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| Flourless Chocolate Almond Torte |
A wheat free gluten free birthday party presents a real challenge, especially when trying to find a recipe for a birthday cake. My torte is adapted from a Flourless Chocolate Cake recipe at Wheat-Free.org. This website is extremely useful but it is a European organization so the recipes are in metric measurements. Fortunately, Eat Cook Share has a simple online calculator to help convert grams into cups, teaspoons, etc.
Images will follow the recipe for this post. I want to keep them in order so you can see the actually progression of the torte. This dessert is truly a marvel or chemistry and physics! Watching the process is almost as scrumptious as the torte itself.
Flourless Chocolate Almond Torte (Serves 8 – 10)
Ingredients:
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| Dark chocolate cut into pieces |
¾ cup butter, margarine or low fat spread
5 medium eggs
¾ cup sugar, divided in half
3 tablespoons strong coffee, instant or brewed
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons ground almonds
2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder, unsweetened
1 teaspoon baking powder
melting chocolate, cocoa powder or confectioner’s sugar for top of cake (optional)
Heat oven to 375°
Line a 9" circular spring form cake pan with non-stick baking paper.
Put the chocolate pieces and butter into a saucepan and melt over a gentle heat until completely melted and well combined.
Beat the egg whites until they are stiff, when you can tip the bowl on its side and the beaten egg whites don't move you know that you have beaten it enough. Then add half of the sugar and beat together.
Add the other half of the sugar to the egg yolks and beat together until the mix is creamy and thicker.
Add the egg yolk mix and the coffee to the melted chocolate. Gently stir the ingredients together.
Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the mixture, ensuring that the air beaten into the egg whites is not lost.
Mix the ground almonds, cocoa powder and baking powder together thoroughly, then slowly add this mix to the chocolate mix. Make sure that both mixes are well combined, but do not beat the ingredients together.
Pour the mixture into the baking pan and bake for 45-50 minutes. To check that the cake is cooked properly insert a skewer into the center of the cake, if it comes out clean then the cake is cooked.
Leave the cake in the baking tin for 30 minutes to cool, then turn out to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
Before serving, dust with either sieved cocoa powder or icing sugar or drizzle with melting bakers chocolate.
Helpful Tips
The darker the chocolate or cocoa powder you use, the drier the torte will be. If you use chocolate with more than 72% cocoa then serve the torte with a vanilla cream sauce, ice cream or a pudding to help moisten the cake. We like a pistachio sauce or pistachio pudding with ours.
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| Melt chocolate over low heat |
Put the chocolate pieces and butter into a saucepan and melt over a gentle heat until completely melted and well combined.
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| Egg whites beginning to peak |
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Fold egg yolks into melted chocolate. The mixture will start out looking like marshmallow & chocolate sauce. |
Add the egg yolk mix and the coffee to the melted chocolate. Gently stir the ingredients together.
Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the mixture, ensuring that the air beaten into the egg whites is not lost.
Mix the ground almonds, cocoa powder and baking powder together thoroughly, then slowly add this mix to the chocolate mix. Make sure that both mixes are well combined, but do not beat the ingredients together.
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| Torte batter will remain slightly lumpy. |
Pour the mixture into the baking pan and bake for 45-50 minutes. To check that the cake is cooked properly insert a skewer into the center of the cake, if it comes out clean then the cake is cooked.
Leave the cake in the baking tin for 30 minutes to cool, then turn out to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
Before serving, dust with either sieved cocoa powder or icing sugar or drizzle with melting bakers chocolate.
Helpful Tips
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Ingredients pre-measured and pre-mixed by recipe stages. |
Read through the entire recipe and stage the ingredients before beginning to make this recipe. Wherever possible, mix dry ingredients before hand in a separate bowl for each step. This will allow you to pay attention to the airy egg mixtures.
Put the bowl you will use for the egg whites, along with the beaters, in the refrigerator for at least an hour before beginning your baking. This will give you a cold bowl to beat the egg whites in, helping the egg whites to peak.
The darker the chocolate or cocoa powder you use, the drier the torte will be. If you use chocolate with more than 72% cocoa then serve the torte with a vanilla cream sauce, ice cream or a pudding to help moisten the cake. We like a pistachio sauce or pistachio pudding with ours.
We Want Your Ideas
If you have recipe suggestions, please send them to coop.cooking@gmail.com. Be sure to include your name so we can recognize your contribution. Photos are welcome but not necessary.
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