12. Blitz Torte with Orange Curd & Meringue

A blitz torte—or “lightning cake,” roughly translated—is a German-American layer cake. This cake has buttery, almost cookie-like cake layers, creamy orange curd filling and a crisp meringue decorated with crunchy almonds. Though it looks impressive, the cake is relatively cheap to make with only a handful of ingredients: Egg whites are used in the meringue, while the yolks go in the cake; both the zest and juice from a single orange flavor the curd. The rest is just flour, sugar, salted (regular) butter and a splash of vanilla. Serve this beautiful cake for any special occasion. Read more about this cake.