Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Butter and Sugar in bowl
Add the vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. The mixture should be very light and fluffy. Mix in the flour just until smooth.
Turn a 9” layer cake pan upside down and grease and flour it. Tilt the pan to cover the entire surface with flour.
Tilt the pan to cover the entire bottom with flour. Knock off any excess flour.
Spread ¼ cup of the batter to the edge of the pan with a small offset spatula. It will be very, very thin. The batter itself should be not more than ⅛” thick. Prepare as many pans as you have.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until the layers are golden brown. To remove from pans, let cool for about a minute. Run a flexible spatula under the layers and lift off to cool completely on a rack. Upon cooling they will become very crisp.
To reuse pans, simply wipe with a paper towel, cool completely, re-grease and re-flour. If you are in a hurry to cool them, put the pans in the freezer after you have wiped them.
Continue making torte layers until all of the batter has been used. This yields 12 to 14 layers, depending upon the thickness of each layer. These can be made a week in advance by storing in an airtight container. They may be made even further in advance by freezing.
To defrost, spread on racks. To crisp if they are soft, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Put layers on cookie sheets and heat for 60 to 90 seconds. Remove to cooling racks.