Chocolate Almond Torte

I've been baking a lot with almonds recently, mostly because I love almonds. My mom, however, loves chocolate, so dessert for Mother's Day brunch had to be pretty chocolate-centric. I'd thought about doing something ridiculously dense, but really dense chocolate was just too much for a warmish afternoon. Then I was flipping through Pure Desserts by Alice Medrich (which is awesome - it really, really is) and I came across a recipe for an Italian chocolate-almond torte. The only thing holding this thing together is whipped egg whites, so it's really light, despite the copious amounts of dark chocolate and ground almonds that go in to it.

I tried the recipe twice. The first time I did it exactly according to the directions but it came out a little grainy. I tweaked the proportions a bit and turned up the heat in the oven for the second try, and this time it was perfect. What follows is my version of the recipe, which worked really well with the chocolate I had on hand and my crappy, under-powered oven. For those with not so crappy ovens, preheat at 35o and bake for 25-30 min.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup (5 oz.) blanched or unblanched whole almonds

- 7 oz. good quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped (I used Ghiradelli 72%, but don't go any lower than 68% without reducing the amount of granulated sugar) 

- 3/4 cup sugar

- 1/8 tsp. salt

- 7 large egg whites (1 cup)

- 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

- 1-2 tsp. cocoa powder (I used Scharffenberger but any will do)

Equipment:

- food processor, or a heavy ziplock bag and a hammer / mallet

- parchment paper

- butter to grease the pan

- 9 inch springform pan

Process:

1. Place oven rack into lower 1/3 of oven and preheat to 350. Grease the sides of the springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper (don;t grease the parchment)

2. Combine the almonds, chocolate, salt, cocoa and 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor and pulse until the almonds and chocolate are finely chopped but not pulverized. Set aside.

3. In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl with the cream of tartar until it forms soft, moist peaks. 

4. Slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and continue to beat until the eggs whites are stiff and glossy, not dry. 

5. Add 1/3 of the nut mixture to the eggs whites and fold until nearly incorporated. Fold in 1/2 the remaining nuts. Then fold in the last of the nuts. 

6. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly. Bake until the torte has risen and is a rich, golden brown on top. A toothpick inserted into the center should come up clean or with a little melted chocolate. It should take about 25 -30 minutes.

7. Set the pan on a rack to cool. The torte will start to deflate. 

8. After about 10 minutes, release the sides of the pan and unmold it onto a rack. Remove the bottom and the parchment paper liner. Turn the cake right side up and let it cool completely. It will continue to deflate a bit and settle as it does.

9. Serve with sweetened whipped cream and berries or even creamy custard. The cake can also be wrapped tightly and left at room temperature for 3 days. It also freezes really nicely - cut it up into bite sized pieces for the occasional treat (this is dangerous). 

Any way you decide to slice it, enjoy! It's delicious and not too terribly guilt-inducing what with the shocking lack of butter, not that you could tell the difference from the yummy, rich taste.