National Pecan Torte Day recognizes a delicious pecan treat on August 22nd. Of the pecan recipes, the torte delivers a decadent dessert that’s also versatile.
- The pecan tree is the only nut tree native to North America.
- Pecans pack in more than 19 vitamins and minerals. Some of the ones with some nutritional punch include vitamins A, B, and E. Add to that folic acid, calcium, potassium, and zinc and pecans deserve several celebrations.
- Beyond the vital nutrients mentioned above, pecans also provide healthy fats in abundance. These oils are essential to heart health.
- If the body does not get enough zinc, it may have difficulty producing testosterone – a key hormone in initiating sexual desire in both men and women. Pecans provide nearly 10 percent of the recommended Daily Value for zinc.
- It would take 11,624 pecans, stacked end to end, to reach the top of the Empire State Building in New York City.
- Texas adopted the pecan tree as its state tree in 1919. In fact, Texas Governor James Hogg liked pecan trees so much that he asked if a pecan tree could be planted at his gravesite when he died.
- Albany, Georgia, which boasts more than 600,000 pecan trees, is the pecan capital of the U.S. Albany hosts the annual National Pecan Festival, which includes a race, parade, pecan-cooking contest, the crowning of the National Pecan Queen and many other activities.
- So what’s the difference between a torte and a cake? For starters, tortes are denser, shorter and wider than cakes, and often multi-layered.
- Tortes are also made without the leaveners we’re used to in baking, namely baking powder or soda. Instead, they get their airiness from whipped eggs that are light and fluffy.
- Tortes are commonly baked in a spring form pan.
- To confuse things a little, torte actually means “cake” in German and Hungarian.
- “Pecan” is from an Algonquian word, meaning a nut requiring a stone to crack.
- There are over 1,000 varieties of pecans. Many are named for Native American Indian tribes, including Cheyenne, Mohawk, Sioux, Choctaw and Shawnee.
- The U.S. produces about 80 percent of the world’s pecan crop.
- Before a shelled pecan is ready to be sold, it must first be cleaned, sized, sterilized, cracked and finally, shelled.
- There are 691 calories in 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of pecans.
- Pecans are one of the most popular edible nuts native to North America and Mexico.
- The history of pecans can be traced back to the 16th century.
- A pecan, is not truly a nut, but is technically a drupe, a fruit with a single stone or pit, surrounded by a husk.
- In 1920 commercial shelling equipment brought unshelled pecans to consumers for the first time.
- Astronauts took pecans to the moon in two Apollo space missions.
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