We got a blitz of snow yesterday. ย Brrrr!!!! I guess this was winter's last little hurrah before spring. ย Here's to hoping. ย Well, pretty as all this snow was, I was in serious need of chocolate today and this Sunday is Valentine's Day after all. ย And what is Valentine's Day without chocolate??? ย I'll tell you, it's just another cold blusteryย gray February day. ย So bring on the chocolate!
Thisย is the recipe for Ian's Flourless Chocolate Torte. ย Ian is a retired chef who has owned, operated and sold numerous restaurants over the course of his career and now resides in Mexico. ย Every so often he gives private small group cooking classes in his beautiful home. ย It is so much fun! ย His recipes are easy to follow and always delicious. Going to his cooking classes is a real treat.
What's the difference between a cake and a torte? ย The main ingredients in a cake are sugar, eggs, butter, and flour. ย A torte uses little to no flour and uses ground nuts or breadcrumbs instead of flour.
This particular recipe is a favorite of ours. ย It's so good in fact, a couple years ago my mom and I made it one afternoon and forgot to let it rest for an hour after it came out of the oven. ย We flipped it out onto a wire cooling rack and it was so moist it started to quickly ooze through the rack! ย In a sheer panic and without hesitation, we both started gobblingย it up with our fingers as it plopped onto the counter from under the cooling rack. ย It's that good. ย Of course, we then had to make another one... dang it. ย Heh heh. ย
Usually I'll make it just as it is without the ganache. ย Warm it up, sprinkle powdered sugar on it, and maybe put a scoop of vanilla ice cream with it. ย That's probably why I thought of it today, because the snow reminded me of powered sugar on the cake. ย But with Valentine's Day coming up, I thought, What the heck. Let's jazz it up with an easy chocolate ganache and strawberries!ย ย I know, I know... chocolate and strawberries are a Valentine's Day cliche, but so what, it's delicious. ย Think classic, not cliche.
The fun thing about this recipe is you can keep it simple...
Or by adding a few raspberries, you can create an elegant dessert...
Or you can really guild the lily and go hog wild...
Oh heck ya! ย Now that's what I'm talking about!!!
Happy Valentine's Day!
More Chocolate Recipes You'll Love!
Flourless Chocolate Torte
Ingredients
- 12 oz chocolate chopped
- 8 oz butter
- 4 ounces strong coffee
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup almond or hazelnut meal
- 7 large eggs separated
- ยฝ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
Ganache
- 8 ounces semi sweet chocolate chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
Special Equipment
- cake pan or mini cheesecake pan
- electric mixer
- scale
Instructions
-
Grease 9 inch pan and preheat oven to 350ยบF
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In a double boiler, melt chocolate, butter, and coffee. ย Stir until smooth.
-
Remove bowl from heat and stir in sugar, ground almond meal, vanilla, and salt.
-
Stir in egg yolks one at a time.
-
Beat egg white until stiff peaks and fold into chocolate.
-
Pour batter into pan and bake until firm, about 1 hour.
Ganache
-
Heat the heavy cream until it steams.
-
Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted and is completely smooth.
-
Let cool slightly and pour over cooled torte.
-
Serve warm with whip cream and berries.
Recipe Notes
Variation: Replace strong coffee with 2 ounces of rum and 2 ounces of kahua
Nancy M. says
Very nice and sooo delicious! Clear concise directions. Thank you!
Nancy
Surya says
Looks delicious!
Michelle Hanley says
Delicious ๐