When baking, I often think of my late mother from whom I inherited a raging sweet tooth. I suspect that she received hers from her own mother with whom she spent countless Friday nights making candy, cakes and other confections. They had baked for fun from recipes passed down through my French grandmother’s family and plied all whom they knew with these goodies. Yeah, I inherited that latter trait, too.
Among the wonderful treats that they made were tortes. Although it may sound quite sophisticated, a torte is simply a single layer cake made with flour and/or ground nuts. German in origin, it’s occasionally filled jam or buttercream. In my kitchen it’s adorned with fresh, seasonal fruit and confectioner’s sugar.
One of the many great things about White Chocolate Almond Torte is how few ingredients are used. As the name indicates, you’ll need white chocolate and ground almonds as well as eggs, butter, sugar and almond extract. That’s it.
I have made the following flourless White Chocolate Almond Torte so many times that I could do it blindfolded or in my sleep. Take your pick. As time passes, I’ve learned that, if you bake the cake a day in advance, sprinkle the sugar over top and then cover the cake for 24 hours, it becomes even moister, more honeyed and more delicious.
To bake this cake, you’ll need a 9-inch springform pan and round parchment paper. I know, it’s a pain to buy and house more kitchen equipment. However, an inexpensive springform pan ensures that you’ll keep this dense, damp cake in one piece. Trust me. It’s worth nine to twelve dollars not to have your freshly baked torte split in half as you remove it from the pan.
WHITE CHOCOLATE ALMOND TORTE
When I bake this cake in the winter, I top it with pomegranate seeds. In spring, summer and fall I dress it with a mix of seasonal berries.
Serves 8
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 1/2 cup blanched almonds
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
6 large eggs, separated
7 ounces white chocolate morsels, melted
2 teaspoons almond extract
Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting
4 cups mixed seasonal berries
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and line a 9-inch springform pan and set aside.
Place the half teaspoon of granulated sugar and blanched almonds in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until ground. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth and light in color, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add half of the 1/3 cup sugar. Continue beating until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition.
Spoon in the melted chocolate and beat until well combined. At this point add the ground almonds and almond extract and beat until combined.
In a separate bowl and using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the remaining sugar and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form.
Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg whites into the nutty batter. Don’t over-mix; you want the batter to be airy yet chunky. Evenly spread the mixture in the springform pan.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the cake starts to separate from the sides of the pan. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove it from the pan and place it on a wire rack to cool completely.
Before serving dust the top of the cake with confectioner’s sugar. Sprinkle the fruit over the sugar and then dust again.
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