Margarita's International Recipes

Capri



Torta Caprese

Chocolate and Almond Torte


Torta CapreseTorta caprese seems to be Capri's quintisencial dessert and it's not difficult to tell why. This flourless tort is rather simple to make and absolutely delicious. I made it pretty much following instructions, though I didn't have a 10" cake pan, so I used my 9" springform pan. For some reason, perhaps I may have undercooked the cake, the sides of the cake stuck to the pan so while the cake tasted great, it didn't look that well. I also forwent the powdered sugar on top - I just forgot about it.

My only complaint about this cake is that the chocolate mixture and the egg whites both required to be mixed by electric mixer - which meant that I had to wash the mixer bowl in between. Of course, if you have two mixer bowls that's not an issue.



Torta Caprese

Ingredients

  • 14 Tbsp. unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
  • 1 1/4 cup almonds
  • 6 oz. bittersweet chocolate
  • 4 eggs, divided
  • 1 cup sugar
  • powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Line the bottom of a 9" or 10" round cake pan with parchment paper and grease the bottom and sides.

Melt the butter, put in the fridge and let cool.

Blanch the almonds and put into the bowl of a food processor. Tear the chocolate into chunks and add to the bowl. Finally grind the almonds and chocolate together. Set aside.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale, with an electric mixer. Add the almond mixture and butter and beat until combined. Set aside.

Put the egg whites in a separate bowl and beat in a mixer until they have stiff peaks.

Put 1/4th of the egg whites into the almond mixture and mix well. Add the rest of the egg whites to the mixture and carefully fold in.

Pour the batter into the cake pan, put in the oven and cook for 40-50 minutes or until a tester put in the middle comes out with moist crumbs. Cool the torte on a rock for 5 minutes, invert into another rack, discard the wax paper, and cool completely. Invert into a serving plate and dust confectioner's sugar on it. Serve with optional whipped cream.


Adapted from a recipe at Epicurious.com


Caprese Recipes | Margarita's International Recipes | E-mail