You can't go past a good walnut torte with fresh berries for Christmas, says Dunedin cooking personality Judith Cullen.
Walnut torte with summer berries
Base
4 egg whites
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup ground walnuts
1 cup wine biscuit crumbs
Topping
4 punnets of fresh berry fruit (2 strawberries, 1 each of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, boysenberries)
Method
Preheat oven to 180degC.
Beat egg whites until stiff, gradually add the caster sugar and continue beating for 1 minute.
Fold in the ground walnuts and biscuit crumbs.
Spread into a lined greased 26cm flan dish.
Bake for 25-30 min.
Remove and cool.
For the topping
Cut strawberries in halves or quarters. Place the cooled walnut torte on a serving platterPile 3 varieties of fruit on top of base.
In a food processor, process the second punnet of strawberries with 3-4 tablespoons of icing sugar until smooth.
Drizzle the sauce over the berry flan 15 minutes before serving.
