‘Life is like a chocolate cake, Take something bitter, something dry, something wet, and a little bit of leaven, mix well, and let it bake someplace hot.
The result is something sweet!’
~ Unknown~
Flew in from Sydney a day before my Mom’s birthday, which falls on the 24th of November, with a sick child on hand so no hope for cake. But the daughter made a miraculous recovery on home ground & all her hunger pangs were back in full force. Past doctor visits, blood tests & test results the next morning, she was declared clear to return to normal food…so the 2 of us raced home to bake a quick cake. She supposedly helped me by sitting in front of the idiot box while I did the headless chicken dance to get some sort of cake going in an hour. Leafed through this wonderful book by Sue Ross ‘Cream Cakes & Gateaux’ & halted at a page with a chocolate torte.
Why? Because the list of ingredients strangely mentioned bread-crumbs & I had just picked up a bag on the way back from the doc! Ominous sign I thought…must give it a go! It was only when I got underway in a HUGE rush, did I realise that the cake was less chocolate, more cinnamony, wierdly enough with lime zest & juice too…& no flour. Too late to turn back as I had tossed my precious almond meal in with the bread-crumbs…I plodded on. What a strange way to make a torte…but it baked & seemed quite moist when it came out of the oven. Once cool, the crust exterior was lightly knockable, like biscotti…hmmmmmmmmm, I thought, at least we have a cake! I made a couple of changes to the recipe; sliced it into 2, filled it in with whipped almond cream & topped it with a dark chocolate ganache. In my opinion, a ganache seems to be the easiest way to dress a cake if time is limited & ability stretched. It’s a well behaved option too… smooth, silky & luxuriant. The cake was great…surprisingly I must add. The crumb wasn’t luxuriously light, but had a slight crunch to it; a granular, nutty texture … very full of character. The flavours too married well, considering they were all strange bed-fellows by my meagre standards. The torte got BIG thumbs up from the whole family.
DOUBLE CHOCOLATE ALMOND TORTE adapted from ‘Cream Cakes & Gateaux’ by Sue Ross Ingredients: Eggs-5, separated Castor sugar – 200g (7oz) Grated dark chocolate – 4 tbsps Chocolate chips – 1/2 cup Ground cinnamon – 2 tsps Pinch of ground cloves (I didnt have this) Zest of 2 limes Juice of 1 lime (orig recipe had zest & juice of 1 lemon) Almond extract – 2 tsp Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp (or 4 tbsps of brandy) Water – 2 tbsps Ground almonds – 100 g (3 1/2 oz) Dried breadcrumbs – 125g (4 oz) Baking pwder – 1 heaped tsp Beat the egg yolks & sugar together till light & creamy.
Method:
Preheat the oven at 160C. Grease & line a 9″ Spring form baking tin.
Stir in the chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, lime zest & juice, water & extracts.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff & then fold into the chocolate mixture thoroughly.
Mix the breadcrumbs,alomond meal & baking powder thoroughly & then fold into the mixture. Turn into the baking tin.
Bake at 160C for 65-70 minutes/till done.
Turn out on rack to cool….
What I did next…I cut it into 2 horizontal layers, sandwiched it with whipped almond cream & topped it with a chocolate ganache.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY also to 2 of my dear bloggie friends, Dhanggit & Manggy who’ve just celebrated their birthdays this past week, & to my dear friend from school, Shompa, whose birthday it is today! All the very best of everything in life, ALWAYS…
