Chocolate Torte

About 25 years ago, Anthony the Baker taught me about chocolate torte. I had never made cake without flour and was surprised at how sumptuous this type of dessert could be. I made Anthony’s cake many times over the years for special gatherings and celebrations - just your standard Ooh Ahh chocolate torte.

Then, on a lazy Sunday morning with the Times spread out all over the living room, while paging through the magazine, I came across this:

This was Anthony’s cake in drag. This was a chocolate torte with aspirations to direct. I made it that afternoon, then again for a friend’s birthday soon after. After I tasted it I realized just how grand a torte could be. This dessert might possibly be the first food item to be installed into the permanent collection of Museum of Modern Art.

It’s not easy to make. The steps take some calculations and you must be confident throughout the process. You must never serve the cake without either the chocolate leaves or fresh whipped cream.

When I first started seeing E, she was close to her birthday. We stayed out in the Hamptons with her oldest friends during that weekend. I prepared and served this for dessert the night of her birthday. The next day, her best friend predicted that either we would be married or she would have to take out a restraining order because I was a stalker. It’s only cake – right?

Chocolate, Walnut and Raspberry Torte

(I’m not going to convert this – go to www.megaconverter.com/mega2/ to transpose)

11 oz semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate
17 tbs unsalted butter
2/3 cups sugar (use super fine)
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup ground walnuts (toast them first)
¼ cup fine bread crumbs or cake crumbs (I know cake crumbs?!?)
2 tbs dark rum
¼ cup raspberry jam
½ cup sliced almonds (toast them)

Preheat the oven to 375. Butter an 8-inch round cake pan and line the bottom and sides with parchment. Now lightly butter the parchment. For the glaze: Melt 8 tbs of butter with 7 oz of the chocolate in the microwave or double boiler. Set this aside. Melt the rest of the chocolate in a separate container and set it aside. In a mixing bowl, cream the rest of the butter with the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time. Add the melted chocolate (not the chocolate butter mixture) and the ground walnuts and crumbs. Pour the mix into the prepared cake pan and bake about 30 minutes just until it springs back to the touch.

Cool, unmold, sprinkle with rum and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Spread the raspberry jam on top of the cake and refrigerate for another 10 minutes. Spread half the chocolate glaze over the top and sides of the cake and back into the icebox for 10 minutes. Spread the rest of the glaze over the cake and arrange the sliced almonds decoratively around the perimeter of the cake. Back into the icebox.

Chocolate Leaves

3 oz of the very best dark chocolate you can find
20 rose leaves, lemon leaves washed, rinsed and dried.

Melt the chocolate and use an artist’s brush to apply the melted chocolate to one surface of each leaf. After each leaf is coated, place it in the icebox until the chocolate is hard enough to hold its shape as you carefully peel away the leaf. You will have to experiment with the thickness of the chocolate application, the temperature of the chocolate and the time in the fridge. When you have as many as you can sanely make, refrigerate them until serving time.

One hour before showtime, remove cake from icebox and allow to come to room temperature. To serve, arrange fresh raspberries and whipped cream to make it look like the picture. Use a cricket bat to fend off potential stalkers.