Stephanie Mittler’s Graubündner Nusstorte Recipe
Stephanie Mittler, head pâtissière at Mammertsberg by Lake Constance, reveals her personal reinterpretation of Switzerland’s beloved Graubündner Nusstorte, sharing the recipe exclusively with Maison E. Her version combines tradition with innovation, featuring walnut mousse, yogurt foam, sea buckthorn gel, and a delicate black-tea whey broth.
Head Pâtissière, Mammertsberg
(Recipe) Few can resist the Graubünden Nusstorte in Switzerland. This includes Stephanie Mittler—head pâtissière at Mammertsberg at Lake Constance. “I had my first piece at Casa Caminada. A rich shortcrust pastry with caramel and walnuts, served with cream and vanilla ice cream: To me, this is now the taste of Switzerland,” Mittler says. Years later, she reinterprets the classic: a walnut mousse combined with yogurt foam and sea buckthorn gel, accompanied by salty caramel and walnut ice cream, and a broth of black tea whey for added freshness.
Ingredients
for the recipe
- Crunchy Base250 g Maracaibo 65% Felchlin
160 g Croquantine Felchlin - Walnut Cream400 g cream
400 g milk
180 g egg yolk
80 g sugar
6 sheets of gelatin
60 g walnut paste
240 g Edelweiss 36% Felchlin
160 g Maracaibo Criolait 38% Felchlin - Sugar Rings120 g butternut squash
20 g powdered sugar
25 g isomalt
5 g glucose - Caramelized Walnuts200 g walnuts
20 g water
50 g sugar
5 g butter
2 g salt - Chocolate Crumble300 g sugar
125 g water
250 g Maracaibo 65% Felchlin
187 g cacao nibs - Yogurt Espuma (Foam)50 g milk
100 g cream
40 g sugar
1 sheet gelatin
200 g yogurt
50 g crème fraîche
30 g lemon juice - Walnut Cracker25 g glucose
25 g milk
75 g sugar
65 g butter
80 g walnuts, chopped, lightly roasted - Sea Buckthorn Gel150 g calamansi juice
100 g sea buckthorn juice
100 g lime juice
100 g lemon juice
500 g simple syrup
3 g citras
8 g agar
9 g gellan - Walnut Ice Cream500 g roasted walnuts
1250 ml milk
400 g cream
337 g egg yolk
195 g sugar
156 g walnut liqueur
2 g salt
5 g xanthan - Salted Caramel300 g sugar
140 g glucose
50 g butter
170 g cream
4 g salt
20 g miso - Meringue Sticks2 egg whites, fresh
150 g sugar
100 g water - Black Tea Whey1 l black tea (e.g., Ceylon)
330 ml whey
225 g cocoa fruit juice
200 g simple syrup
- Also NeededWalnut oil
Orange oil
Walnut Cracker
Heat glucose, milk, sugar, and butter to 106°C, then fold in the walnuts. Roll out very thinly between two sheets of baking paper and freeze. Once frozen, remove the top paper, bake at 160°C for about 5 minutes until golden brown, and cut into circles of about 3.5 cm diameter. Cool flat.
Sea Buckthorn Gel
Mix all liquid ingredients together with the citras and let rest. Warm up with agar and gellan, then cook for about 3 minutes. Cool and mix into a smooth gel.
Walnut Ice Cream
Blend walnuts with milk and cream, let steep for at least 12 hours, then strain and heat. Temper with egg yolks and sugar, stir in walnut liqueur, season with salt, and thicken with xanthan. Freeze in Paco-Jet cups.
Salted Caramel
Caramelize sugar, then add glucose. Add butter, cream, and salt, bring to a boil, and stir in miso. Strain through a sieve, let cool, and pipe into bags.
Meringue Sticks
Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Heat sugar and water to 118°C, then slowly add to egg whites while whipping until stiff peaks form. Pipe long, thin sticks onto Silpat mats, dust with dark malt extract powder, and dehydrate until fully dry.
Black Tea Whey
Make tea and let cool. Mix with the remaining ingredients, adjust with lemon juice, calamansi juice, and salt. Thicken lightly with xanthan.
CRUNCHY BASE
Melt the chocolate, fold in the broken waffles, then roll out evenly between two sheets of baking paper to GN size and place a baking frame around it.
WALNUT CREAM
Heat milk and cream with walnut paste, then temper with egg yolks and sugar. Dissolve gelatin in the mixture and pour over the chocolate. Stir well, season with salt, and spread over the crunchy base. Chill overnight.
SUGAR RINGS
Cut the squash into small pieces and bake until soft. Mix all ingredients in a Thermomix at 80°C for 10 minutes until smooth.
Create a rectangular stencil about 2 cm wide and 12 cm long. Spread the cold mixture evenly with a palette knife onto Silpat mats, using the stencil. Bake in the oven at 120°C (without fan) for about 20-25 minutes until dry and shapeable. Form rings of about 4 cm diameter and press the ends together. Let cool completely. Store airtight until use.
CARAMELIZED WALNUTS
Toast the walnuts at 160°C for about 10 minutes. Boil water and sugar until nearly all the water is evaporated, but before the caramelizing process starts. Add salt and walnuts, stirring constantly to caramelize evenly, then add butter and let cool on a silicone mat.
CHOCOLATE CRUMBLE
Heat sugar and water to 150°C, add remaining ingredients and let crystallize. Once cooled, chop finely.
YOGURT ESPUMA (FOAM)
Warm milk and cream until sugar dissolves. Dissolve gelatin and mix with the remaining ingredients. Pour into a whipped cream dispenser, add a gas cartridge, and shake until foam appears.
“The Swiss love it very sweet.”
— Stephanie Mittler,
Head Pâtissière, Mammertsberg
Plating
Use a 2 to 2.5 cm round cutter to form walnut cream circles and place them in the center of the plate. Add a dot of sea buckthorn gel in the middle. Place a sugar ring around it. Sprinkle caramelized walnuts and chocolate crumble on top. Fill the yogurt foam just below the rim and place a walnut cracker on top. Add 5-7 dots of sea buckthorn gel around the sugar chip and garnish with seasonal flowers, such as sunflowers, marigolds, or mallow. Pass the walnut ice cream through the Paco-Jet and place a scoop in the center of the cracker. Drizzle some salted caramel in a zigzag pattern on the scoop, then place 3 meringue sticks on top. Finally, pour the black tea whey around the dish and drizzle some walnut and orange oil along the plate’s edge.