The Holidays are in full swing and there is nothing I find more cheerful than baking traditional recipes on snowy weekend mornings ;) Last week, I made for my crew my infamous Torta Caprese recipe, learnt, practiced and mastered over the many trips I took to Italy these past few years. It has since become a classic of mine for our annual Christmas Eve family gathering and (not to brag! but...) every time, it ends up being a a resounding success ! I guess the key is in choosing high-quality ingredients and not be scared to indulge a little around this time of the year. After all, there's still a few weeks left before officially committing to our 2016's resolutions, right ?
Today, I am happy to share with you my (fairly simple!) chocolate dessert recipe, in the hopes you guys love it as much as my Mother does ;)
Serving: Makes 1 torte, plenty enough for a dozen guests !
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 sticks butter
- 1 cup almond powder
- 1/2 cup amaretto liqueur
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 7 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (60% and up)
- 5 large eggs, separated
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- Salt
Garnish: cocoa powder, salted caramel spread, sliced almonds
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°F. and butter a 9-inch cake pan. Line the bottom of your pan with a round of wax paper. Butter paper.
Melt butter and chocolate seperatly. Let butter cool and remember to give the chocolate a little mix every now and then to make sure it dosen't harden.
In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat egg yolks with granulated sugar and brown sugar until very thick and pale. Add on melted chocolate mixture, almond powder, Amaretto liqueur and butter, and mix together.
In another bowl, with cleaned beaters, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold in stiff peaks and whisk one fourth into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining whites gently but thoroughly, and spread the batter evenly in the pan.
Heat up the salted caramel spread (if too thick) in the microwave for 15 seconds then, drizzle all over torte before putting it into the over.
Bake torte in the middle of the oven for 50 minutes (or until it begins to pull away from the sides of the pan). Cool torte on a rack for 5 minutes and invert onto another rack. Discard wax paper and cool torte completely. Invert torte onto a plate.
Dust torte with cocoa powder and drop swirls of salted caramel spread all over. Cover entirely with sliced almonds then, drizzle again with salted caramel spread to taste.
