Chocolate-Walnut Torta Caprese

Named from the Isle of Capri, this chocolate nut cake is one of Southern Italy’s treasures. It is a delicious, dense dessert – despite my mistake of using half the amount of butter required! I actually didn’t discover that until I was typing up this recipe. No wonder it was hard to mix.



Ingredients..........



The batter was very rich



A small slice is all you need. It's rich, dense and delicious



Ingredients and directions..........

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar, divided
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted then cooled
7 eggs, separated
1 ½ cups ground walnuts
1/3 cups flour
Powdered sugar

Beat butter and ½ cup sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. (This is where I was using a spoon and getting a good workout trying to get this all mixed well. I read ½ cup to mean ½ stick.)
Blend in cooled chocolate. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Toss in walnuts and flour.

Let me take a moment to tell you that I did not separate the eggs all in one go round. No, I had the seven eggs on the counter and broke each one, tossing the yolk back and forth between the broken shell and allowing the whites to drain into a bowl of their own. Then I would toss the yolk into the buttery-chocolate mixture. Dogs underfoot, hoping I’d drop a shell or yolk. Always helping.

Beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually add remaining ¼ cup sugar, beating until you get soft peaks. Stir ¼ of the whites into the batter, fold the remaining whites into it after that.

Spray a 9-imnch springform pan with non-stick spray. Pour the batter into the pan. (My batter needed assistance getting out of the bowl with a spatula. Because I only used half the required butter.

Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove rim and cool completely.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar if you have it. ( I did not have any in stock…..off to rectify that) Garnish with additional walnut pieces. I added cool whip to the top. Yum!

So, prep time, if you are organized, is 15 minutes. This is assuming you let your butter get to room temperature.
Baking time is 40 to 50 minutes.

A lovely dessert which now I will have to make again using the correct amount of butter. It’s dense. It’s chocolately. It’s decadent.

This is another good recipe from the cookbook Culinary Journey to the Mediterranean!