Caprese Cake / Almond-Chocolate Cake / Flourless Cake

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I use to bake several cakes during the year, but this Caprese cake /Torta Caprese (a traditional cake from Capri island Italy) was undoubtedly a show stopper for the year 2018 not only tastewise but also for the perfect texture it came out with. This cake really won over our hearts ❤

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For a long time I had been in search of a good flourless cake and when I  watched this delicious chocolate cake baked by Paul Hollywood In his show on TV during his visit to Amalfi Coast Italy since that very moment I too wanted to bake this simple yet divine cake

There were two reasons to make that cake,  one I wanted to bake a  traditional one from any region of the world and the other,  this cake was without whipping cream or buttercream icing. As we are not fond of cream-rich cakes so  I went for this cake

I tried a couple of times for the perfect texture and finally made with my own measure of ingredients which I would love to share with all my readers. This was a dense and moist cake. Though the top seemed a little cracky,  but no worries as the top layer got a makeover with the dusting of powdered sugar and some candied orange peels. One can decorate this pretty cake with its own choice. The dusting of cocoa will also work as good as sugar

Course – Dessert

Cuisine – Italian

 Prep Time – 60 Min

 Cook Time – 40 Min

Total Time – 120 Min/ 2 hrs

 Yield – 12 Servings

Author – Bharti Dhawan

Ingredients Required

Almond meal/flour – 1cup or 150 gms
Semi-dark chocolate (70 %cocoa)  – 100 gms
Granulated sugar – 100 gms
Butter – 100 gms
Eggs – 2 nos
Some powdered sugar for dusting
Some candied orange peels to garnish the top 

Instructions

1- Dehusk and then toast the almonds in a pan to dry them. let them cool completely and then grind coarsely to make almond meal or flour

* You can buy almond meal from the store if available

2- Preheat oven at 180°C
Line the springform cake mould with a parchment paper at the bottom and grease the sides with oil

3- Separate the egg whites from the yolk and beat till the soft peaks form. Keep aside

4- In a microwave, safe bowl melt butter and chocolate heating and stirring at intervals of 10 seconds until both the ingredients melt

5- Take a medium sized bowl and pour chocolate-butter mix into it. Let it cool a little and add egg yolks. Whip well with a hand whisk

6- Add almond meal/flour and mix well. Add 2 tsp milk if you find the batter a little hard to mix

7- Add egg whites in 3 batches and fold gently so that the batter does not lose the air

8- Pour the batter into the mould and bake at 180° for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

9- When baked let it remain in oven for 5 minutes and then open the door  a little bit otherwise the cake will collapse in the center

10- After 5 minutes take the cake out of the oven and let it cool down completely.

11- If you see the cracked top,  no need to worry,  this is due to airy egg whites

12- When cooled completely,  unmould the cake and dust some powdered sugar and chocolate shavings

13- Garnish the top with some candied orange peel. Its bitter-sweet-citrusy flavours go very well with the chocolate cake

NOTES

  • Baking time varies from oven to oven
  • Chocolate and butter can be melted in a double boiler. For this you have to fill a pot about 1/4 full with water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and fit another bowl with chocolate and butter into the pot. The chocolate will melt by the steaming effect