Caprese Cake Flourless Almond and Chocolate Cake recipe Torta Caprese

Torta Caprese is traditional Italian chocolate and almond cake named for the island of Capri from which it originates and is popular in Naples. Unlike cakes that use gluten-free flour and sometimes leave a funny taste or texture in your mouth, this one is made using almond flour and tastes just like a light, yet fudge cake should. In 1920, in a small pastry shop on the island of Capri, a chef, whose name was Carmine di Fiore, unintentionally created this luscious Neapolitan masterpiece: torta Caprese. The baker was fulfilling an order for an almond cake by a few tourists at his bakery. Unfortunately, he forgot to add flour to the mix, but the tourists liked the cake and considered it a delicacy. It turned out as “UNO Dei pasticcio più fortunate Della Storia”(one of history’s most fortunate mistakes). At first, it was likely served in tea rooms as it became more popular, restaurants incorporated it into their menu. The cake has many variations, but the basic recipe is to mix softened butter at room temperature with sugar; egg yolks, finely minced almonds, chocolate melted in a water bath, and whipped egg whites. After baking, the cake has a thin hard shell covering a moist interior covered with powdered sugar.

Ok, enough stories. Let’s go to the recipe:

Ingredients  for 12 servings:

400gr. Peeled almonds or almond flour *

(If using peeled almonds, blitz them to a very fine

sandy texture in a food processor)

250gr of butter

250 gr of caster sugar

300 gr. dark chocolate 🍫 70 %

Six eggs, separated

Pinch of salt

Lemon zest

1 Vanilla

We used to add almond aromas, but if you don’t have that’s ok

Powdered sugar for decoration

Directions:

• Slowly melt the butter and chocolate in a double boiler.

• Separate the yolks from the whites.

• Split the sugar between the egg white and egg yolks in the same way, split the lemon zest, and beat them separately.

• In a food processor, add the egg yolks almond flour.

• Then the butter, egg 🥚 whites already are beaten, and at the end, the melted chocolate.

• Stir very well. Pour the batter into the cake tin. We are using a 28cm diameter. Our bake tin we used to cover with baking paper and then pour over the cake batter. But if you prefer, you can use a cake tin. Smooth over the top. level the mixture

• Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until the top appears dry and the skewer inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs attached (a not wet batter). It is important not to overcook this cake to retain its excellent watery consistency.

• Wait to cool, put in a serving plate, and dust well with icing sugar.

We had prepared this delicious Caprese cake for my hubby’s birthday; it is his favorite one. I love to enjoy my slice of the cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Buon appetito 😊

Important: if you use the receipt as gluten-free, make sure the ingredients you are using are gluten-free.

*Please, any questions you may have about this publication, please leave a comment. I will be thrilled to answer your question.