Torta Caprese--Rich Chocolate Almond Torte

I almost forgot about this delightful cake until my recent visit to Rome. And there I found it displayed in pastry shops and on the menu of restaurants, next to such classic desserts as tiramisu or semifreddo. I also had a chance to try a wonderful home-made torta caprese at a dinner I was invited to by my friend's family.

So today, for Valentine's Day which is all about chocolate treats, I share a recipe for torta caprese, which in essence is a very simple cake but its secret is that it must be made of best quality delicious ingredients.

Most often I make a traditional, most neutral, version of it with ground almonds. However, my favorite torta caprese is made with hazelnuts, especially those from Oregon, which give the cake that special gianduja flavor. Almonds can also be replaced by walnuts. And I recently bought ground cashews to experiment with them next time.

Torta caprese is made without flour (as the ground nuts make up for it entirely) so it is a gluten-free dessert. It is quite rich and moist but I add also some liqueur which gave it an extra flavor and moisture.

Torta caprese can be served with a scoop of good gelato or topped with a dollop of crème fraîche or whipped cream. Anyway, in whatever variation it is served, there is no one, and particularly no true chocolate lover, who will resist a piece of torta caprese.

Torta Caprese

Ingredients:
6 eggs, separated, preferably organic,
6 oz bittersweet good quality (preferably, Belgian) chocolate, broken in small pieces,
1 stick ( 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, plus extra tsp for the form,
3/4 cup sugar,
1 and 1/2 cup blanched and ground almonds (hazelnuts or walnuts),
2 tbsp Amaretto Liqueur, Frangelico, or Grand Marnier,
1 tbsp vanilla,
pinch of salt,
confectioners sugar for dusting.

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. prepare a baking 9.5-inch baking form with high, removable walls. Cut out a round piece of waxed paper to the size of the form and place it at the bottom of the form. Grease it with a tsp of butter.
2. Place chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Add butter cut into small pieces and melt either on top of a pot with steaming water or in a microwave oven. If you use a microwave oven, first run it for 30 seconds, then mix chocolate. Repeat again 3-4 times running the microwave oven for no longer than 15-20 seconds at a time, stirring in between with a spatula, until chocolate and butter make a smooth cream. Add vanilla and liqueur to the chocolate cream.

3. In a standing mixer, beat egg yolks with sugar until pale. Add melted chocolate and mix. Sift in ground almonds and mix gently again.
4. In a separate bowl, beat whites of eggs with salt until stiff. Fold the whites into the chocolate batter gently using a spatula. Transfer the batter to the baking form. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the top is set. Cool, dust the top with confectioners sugar, and serve with crème fraîche or vanilla gelato.

Chocolate-Caramel Triangles with Sea Salt

I have two absolutely delicious frozen dessert recipes waiting to be published. Unfortunately, although it is spring officially, cold desserts are still not what we crave for. So I decided to share today a recipe for a baked, very sweet and comforting cake, especially that many persons have already asked me for this recipe.

And because this type of cake on a short crust base called Mazurek is what in Poland we traditionally prepare for Easter, there is one more reason to do it now.

I must admit that this cake is really sweet and can satisfy the sweetest tooth. It calls for milk chocolate, which is my favorite, but with the added sweetness of the caramel, in that particular cake, dark chocolate can be used as well, especially if you prefer dark chocolate.

What makes this cake, as someone noticed similar to Mars or Twix bars, as well as interesting and addictive is the sprinkle of sea salt sprinkle on top of the chocolate layer. It brings up the taste of the chocolate and contrasts nicely with its sweetness. I used a Himalayan pink salt but any good quality coarse sea salt can also be used.

You can make a lot of triangles from a cake baked on a 10-inch by 15-inch cookie sheet, and even a small piece of this cake goes a long way. But the cake stores nicely in an air-tight container for several days and we can indulge in it any time we crave something sweet while waiting for the spring to come.

Caramel-Chocolate Triangles

Ingredients:

For the crust
1 cup (two sticks) of unsalted butter, room temperature,
2/3 cup confection sugar,
2 cups all purpose flour,
1 tsp. vanilla essence

For the topping
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk,
1/2 cup (one stick)butter,
1/2 cup sugar,
1/2 cup light corn syrup,
1 and 1/3 cup good quality chocolate, chopped or chocolate chips,
1 tbsp. vegetable shortening,
2-3 tbsp. coarse sea salt.

Preparation:
To make dough
1. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and run the engine until they resemble crumbles. Take it out on a working surface and knead into a smooth ball. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. The dough can also be made by hand. First mix with fingers flour and sugar, then add pieces of butter and vanilla and knead all ingredients together to make a smooth ball. Chill.
2. Preheat oven to 350 F.
3. Roll out the dough into a rectangle approximately 10-15 inches large. Grease lightly the baking tin with butter and, using a rolling pin, transfer the dough on the cookie sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until crust becomes gold.
4. Take the tin from the oven and let the crust cool completely.

