Torta Caprese is a classic cake … and one that was made many times when our Thermomix team hosted a cooking class at our Head Office in Balcatta.

Whilst I loved the cake, it was not one that I could share with my family due to nut allergy (it uses almonds as its “flour”), until a dear friend told me that I could substitute sunflower seeds for the almonds.

This worked a treat, but as sunflower seeds are not as sweet as almonds, I adjusted the recipe to add a bit more “oomph”, and this is now the version I make whether I am using sunflower seeds or almonds.

When milling the nuts or seeds I like to retain some “crunch” so I don’t mill them to a powder … I store my nuts/seeds in the freezer and mill then directly from there which gives me a lovely even texture.

I have covered the cake in chocolate ganache, and then drizzled it with a chocolate glaze.

I make a decent amount of ganache as I like to have two coats of it on top of the cake … the ganache keeps well in the fridge for 3 to 4 weeks, giving you plenty of time to use leftovers to make truffles (add some essential oils to it – peppermint, wild orange, etc.), incorporate into custard (just mix in at the end of the cooking time – makes delicious chocolate custard!), or melt and serve as a chocolate sauce over ice-cream or other desserts.

This is not a very high cake, but it is rich so use a 24cm round cake tin (base measurement) so you can cut relatively slim slices allowing people to come back for seconds if they wish (which is what I do!).

For the glaze I use either Karo Light Corn Syrup (which does not have fructose in it), or GF glucose syrup. Whilst I haven’t tried it myself, you could also possibly use brown rice syrup.

To dispense the glaze I use a plastic sauce bottle that I bought specifically for this purpose … it has a small hole in the lid that is perfect for squeezing the glaze in whatever direction I want. Alternatively you can use a snap lock bag that you pour the glaze into, and then snip off a small hole in one corner and dispense the glaze from there.

I tried to make the glaze in the Thermomix but the rotation of the blade agitates the mix too much and thickens it, which is not what you want … so it is easier to use a microwave, or if you prefer use a small bowl over a pan of hot water stirring all the time until the mix is melted (it doesn’t take long).

Flourless Chocolate Cake (aka Torta Caprese)

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

1 hour 10 mins

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

 

Glaze decorated over cake

Author: Gina @ The Passionate Pantry

Serves: 12 portions

Ingredients

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CAKE

• 300g dark chocolate callets, or block chocolate broken into small pieces
  
  
• 300g raw almonds, or raw sunflowers seeds
  
  
• 125g light muscovado sugar, or brown sugar
• 125g golden caster sugar
• 200g butter, room temperature, cubed
• 6 x 60g eggs
• 20g Dutch cocoa powder
• 1 tbls baking powder
• 50g Baileys liqueur (optional)
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste / or 1 tbls vanilla extract
• 1 tsp sea salt flakes
  
  

INGREDIENTS FOR THE GANACHE

• 330g dark chocolate callets, or block chocolate broken into small pieces
• 300g full fat cream
  
  

INGREDIENTS FOR THE GLAZE

• 150g dark chocolate callets, or block chocolate broken into small pieces
• 40g butter
• 50g Karo Light Corn Syrup or Glucose Syrup

Instructions

METHOD FOR THE CAKE

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees fan forced and place rack into middle of oven
2. Grease and line a 24cm (base measurement) round cake tin
3. Place chocolate into TM bowl and mill 8 seconds / speed 8 … put aside in a large bowl
4. Place almonds or sunflower seeds into TM bowl and mill 4 seconds / speed 6 … check consistency and if you wish it to be finer mill another 2 seconds / speed 6 … place into bowl with milled chocolate
5. Add all the other ingredients into TM bowl and blend 20 seconds / speed 7
6. Scrape around bowl, add chocolate and nuts or seeds and blend 20 seconds / speed 5, scrape around bowl and blend again 10 seconds / speed 5
7. Pour batter into cake tin, smooth top and place into oven
8. Bake 1 hour or until done when tested with a skewer (it takes 1 hour 10 minutes in my oven)
9. Remove cake from oven and allow to cool in tin for 30 minutes before upturning onto a cake rack to cool completely before icing
10. When ready to coat with ganache, place cake onto a serving plate
11. Cut four strips of baking paper and place each strip under the edges of the cake (it will look like a square with a space in the middle which is where the centre of the cake sits on the plate) ... the paper will catch excess ganache when it drips over the cake (and not onto your plate)
12. Prepare the ganache
    
    

METHOD FOR GANACHE

1. Please refer to pictures in post about placing four pieces of baking paper around base of cake before making ganache
2. Place chocolate and cream into TM bowl and heat 3 minutes / 50 / speed 3
3. Stir mix around and repeat 3 minutes / 50 / speed 3 or until you have a smooth mix
4. Have an off-set spatula or knife ready to help spread the ganache
5. Pour a large amount of ganache into the centre of the cake and using the spatula or knife push the ganache to the edges allowing it to drip over
6. Use your spatula or knife to spread the ganache around the sides of the cake for a first coat
7. Pour more ganache over the cake and repeat the process of lightly spreading it over the top, and over the edge (the ganache should smooth out easily over the top of the cake … don’t play with it as it will start to mark as it sets), be quick with smoothing over the top, and running the spatula or knife around the sides of the cake and then leave it to set … this should only take about 10 minutes
8. Once the ganache is set and no longer "dripping", carefully remove excess ganache that has dripped onto the paper by running a knife close to the edge of the cake and lightly wiping the ganache away ... do this in small sections so that it doesn't accidentally clump onto the cake
9. Once you have done this remove the pieces of paper and you should have a relatively clean edge to the cake
10. Use a clean tissue to carefully wipe close to the edge of the cake removing any "smears" of chocolate that may be there
11. Prepare the glaze
    
    

METHOD FOR THE GLAZE

1. Place all the ingredients into a microwave bowl and heat on high for 20 seconds
2. Stir mix around and repeat on high for 20 seconds, stir mix around
3. The mix should now be liquid … place into your dispenser of choice and allow to cool a little before squeezing a thin line of glaze over the cake in a decorative pattern
4. Allow to set before cutting and serving

Notes

When milling nuts or seeds I like to retain some “crunch” so I don’t mill them to a powder … I store my nuts/seeds in the freezer and mill then directly from there which gives me a lovely even texture.

I have covered the cake in chocolate ganache, and then drizzled it with a chocolate glaze. I make a decent amount of ganache as I like to have two coats of it on top of the cake … the ganache keeps well in the fridge for 3 to 4 weeks, giving you plenty of time to use leftovers to make truffles (add some essential oils to it – peppermint, wild orange, etc.), incorporate into custard (just mix in at the end of the cooking time – makes delicious chocolate custard!), or melt and serve as a chocolate sauce over ice-cream or other desserts.

This is not a very high cake, but it is rich so use a 24cm round cake tin (base measurement) so you can cut relatively slim slices allowing people to come back for seconds if they wish (which is what I do!).

For the glaze I use either Karo Light Corn Syrup (which does not have fructose in it), or GF glucose syrup. To dispense the glaze I use a plastic sauce bottle I bought specifically for this purpose … it has a small hole in the lid that is perfect for squeezing the glaze in whatever direction I want. Alternatively you can use a snap lock bag that you pour the glaze into, and then snip off a small hole in one corner and dispense the glaze from there.

I tried to make the glaze in the Thermomix but the rotation of the blade agitates the mix too much and thickened it, which is not what you want … so it is easier to use a microwave, or if you prefer use a small bowl over a pan of hot water stirring all the time until the mix is melted (it doesn’t take long).

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