Made with chopped cashews and graham cracker crumbs, complete with a dense mouthfeel reminiscent of carrot cake, this torte is spectacularly unique and one of my very favorites, especially for celebrating Easter and welcoming in spring.

The funny thing is, I never knew what exactly made this dessert a torte — not when I tried it for the first time and not even once I began making it pretty much regularly over fifteen years ago after having it at a gathering with my husband's family in Monteagle, TN. I don't think a lot of the people to whom I've served it over the years have known exactly what made it a torte either, judging by their responses when tasting it. "What is it called again?"

But one thing is for sure: People love it.

Prior to falling in love with this torte, my only experience with tortes was in restaurants. Not only did I not know just what a torte was, but I also wasn't sure if it was a "tor-tah" or a "tort" by the way it is spelled. I just skipped it.

Allow me to humbly tell you all that I now know about just what makes a torte a torte: It's a type of cake made without flour (though it is not necessarily gluten-free), typically dense and multilayered, made with crumbs or ground nuts along with cream, jam or fruit. It is of European origin, denser than a cake and oftentimes made in a springform pan. It is typically pronounced as "tort" throughout America and a "tor-tah" elsewhere.

Despite being requested numerous times a year, not one person in my family has ever referred to this dessert by its name. My husband asks when I'm going to make "that thing that tastes like a carrot cake — only not as sweet — that I like so much." My good friend, who now makes this every year as part of her family's Easter lunch, generally tells me she's making "that funky coconut pie thing of yours."

I feel like I am painting all of us — my immediate family, my friends and me — as ignorant rubes, but I don't think we are. None of us grew up with tortes. They weren't in any of our moms' repertoires. And torte just doesn't roll off our tongues. It sounds like something that would be hard to make and possibly taste too fancy for the children at the table.

However, this coconut torte is unpretentious and simple. The flavor is unmistakably coconut, hence the name, but the other ingredients harmonize handsomely.

The base is made of egg whites beaten to stiff peaks to which chopped cashews, graham cracker crumbs and coconut is added. It is baked low and slow, given time to cool, then topped with fresh whipped cream sweetened with coconut and lemon zest. It is dizzyingly delicious. I actually make my own graham crackers for the crumbs. (You certainly don't have to, but I'll tell you: They are really easy.)

I know you're going to love this Coconut Torte. Everyone does!

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