Happy Easter to all!!! Now that it is time to celebrate Easter, we can indulge in chocolate! I found a lovely chocolaty recipe by reading the French magazine Elle à table. La torta Caprese is a classic of Italian Pasticceria, born in Capri, one of the most famous Mediterranean Islands.

"As in many other popular tales about the origin of dishes, this one has Torta Caprese born by mistake. The person who invented it was planning to do another recipe and added uncalled for ingredients or forgot to add called for ones; in this case flour was left out. Which recipe she or he intended to follow remains unknown. Invention by mistake – “uno dei pasticci più fortunati della storia (one of the luckiest mess-ups in history) – is also the leitmotiv of another version on the origin of Caprese. Another version of the origin of this dessert, according to which a certain Carmine Di Fiore, cooking in an unknown Capri’s restaurant, received an order for an almond and chocolate cake from three American gangsters. Apparently, he forgot to put flour in it, but the gangsters liked it and asked him for the recipe. That was the beginning of the success. “No one in Capri knows about this version,” says Lello Sorrentino. Bur what is certain is that at Capri’s restaurants today you rarely see Torta Caprese served without a ball of vanilla ice cream." Source: http://www.itchefs-gvci.com/

I found out by searching on the Internet that the recipe I followed is not quite the authentic one since you should separate the eggs and whip the egg whites to foaminess. The one I did did not include this process but the result was still excellent. So you can decide to make the authentic recipe or to make an adapted French version which is as follows:

INGREDIENTS

200 g ground almonds
50 g of icing sugar + for decoration
200 g dark chocolate
150 g butter
5 eggs (I only used 4 eggs)
50 g caster sugar

RECIPE

• Butter a mold, line the bottom with parchment paper and butter the paper.
• In a bowl, mix the ground almonds with icing sugar.
• Chop the chocolate with a knife. In a small saucepan, melt in the chocolate with butter (I did this process in the microwave). Remove pan from heat.
• In a large bowl, whip the eggs with the sugar for 5 minutes, try to incorporate as much air, you must obtain a creamy consistency.
• With a spatula, gradually stir in the almond powder to the eggs mixture by carefully lifting the dough in a circular motion. Stop mixing as soon as the dough regains its soft and smooth texture.
• Stir in the butter-chocolate mixture. Mix well: the incorporation must be total.
• Pour into the prepared mold. Bake at 200 ° C for 5 minutes and then reduce to 160°C for 25-30 min. The torta caprese is ready when the top is crackling but the inside remains soft.
• Let the cake cool down for 2-3 hours before serving.
• Sprinkle the top with icing sugar and enjoy.

(download)

Click here to download:

La_Torta_Caprese..zip (374 KB)