To make a topping
1. In a medium pan combine condensed milk, butter, sugar and corn sugar. Stir over low heat for about 15 minutes until mixture becomes darker, smooth and thick.
2. Pour the caramel topping evenly over the cold crust.

3. In a small saucepan, on a low heat, heat the pieces of chocolate mixed with shortening, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes smooth.

4. Spread the chocolate on top of the cold caramel layer. Sprinkle with salt and chill until firm for about 2 hours.

Cut in triangles and serve. Store the remaining triangles in a cookie box or an air-tight container.

An Easy Chocolate Dessert

If you are craving for chocolate, this is your dessert. Easy and extremely satisfying. The original recipe calls for dark chocolate. However, for me, a lover of the milk and white chocolate, the original version was almost too intensive. So, my second edition of this cake was made using milk chocolate and I liked it better. But everyone who tried the first version loved it and raved about it as well.

The reason why this dessert is so rich and delicious is that it simply tastes as whipped chocolate to the point that it is hard to qualify it as a cake or even a mousse, so, for the lack of a better term, let me just call it a dessert. You cannot eat much of it so a small portion of it goes a long way. I decided to post this recipe today as the first in this year to start it with a burst of sweet indulgence.

Chocolate Dessert

Ingredients:
2 cups of heavy whipping cream plus an extra 1/2 cup for decoration,
1 lb (about 2 and 1/2 cup) of a good quality dark (or whichever) chocolate or chocolate chips,
2 tsp vanilla extract,
cocoa powder for dusting,

Preparation:
1. Line a small baking form (e.g., seven inch) with high walls, or a small bowl, with a clingfilm foil, so the foil overhangs from the wall.
2. Melt the chocolate over the pot with boiling water or in a microwave oven. If you use a microwave oven, do it for no longer than 30 seconds, several times, stirring in between each turn, until it is melted completely.

3. Whisk the heavy whipping cream with vanilla until stiff then add half of the chocolate. Gently fold it in. Add the rest of the chocolate.
4. Pour a chocolate mix into the baking form or a bowl lined with foil, so the edges of the foil stick out. Using a spreading knife finish the top of the dessert and let it chill in a refrigerator for at least two hours.

5. Beat the extra cream until stiff.
6. Remove the cake from the bowl by pulling the foil ends, Gentle remove the foil. Dust the dessert with cocoa powder.
7. Cut it in small triangles and serve with whipped cream.

A Simple Chocolate Cake--Breakfast for Those Who Don't Eat Breakfasts

Honestly, I have not had much time for my blog lately between doctor visits with my kids, social events, and other projects, including a perpetual home improvement activity. I have hundreds of recipes and pictures waiting ready to be posted, but no time to turn them into posts. For that reason, today's post will be about breakfast, since when I was sitting in doctor's waiting room early this morning, I realized that I did not even have the time to have a cup of coffee before I left home, which most of the time would be all I have for breakfast.

It is said that a nice breakfast gives you a good kick for the whole day. It is probably true, but not being a breakfast person, I can't really confirm that. I know many people who start a day with a big meal that can keep them going through lunch time, and often even until dinner time. There are different traditions of eating breakfasts--muesli in Scandinavia and Switzerland, cereal in America, soft-boiled eggs in Germany, a toast in England, a croissant in France, and--most unhealthy of all, I suppose--a sausage in Poland. This tradition I noticed is still being cultivated aboard Polish Airlines (LOT) flights. When during these frugal times, on most European connections, passengers have to pay for a sandwich or a coffee if they choose to have breakfast at all, the passengers of LOT are served freshly grilled sausages with cheese, filling the entire airplane with their unhealthy yet appetizing aroma at no additional charge.

Although my breakfast usually starts and ends with a cup of coffee, I like to have a piece of pastry with it, if I have one. And even though I will not have many recipes in the "breakfast" category, today's post is about a simple cake that I love to have for breakfast.

Simple Chocolate Cake

2 sticks butter,
6 tbsp water,
4 eggs,
4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder,
1 1/2 cup flour,
1 cup sugar,
2 tsp baking powder,
1 tbsp vanilla extract,
2 tbsp bread crumbs.

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Mix butter, cocoa powder, sugar, vanilla extract, and water in a saucepan. Heat over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves and all the ingredients blend into a homogeneous mixture.
3. Separate egg yolks from whites.
4. Take a saucepan from the heat and add yolks. Mix gently and pour 1/2 cup of the mixture into a separate cup and put aside (this will be used later as icing).
5. Whip whites until stiff and add to the remaining mixture.
6. Mix flour with baking powder and add to the chocolate mixture.
7. Grease a round cake form with butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs.
8. Pour the mixture in and put in the oven for 45 minutes.
9. Take the cake out of the oven, let it cool, take it out of the form and pour the remaining chocolate mixture all over it.