Zuger Kirschtorte was created in 1915 by pastry chef Heinrich Höhn in the town of Zug, on the lake of the same name; the first advertisement for it ran in the Zuger Zeitung that Christmas, the year now taken as its official birth. Working beside the town's famous cherry distilleries, Höhn built it around kirsch — the clear cherry brandy distilled around Zug — which soaks the sponge and perfumes the buttercream. It won gold at pastry exhibitions in Lucerne (1923 and 1928) and London (1930), and at their peak Höhn and his successor Jacques Treichler produced up to 100,000 cakes a year.
Each forkful runs through three textures: the meringue shatters and dissolves with toasted-nut sweetness, the sponge is moist and heady with cherry brandy, and the buttercream is silky and faintly boozy. Almonds add crunch at the edge. It is rich, festive and unmistakably perfumed with kirsch.
Two contrasting bases do the work: a baked nut meringue that stays crisp against the moist sponge, separated by buttercream that acts as a moisture barrier. Soaking only the sponge with kirsch syrup floods it with flavour and keeps it tender, while chilling sets the buttercream so the layered cake slices cleanly.
Variations
Original Zug version uses kirsch-soaked sponge between two nut-meringue layers with pink buttercream; some bakers tint the cream more deeply; the almonds on the sides are sometimes swapped for hazelnuts; non-alcoholic versions use cherry syrup; whole cherries occasionally garnish the top.
On the Palate
Where Zuger Kirschtorte sits in the Swiss flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 10How it's made
8 steps · 1 hour 15 min active + 45 min waiting
- 150 min
Make two thin meringue discs: whisk 3 egg whites to stiff peaks with 120g sugar, fold in 120g ground almonds and hazelnuts, spread into two rounds and bake at 140°C until pale gold and crisp, about 40 minutes. Cool.
Watch outBake the meringue discs low and slow until pale gold and crisp all through — any give in the center stays chewy and won't hold up against the buttercream.
- 218 min
Bake a thin sponge: whisk 3 eggs with 90g sugar until thick and pale, fold in 90g flour, spread on a tray and bake at 200°C for 8-10 minutes; cool and trim to the same round.
- 38 min
Make the buttercream: beat 250g soft butter until fluffy, beat in 200g icing sugar, then 3 tbsp kirsch; tint a pale pink if you like.
- 43 min
Make the soak: stir 50g sugar with 50ml water and 3 tbsp kirsch.
- 55 min
Assemble: set one meringue disc down, spread with buttercream, top with the sponge and brush it generously with the kirsch soak.
Watch outBrush the kirsch soak generously onto the sponge only — flooding the sponge floods it with flavor and keeps it tender, while the meringue stays crisp.
- 63 min
Spread more buttercream over the sponge and top with the second meringue disc.
- 74 min
Coat the whole cake — top and sides — in a thin layer of the remaining buttercream.
- 847 min
Press toasted flaked almonds around the sides, dust the top with icing sugar, and chill 45 minutes before serving.
Watch outChill at least 45 minutes before slicing — cold firms the buttercream so the layers cut clean instead of squashing.
