4 oz Unsweetened Chocolate; cut
-into chunks
5 lg Eggs; (4 separated)
3/4 c Granulated Sugar
6 tb Cake Flour
1/4 ts Salt
1/2 ts Baking Powder
1 ts Vanilla Extract
3/4 Confectioner’s Sugar;
-divided
1 c Heavy Cream; whipped
1 tb Hot Water
3 tb Butter
Hello, Chocolate Lovers!
Happy Valentine’s Day to each and every one of you from The Cook and
Kitchen Staff at Recipe-a-Day.
Today is our final offering from our Chocolate Lover’s Recipe
Collections. We hope you’ve enjoyed the sweeter side of the Kitchen
Staff’s repertoire.
Today’s recipe is easy to prepare, and you may have most of the
ingredients in the pantry right now. We said it’s easy to prepare,
but it takes a delicate touch to assemble the torte. Your Valentine
will be impressed with your efforts if you serve it as a finish to
dinner tonight.
Pre-heat oven to 400-F degrees and line an 11-inch by 16-inch baking
pan with wax paper.
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over medium heat. Stir until
smooth.
In a mixing bowl, beat 4 egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff
peaks begin to form. Add the sugar gradually while continuing to beat
until glossy peaks form. Fold in four well-beaten egg yolks.
Sift the cake flour together with the salt and baking powder. Gently
fold the dry ingredients into the egg white mixture. Fold in half of
the melted chocolate and all of the vanilla extract. Spread the
mixture thinly over the prepared baking pan. Bake for about 15
minutes.
Sprinkle a clean pastry cloth with confectioner’s sugar. Turn the
thin cake gently out onto the powdered sugar and trim the edges for
uniform layering. Remove the wax paper and let the cake cool.
While the cake is cooling, whip the heavy cream with an electric
mixer. Cut the cooled cake into 4 equal pieces. Top three of the
pieces with a layer of whipped cream. Stack three of the
whipped-cream-covered cake pieces on top of each other, and top with
the plain piece of cake.
Combine the remaining melted chocolate with 1/2 cup confectioner’s
sugar and the tablespoon of hot water in a double boiler. Blend the
mixture well and remove from the heat. Temper the mixture with a
slightly beaten whole egg and butter. Keep stirring the warmed
chocolate to dissolve all the ingredients. Spread the chocolate sauce
on the top and sides of the chocolate torte. Refrigerate if you are
not serving immediately.
Yields
8 servings