Kartoffeltorte

"Beat together for half an hour 1/2 pound of finely ground sugar with 9 egg yolks, then grate 4 loth (old weight unit) of unpeeled bitter almonds on a grater, and add 2 loth of finely chopped candied citron peel and the same amount of bitter orange peel, the grated zest of one lemon, a fifth of ground cinnamon, the same amount of cloves, and three-quarters of a pound of grated potatoes. Stir all of this together for another quarter of an hour, finally fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites from the 9 eggs, and fill the mixture into a tart form to bake in the oven. Alternatively, grate cooked and peeled potatoes, beat 4 whole eggs well in a bowl, then add 1/2 pound of very finely ground sugar, and when this is well mixed, add 1/2 pound of the grated potatoes, and mix everything together vigorously for three-quarters of an hour. Now grate the zest of a lemon onto sugar and add this to the mixture, then thoroughly coat a mold or tart pan with butter, sprinkle it with breadcrumbs, and pour in the batter. It must go into the oven immediately and should be baked slowly like any other cake."

The recipe is written in the charming, somewhat free-wheeling style typical of 19th-century cookbooks. Quantities use old Austrian units—like 'Loth', 'Pfund', and 'Quintel'—requiring conversion to metric for today's kitchens. Spelling varies ('sein gestoßenen Zucker' for 'sehr fein gestoßenen Zucker', meaning 'very finely ground sugar'; 'Erdäpfel' for potatoes). Instructions assume a cook's basic knowledge: mixing times are long because of hand tools, not modern mixers. The structure often offers multiple methods for the same dish and presumes close personal involvement and intuition from the cook, common in domestic manuals of the period.