Torta caprese
Legend says torta caprese was born of a mistake — a baker forgot the flour. True or not, ground almonds replace it entirely here, giving a cake that is moist, dense and slightly grainy. Grind the almonds yourself and coarsely: ready-made almond flour gives a smooth but dull cake.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Melting the chocolate 8 min
- Creaming the butter 10 min
- Whipping the whites 8 min
- Baking 45 min
- Cooling 60 min
Step by step
0 / 7 doneGrind the almonds coarsely
Grind the almonds in a processor in short pulses until you have a coarse meal with visible pieces. Do not grind them smooth — they release oil and seize into a paste, and the cake loses its characteristic grain.
Ingredients: 200 g dark chocolate · 200 g butter · 250 g almonds · 180 g sugar · 5 pcs eggs
TipAdd a spoonful of the recipe's sugar to the almonds. Sugar absorbs the oil and stops them turning into almond butter.
Coarse meal with visible pieces — not a paste.Melt the chocolate and cool it
Melt the chocolate over a water bath and cool it to lukewarm. Hot chocolate would scramble the yolks and melt the creamed butter, undoing all the aeration.
Ingredients: 200 g dark chocolate · 200 g butter · 250 g almonds · 180 g sugar · 5 pcs eggs
Cream the butter with sugar
Cream the soft butter with two thirds of the sugar for 6 minutes until pale and visibly increased in volume. That is the only mechanical aeration in this cake besides the meringue — do not cut it short.
Ingredients: 200 g dark chocolate · 200 g butter · 250 g almonds · 180 g sugar · 5 pcs eggs
Almost white and fluffy — six minutes, not two.Add yolks and dry ingredients
Beat in the yolks one at a time, creaming after each. Fold in the lukewarm chocolate, rum and vanilla, then the ground almonds, cocoa and salt. The batter will be very thick — as it should be.
Ingredients: 20 g cocoa · 2 tbsp rum · ½ tsp salt · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 3 tbsp icing sugar
Whip the whites and fold in
Whip the whites, adding the remaining sugar, to soft, glossy peaks. Stir in a third vigorously to loosen the batter, then fold in the rest gently, bottom up, in two additions.
Ingredients: 200 g dark chocolate · 200 g butter · 250 g almonds · 180 g sugar · 5 pcs eggs
TipSoft peaks, not stiff. Stiff meringue will not combine with such a thick batter and leaves white lumps.
Fold until the last white streak disappears, no longer.Bake for 45 minutes
Transfer to a lined 24 cm springform and bake in an oven heated to 170°C for 42–45 minutes. The top cracks, and that is a feature. A skewer should come out with moist crumbs, not clean.
Ingredients: 20 g cocoa · 2 tbsp rum · ½ tsp salt · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 3 tbsp icing sugar
Cool for an hour and dust
Cool for an hour in the tin — the cake sinks in the middle and that is normal. Dust with a thick layer of icing sugar through a sieve. Traditionally it is dusted so thickly that the cracked top barely shows through the white.
Ingredients: 20 g cocoa · 2 tbsp rum · ½ tsp salt · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 3 tbsp icing sugar
Before you start
Better the next day
After a night the cake is moister and denser. Keep it under a dome at room temperature, not in the fridge.
With hazelnuts
Half almonds and half hazelnuts give a deeper, more praline flavour. Toast and skin the hazelnuts first.
Serving
Serve with mascarpone or unsweetened whipped cream. The cake is intense and plain cream balances it well.
