🍰 DESSERT
Garash Torta
A flourless walnut cake layered with dark chocolate cream, a rich and elegant Bulgarian celebration torte.
Bulgarian · advanced · serves 12
prep 40 min · cook 30 min
~430 cal · 8g protein · 32g carbs · 31g fat · 2g fiber · 28g sugars · 13g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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The Garash torta is one of Bulgaria's most celebrated cakes, created, by tradition, by a Hungarian confectioner named Kossa Garash working in the region in the 19th century. It has become a fixture of Bulgarian celebrations and coffee houses.
It is a flourless cake built entirely on ground walnuts and whipped egg whites, baked into thin, nutty layers and stacked with a rich dark chocolate cream. Coated in more chocolate, it is dense, moist, and intensely flavoured, an elegant special-occasion dessert that shows off the region's love of both walnuts and chocolate.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 12
- 2 1/2 cups ground walnuts
- 8 egg whites
- 1 cup sugar
- 8 oz dark chocolate
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Instructions
- 1Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks with the sugar, then fold in the ground walnuts.
- 2Spread into thin discs and bake at 325F (160C) until set and dry, about 25 minutes; cool.✎ Chef’s noteBake the walnut layers until fully dry so they hold up under the cream, but watch closely, as nut meringue scorches fast.
- 3Make a chocolate cream by melting the chocolate into warm cream and cooling until spreadable.
- 4Stack the walnut layers with chocolate cream and coat the whole cake in the rest.
Bulgarian celebration tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Sofia. Yogurt is not a garnish here. It carries tarator, a cold soup of yogurt, cucumber, garlic, dill and walnut eaten all summer, and sirene, the brined white cheese, is crumbled over shopska salad. The story that the salad was designed in the national colours is a modern claim rather than a documented one.
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Bulgaria. Banitsa is the everyday pastry: thin sheets of dough layered with sirene and egg, coiled into a tin and baked, eaten warm for breakfast with a glass of ayran or boza. At new year, fortunes written on slips of paper are baked inside it and everyone takes a piece. Tarator, cold cucumber in soured milk with walnut and dill, is the summer counterpart.
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Europe. European cooking is built on the land and the seasons, wheat, butter, and cured pork in the north; olive oil, tomatoes, and seafood around the Mediterranean; preserved vegetables and hearty stews through long winters. Centuries of peasant tradition, guild craft, and royal courts refined techniques from French mother sauces to Italian fresh pasta and Central European baking. Regional identity runs remarkably deep, with a single dish often changing from one valley to the next.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Bulgaria
Tarator (Cold Yogurt and Cucumber Soup)A chilled Bulgarian summer soup of thinned yogurt, grated cucumber, garlic, dill and walnuts, finished with a drizzle of oil.
BanitsaCoiled phyllo layered with tangy white cheese and egg, baked into a golden spiral, Bulgaria’s breakfast and New Year charm.
KavarmaA slow-cooked Bulgarian clay-pot stew of meat, peppers, onions, and mushrooms in a savory sauce.
Browse all Bulgaria recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven.
Storing it: Store in an airtight container. Most keep 2 to 3 days at room temperature, and longer refrigerated.
Make it a Bulgaria meal
KavarmaDinner
Boza (Bulgarian Millet Boza)Drink
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Garash Torta?
A flourless walnut cake layered with dark chocolate cream, a rich and elegant Bulgarian celebration torte.
Where does Garash Torta come from?
Garash Torta is a Bulgarian dish from Sofia, Bulgaria.
Can Garash Torta be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Garash Torta recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Garash Torta safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Garash Torta take to make?
About 70 minutes total (40 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking), serving 12.
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