One of the most famous Christmas tortes recipes, this torte recipe of cranberry, pear and walnut torte is absolutely gratifying.

Christmas Cranberry Pear & Walnut Torte

• 2 ¾ cups - Chopped Toasted Walnuts
• 1 cup - All-purpose Flour
• ½ cup - Plain Dry Breadcrumbs
• 2 tsp - Grated Orange Peel
• 1 tsp - Ground Cinnamon
• ½ tsp - Ground All-spice
• ¼ tsp - Ground Ginger
• ½ tsp - Salt
• 6 - Large Eggs
• 1 ½ cup - Sugar
• ½ cup - Golden Brown Sugar (packed)
• 1 cup - Unsalted Butter (melted and lukewarm)
• ½ cup - Fresh or Frozen Cranberries
• Cream Cheese Orange Frosting
• Poached Pears with Cranberry Puree

• Position rack in center of oven; preheated to 375 °F.
• Butter two 9-inch-diameter cake pans.
• Line bottom of pans with waxed paper.
• Butter and flour waxed paper; tap out excess flour.
• Blend 2 cups walnuts and flour in processor until walnuts are finely ground.
• Add breadcrumbs, orange peel, spices and salt.
• Process just until blended.
• Beat eggs in large bowl until frothy.
• Gradually beat in 1 cup sugar and brown sugar.
• Continue beating until mixture is thick and triples in volume for about 6 minutes.
• Fold flour mixture and melted lukewarm butter alternately into egg mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
• Divide batter between prepared cake pans with smooth tops.
• Bake cakes until golden for about 25 minutes.
• Transfer pans to racks and let them cool for 5 minutes.
• Invert cakes onto racks and let them cool completely.
• Remove waxed paper.
• Toss cranberries with remaining ½ cup sugar in small bowl to coat.
• Transfer berries to plate.
• Cover and freeze.
• Wrap each cake layer separately in plastic.
• Freeze cake layers and sugarcoated cranberries up to 1 week.
• Place 1 cake layer on platter.
• Spread with 1 cup frosting.
• Top with second cake layer.
• Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of torte.
• Press remaining ¾ cup walnuts onto torte sides.
• Arrange poached pears in concentric circles on top of the torte.
• Cover torte and let it chill.
• Let torte stand for 30 minutes at room temperature before serving.
• Re-warm cranberry puree in small saucepan over medium heat.
• Brush some puree over pears.
• Transfer remaining puree to bowl.
• Garnish torte with frozen sugarcoated cranberries.
• Serve torte with puree.
• Makes about 10 servings and requires skill and time to make.