Torta Caprese
Recipe by Giada De Laurentiis
This flourless cake is a quintessential dessert in Capri, and one of the dishes you can’t miss when you vacation there. It’s light, airy and fudgy all at onces – and so chocolatey. My favorite!
Torta Caprese is traditionally made with almond flour – sometimes even hazelnut flour! – so it’s naturally gluten free. Like many Italian dishes, there are a lot of stories surrounding its origin – but all of them have to do with a baker serendipitously forgetting to add wheat flour to a cake, resulting in this fudgy delicacy. As such, it’s sometimes referred to as “uno dei pasticci più fortunati della storia” – AKA, “one of history’s most fortunate mistakes”!
Torta Caprese
Serves:
Cooking Level:
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
40 minutes
Inactive Time
30 minutes
Total Time
1 hour 25 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 1/2 cups 63% bittersweet chocolate chips
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
- 5 large eggs, separated
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
INSTRUCTIONS:
- This recipe originated in Giada In Italy. Episode: Sweet Capri.
- Place the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler and melt until smooth. Cool slightly, until just warm to the touch.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the inside of a 9-inch springform pan.
- Place the egg whites in a medium bowl with the salt. Place the yolks in a slightly larger bowl with the granulated sugar. Using a handheld mixer, beat the whites on medium speed until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. Then beat the egg yolks on medium speed until light, pale and fluffy, about 1 1/2 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, stir the chocolate mixture, almond flour and vanilla into the yolks. In 2 batches, fold the whipped whites into the chocolate base. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake until puffed and beginning to crack on top, about 40 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
- When cool, run a thin knife around the edge of the pan to release the cake. Remove the outside ring and dust the top with confectioners' sugar.
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Photo Credit: Elizabeth Newman
Can someone explain the butter quantity in this recipe - how many grams of butter? Is it 2 sticks which equates to 1 cup. Would be helpful to know in grams
This recipe is perfect for Passover but I'm wondering if you can make it in advance and freeze it
This is sooo good. Will be making this one on repeat!
This recipe was amazing and turned out perfectly. The chocolate was not at all burnt and was cooked perfectly at the suggested time of 40 minutes!! Thank you so much!
This recipe was amazing and turned out perfectly. The chocolate was not at all burnt and was cooked perfectly at the suggested time of 40 minutes!! Thank you so much!
Hands down favorite dessert recipe! Not too sweet, but just sweet enough. It's gluten free by default too, but you'd never know it!