Torta Caprese Flourless Chocolate Cake

I'm going to show you the secret of how to make the best Torta Caprese! This flourless Italian chocolate cake is gloriously rich but also simple to make with ingredients that you have at home. But thanks to a few tweaks on this classic Italian cake you'll be making the best ever Torta Caprese! This is a pushy recipe if you love chocolate Dear Reader.

Torta Caprese is a classic Italian dessert originating from the island of Capri, off the coast of Naples. There are 3 tales of where the cake came from. One legend says that Torta Caprese was created by mistake when a baker forgot to add flour to his chocolate cake recipe but the result was so delicious that it became a popular dessert throughout Italy. Another story suggests that that Torta Caprese was created when an Austrian princess married the King of Naples and requested a Sacher torte. The Neapolitan chefs improvised by using almonds, a typical Neapolitan ingredient. The third account credits the recipe to two Austrian women who inherited the Strandpension Weber, a guest house in Capri's Marina Piccola, during the 1930s. You can often find Torta Caprese served with whipped cream and dusted with icing or powdered sugar or cocoa powder.

Why You Should Try Making Torta Caprese

1 - It is DELICIOUS! Torta Caprese is a rich, moist, light and utterly chocolatey cake.

2 - It is also a flourless cake so great for anyone that is coeliac. It uses ground almonds or almond meal in place of flour.

3 - Torta Caprese is best made ahead of time. If you want to make it in the morning in the day you can leave it to cool on the benchtop and then serve it in the afternoon or evening.

4 - Some people turn their Torta Caprese over when serving so that they get a smooth surface but I love the texture of the crackly meringue style topping so I put it that side up.

5 - You can sieve icing sugar or cocoa powder on top of the cake. I usually add cocoa powder to make it more intensely chocolatey.

6 - This recipe uses a small amount of coffee powder to give the cake a richer flavour. This is optional.

7 - I love adding some rum or Frangelico to this cake just for extra flavour!

If you love rich chocolate cakes, I got you! My favourite chocolate cakes are: Chocolate Panna Cotta Cake, the DREAM Tin Can Chocolate Cake and the best chocolate mud cake of course. Plus the Sacher Torte that some say this cake was based on (I promise, it's not dry like some Sacher tortes can be)!

This cake is going straight to Monica and Marco. Well specifically Marco because Monica isn't a big dessert lover. He's Italian and a chocaholic so I know this cake is right up his alley as he loves anything with chocolate, peanut butter or beer. We went to their house a couple of nights ago for dinner. We ordered some pizzas and I brought over the Stranger Things board game that Monica had bought me for my birthday.

After we ate the pizza I opened up the box and took a look inside. The booklet was an alarming 14 pages long. I swallowed, this was not going to be easy. I started reading out the instructions but honestly it was dry. Mr NQN found a youtube video that was 25 minutes long and was supposed to explain how to play the game. We put it on and listened but had to pause several times to do things like punch out tokens and choose players. NOw it was around 20 minutes later and we were only 10 minutes into the video. I can't remember who called it but we all agreed quickly that this game was not for us. "Are we dumb?" we said to each other. The game got great reviews but you'd have to be highly motivated to want to go through all 14 pages of instructions.

We ended up going back to our old favourite: charades. We debated whether it should be couple vs couple of girls against boys. Monica said that she wanted to be paired up with me so we went off to write our list and the guys wrote theirs. And honestly it was bizarre. They had some really odd things to act out like "Italian Bus Driver" or "Finnish Fisherman" that aren't even really things. It was no surprise that, well they didn't do so well but they did do better than anyone thought they would which was a win of sorts!

So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever tried Torta Caprese? Do you ever just give up on a game because it sounds too hard? Do you ever wonder if you're the dumb one?

Torta Caprese Flourless Chocolate Cake

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 55 minutes

Serves: 6-8 people

• 200g/7ozs almond meal/ground almonds
• 200g/7ozs dark bittersweet chocolate
• 150g/5ozs butter
• 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee powder or shot of espresso coffee (optional, gives the cake a richer flavour)
• 2 tablespoons rum or Frangelico
• 4 eggs whites
• 1/4 cup/55g/1.9ozs caster or superfine sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup/110g/3.9ozs caster or superfine sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder for dusting

Step 1 - First take the almonds and toast them in a dry pan over medium heat until golden and aromatic. Do this in two lots to avoid crowding the pan. Set aside. Line the base and sides of a 23cm/9inch round springform pan with parchment. Preheat oven to 160C/320F fan forced.

Step 2 -Melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler. Or melt the chocolate in a microwave on 70% power (check between 60 second intervals so that it doesn't burn) and then add the butter and continue heating and stir until completely smooth. Stir in the coffee if using and rum or Frangelico. Set aside.

Step 3 -In the bowl of an electric mixer whisk the egg whites until soft and foamy. Add the 1/4 cup of sugar and then whisk until you get stiff peaks. Set aside.

Step 4 -In another bowl whisk the egg yolks and 1/2 cup of sugar for 3-4 minutes until pale and fluffy (you may need to scrape down the sides once or twice to make sure you get all of it mixed). Add the chocolate butter mixture and fold into the egg yolks and then add the toasted almond meal. Then add a third of the meringue mixture and fold it in gently. Once incorporated add the rest of the meringue in two lots making sure that there are no streaks left (check at the bottom of the bowl too).

Scoop into the prepared tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until the skewer inserted comes out with a few crumbs or clean (if there is liquid batter is on the skewer keep baking in 5 minute intervals until set). Cool completely in the tin-this cake is very delicate when warm so do not remove it out of the tin until it is cold.

Step 5 -When ready to serve, unclip the cake. If you want a smooth top, upturn it onto a serving plate, otherwise gently move it to a serving plate. Sift the cocoa powder over the cake.