Dessert Recipes

Chocolate and Almond Torte

March 14, 2012

I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t love a rich flourless chocolate cake. It’s always a unanimous crowd pleaser whether you’re hosting a dinner or sharing a good time with friends. It’s also one of those classic recipe everyone should have at least one variation of and this Chocolate and Almond Torte is a pretty great one. The difference between a torte and a flourless chocolate cake is that a torte will usually have some nuts in it and here the ground almonds bring a subtle almond taste to an intense chocolate flavor, just lovely.

I love how just a few simple ingredients thrown together can create such an impact, both visually and taste wise. When baking this torte, you’ll notice it will rise quite a bit and become crisp on the outside, shrinking back down after baking to create a crater like top that’s very rustic looking and in my opinion, visually stunning. The crispy exterior is a fantastic contrast to the super moist cake inside which will change greatly depending on when you eat it…

The first day is a deliciously moist and sharp chocolate cake, but put it in the fridge overnight and you find yourself with an equally addictive fudge-like texture, dense and lighter in taste, ready to be cut up in small pieces and consumed throughout the day. I must admit I’m a fan of the second day version and you’ll easily be converted too. While some people like to top their chocolate torte with powdered sugar, whipped cream or even ganache, I always leave mine fully naked. Why hide these great looking cracks that give so much charm and character, and it’s not like you need anything else to make it taste any better! Beauty in all simplicity…

 

Chocolate and Almond Torte

 

Adapted from Food and Travel Magazine
Active time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Makes 6-8 servings

250g good quality dark chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa solids
250g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus extra for greasing
6 eggs, separated
125g caster sugar (superfine sugar)
50g ground almonds

Preheat the oven to 190°C/350°F. Lightly grease a 23cm springform cake tin. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl place over a saucepan of gently simmering water.

Stir until combined then leave to cool.

Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually pour the melted chocolate into the egg mixture, stirring constantly.

Using a large spoon, fold in the ground almonds.

Put the egg whites into a clean dry bowl and whisk until they form stiff peaks.

Using a large metal spoon, fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture until they are just combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 35 minutes. The torte will be very moist in the middle but resist cooking it for longer.

Remove the torte from the oven and leave to cool completely in the tin before serving.

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  • muffinka March 14, 2012 at 4:01 pm

    Amazing!!!
    I’m gonna do this tommorow!
    But in smaller cake tin.
    I would love to put on top piece of ice cream!

    Cheers!

    • Sandra March 14, 2012 at 5:47 pm

      Ice cream sounds like a pretty good pairing! Let me know how you get on!

  • Lisa @ Snappy Gourmet March 14, 2012 at 8:40 pm

    Looks heavenly!

  • Kankana March 14, 2012 at 10:04 pm

    So rich and love the color of the torte. This is my list.

  • Jesica @ Pencil Kitchen March 14, 2012 at 10:08 pm

    going to make this too!!! Definitely! Everyone loves it, doh, especially me!

  • Orange Late March 15, 2012 at 12:54 am

    For some reason, I kept seeing Chocolate cake, all day…and your is another gorgeous one!! I think I better get myself some Chocolate too. ^_^ hehe Thanks for sharing

    • Sandra March 15, 2012 at 5:21 pm

      Thank you! Glad everyone’s enjoying this chocolate stunner.

  • Amy December 12, 2012 at 2:16 pm

    Do you think it’s necessary to use real butter, or could I substitute? I am completely dairy free right now since my 5month old daughter is sensitive to something dairy. I know it’s not ideal. Sigh. I’d really like to make this next week…Thoughts?

    • Sandra December 15, 2012 at 10:37 pm

      Hi Amy,

      I think it might be worth a try with oil instead of butter as a substitute. Seeing as the butter here isn’t used to add volume (which is what make substituting it harder in recipes where it is whipped), I would imagine using oil would still yield pretty good results. I’d definitely be interested in hearing about the final output if you ever give it a try so let me know!

    • Lilja October 30, 2013 at 4:49 pm

      coconut oil, or dairy-free margarine like Earth Balance

  • Lilja October 30, 2013 at 4:47 pm

    This looks so good. Do you know the appropriate conversion to US units? I am used to measuring things in cups, not grams. I am pretty sure grams are the same as milliliters though, so I’ll try the milliliter side of my measuring cup and see if that works!! Also for non-dairy folks I think coconut oil or a veggie-oil-based margarine like Earth Balance might be a good substitute.

    • Sandra October 31, 2013 at 4:44 am

      Hi Lilja. I think grams are indeed identical to ml so you should be OK. I got used to using a scale a lot when baking especially since I own a lot of European cookbooks and they’re all in grams!

  • Lilja November 2, 2013 at 2:53 pm

    Ok, my cake is in the oven! Used ml, and my own estimations… hope it works! I think I need to buy a scale 🙂

  • Lilja November 2, 2013 at 4:36 pm

    So… yours looks much more rich and dense than mine. Mine came out rather spongy. Too many egg whites? Did I whip them too much? Oven too hot maybe? I think it was too hot when I put it in. I have a very temperamental gas oven. I was afraid the cake would burn so I opened the oven to cool it down, and lowered the temp as it was baking. Maybe I messed it up? Or is it supposed to be spongy and fluffy?

    • Sandra November 3, 2013 at 10:16 am

      Hard to tell, I think temperature could be a big factor here as the trick of this cake is to take it out of the oven even when you think it’s still uncooked – that’s what makes the dense and moist interior… I’m sure your version is still delectable though, so use it as an excuse to make a few more tests! 😉

  • Kathleen June 12, 2015 at 12:58 pm

    I have made this many times and looooove it and have had amazing responses from both gf and gluten glutton fam/friends!
    My question is – can I keep it in the fridge longer than 1 day? How long does it keep? I want to make a few of them for an event next week and not sure if I have time enough he day before. Thanks!

    • Sandra June 15, 2015 at 4:15 pm

      Hi Kathleen!

      Yes, you can keep it for longer but usually no more than 3-4 days so you’d be fine doing them two days before. I’d recommend storing them in an airtight container in the fridge (or covered in plastic wrap) to prevent them from drying out. I’m sure they will be a huge success!

      Best,

      Sandra