everything on the spot.
 

It's better to assemble these into individual serving plates if you have  guests, rather than making one big cake size. 

 The verdict: These taste amazing!

We made some filled with mangoes too.

My daughter was very impressed. I think the oven can wait another year.

P.S.  Aren't the photos just beautiful?  I'm lucky to have such a talented photographer.