So what do you do if you don’t have 1. flour, 2. yeast or 3. baking powder/baking soda and still want to make a sweet treat for …. say, Mother’s Day? Here is an idea: this Torta Caprese, an Italian Flourless Spiced Chocolate Almond Cake. No flour, no leaveners! Now, you will need a few ingredients that you might not have in the pantry (almond flour/meal, bittersweet chocolate bars, cocoa powder), and some standards (butter, eggs, sugar, salt, and spices). This comes together quickly, but does take some time to cool (and what happens if you don’t let it cool long enough — the top cracks when you cut it, like what happened here.) Nevertheless, delicious, rich and gluten-free, if that is your thing. My recommendation: serve with a bit of Amaretto Whipped Cream!
Ingredients
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs, separated
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
2 cups almond flour
2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1/4 teaspoon chili powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Confectioners’ sugar to garnish (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 325F. Lightly spray 9-inch springform pan with vegetable oil spray.
Microwave butter and chocolate in medium bowl at 50 percent power, stirring often, until melted, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Stir in vanilla and set aside.
Using stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip egg whites on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium-high and continue to whip, slowly adding 1/2 cup granulated sugar, until whites are glossy and thick and hold stiff peaks, about 4 minutes longer. Transfer whites to large bowl. Add egg yolks and remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar to now-empty mixer bowl and whip on medium-high speed until thick and pale yellow, about 3 minutes, scraping down bowl as necessary. Add chocolate mixture and mix on medium speed until incorporated, about 15 seconds. Add almond flour, cocoa, spices and salt and mix until incorporated, about 30 seconds.
Remove bowl from mixer and stir few times with large rubber spatula, scraping bottom of bowl to ensure almond flour is fully incorporated. Add one-third of whipped whites to bowl, return bowl to mixer, and mix on medium speed until no streaks of white remain, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl halfway through mixing. Transfer batter to bowl with remaining whites. Using large rubber spatula, gently fold whites into batter until no streaks of white remain. Pour batter into prepared pan, smooth top with spatula, and place pan on rimmed baking sheet.
Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with few moist crumbs attached, about 50 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Let cake cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes. Remove side of pan and let cake cool completely, about 2 hours. Dust top of cake with confectioners’ sugar, if using. Using offset spatula, transfer cake to serving platter. Cut into wedges and serve.
