This traditional Punschtorte recipe combines soft sponge cake, fruity jam, rich rum filling and a smooth pink icing for a classic Austrian dessert. Inspired by Viennese coffee house baking, this elegant rum cake is perfect for celebrations, afternoon coffee or anyone looking to try an authentic Austrian cake recipe at home.
Punschtorte is one of Austria’s most recognisable cakes, known for its distinctive pink icing, soft sponge layers and warming rum flavour. Traditionally found in Viennese coffee houses, this classic dessert combines light sponge cake with jam, cake crumbs and rum to create a rich filling that becomes even better after resting overnight.
Finished with its signature glossy pink glaze, Punschtorte stands out on any dessert table. The striking appearance contrasts beautifully with the soft, rum-soaked centre hidden inside, making it a cake that feels both nostalgic and celebratory.
This version is made as one large torte before being sliced to serve, creating the traditional presentation often seen in Austrian cafés. It’s an impressive yet approachable bake that works beautifully for celebrations, festive gatherings or slow weekend baking.
Star Ingredient
Rum is the defining flavour in a traditional Punschtorte and the ingredient that gives the cake its unmistakable warmth and depth. Used in both the filling and the icing, it transforms simple sponge and jam into something rich, fragrant and nostalgic.
As the rum soaks into the cake layers, it creates the soft texture that Punschtorte is known for. It also adds notes of caramel, spice and sweetness throughout the torte. The flavour helps balance the sweetness of the icing and the fruitiness of the jam, creating a cake that feels indulgent without becoming overly heavy.
Dark rum gives the most traditional flavour, adding richness and depth to the filling. However, a golden rum creates a slightly lighter finish that still delivers the signature warmth expected from a classic Austrian Punschtorte.
Ingredients you can buy Plastic Free
- Plain Flour
- Eggs
- Salt
- Icing Sugar
- Lemon
- Vanilla Extract
- Orange
- Chocolate
- Apricot Jam
- Rum
- Icing Sugar
Equipment You Will Need
- 11.5 by 9 Inch Baking Tin
- Baking Parchment Paper
- Freestanding Mixer or Bowls with Handheld Mixer
- Micro Zester
- Spatula
- Sharp Knife
- Ruler
- Mixing Bowls
- Microwaveable Bowl
- Measuring Spoons
- Spoon or Palette
Tips and Tricks when Making Homemade Punschtorte
Mixing up your Punschtorte Batter
As this recipe requires whisking up egg whites and yolks separately, you have a couple of options for ease. If you have a couple of bowls for your stand mixer, you can find it easy to swap between the whisking components. However, if you only have the single bowl, utilising a handheld mixer may be easier. Handheld mixers allow for you to easily move between different bowls, with a wash of the beaters between. You can mix and match between you bowls if you have a couple that you use for baking.
Presenting your Punschtorte
The recipe creates one large punschtorte, which is then cut into slices to serve. There are a few other ways that you may find punschtorte traditionally presented. This is in smaller individual portions. Whether it be rounds or squares.
If you wish to go down the square route, you can assemble the punschtorte like within the recipe and then cut into squares. You can then dip each individual square in the glaze. For round, cut out even amounts of rounds from cake. The offcuts are what you then use to make the filling. Like the squares you would dip them to glaze once assembled.
Making the Glaze
The glaze needs to be thick pour consistency. To ensure it is not too runny, I would start with 3 tablespoons of the hot water and then add in the extra as required in teaspoon volumes to reach the right consistency.
If you are making individual portions, you may want to make it slightly thin to make dipping them slightly easier.
Homemade Punschtorte Recipe
Equipment
- 11.5 by 9 Inch Baking Tin
- Baking Parchment Paper
- Freestanding Mixer or Bowls with Handheld Mixer
- Micro Zester
- Spatula
- Sharp Knife
- Ruler
- Mixing Bowls
- Microwaveable bowl
- Measuring Spoons
- Spoon or Palette
Ingredients
Cake
- 4 Large Eggs separated
- 100 g Icing Sugar
- Pinch of Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Half Lemon zested
- 30 g Butter melted
- 100 g Plain Flour
Filling
- 150 g Apricot Jam
- 6 Tablespoon Rum
- Half Orange Zest and Juice
- 100 g Dark Chocolate melted
Glaze
- 400 g Icing Sugar
- 3-4 Tablespoons Hot Water
- 2 Tablespoons Rum
- Pink / Red Food Colouring
Decoration
- 20 g Milk Chocolate melted
Instructions
- Line your baking dish with baking parchment paper.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
- Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salts until they each stiff peaks.
- In bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and icing sugar until light fluffy and you can leave a ribbon of mix on itself.
- Fold some of the whites along with the vanilla and lemon zest into the egg yolk mixture.
- Pour in the melted butter and fold through.
- Add in the rest of the whites and fold through until no white shows.
- Add in the flour and gently fold through.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tin.
- Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes.
- Allow to cool slightly in the tin and then turn out to cool completely.
- Once cool, trim the short ends of the cake to square of ends (if using rounded corner tin).
- Along the long side, cut into 2 10cm sections, and the remaining piece will be used for the filling.
- Crumb this smaller portion of cake into a bowl.
- Spread the 2 10cm section of cake with apricot jam, and then add the remaining to the crumbed cake.
- Add to the crumb mixture, the rum, melted chocolate and orange juice and zest and mix together to make the filling.
- Spread the filling onto one of the apricot topped pieces of cake, pressing it down firmly, and making sure it goes right to the edges.
- Top with the second piece of cake with the apricot side down.
- Make the glaze by mixing the icing sugar, rum, food colouring and hot water together in the bowl until thick yet pourable.
- Carefully pour the glaze over the cake to cover it, gently encouraging down the sides as needed.
- Pop the melted milk chocolate into a piping bag and drizzle a pattern across the top of the cake.
- Pop the cake into the fridge to chill for at least 8 hours, ideally overnight.
- Prior to serving, you can use a sharp knife to cut away any excess glaze at the base of the punschtorte to create a clean edge.
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