That is the type of cake served in Italian cafés, French bistros, and Austrian coffeehouses. You will discover renditions of it, normally made with almonds, throughout the Mediterranean. And you will discover it on Passover tables everywhere in the world. (There’s no leavening, so it’s excellent for the vacation.) It’s a easy, unfussy, and unfussed-over cake. A slim torte made with simply three elements: eggs, sugar, and nuts. There’s no wheat, so it’s gluten-free.
Right here I take advantage of walnuts, which have a pleasantly bitter aspect to them. Enjoying to the nuts’ strengths, I’ve included a number of different flavorful elements—most necessary, chocolate and floor espresso (ideally espresso), in addition to a contact of cinnamon and vanilla.–Dorie Greenspan
Dorie Greenspan’s Mocha Walnut Torte FAQs
Wrapped nicely, the cake will preserve for a couple of week within the fridge or for as much as 2 months within the freezer; thaw within the wrapper.
Completely. Use an equal quantity of immediate espresso powder or granules.
For the mocha walnut torte
For the chocolate ganache (elective)
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Make the mocha walnut torte
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Place a rack within the middle of the oven and preheat it to 350°F (180°C).
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Coat a 9-inch (23 cm) springform pan with butter or baking spray. Line the underside with parchment and butter or spray the parchment, then mud the pan with cocoa powder. Place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
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In a meals processor, mix the nuts, 2 tablespoons (25 g) of the sugar, the chocolate, espresso, and cinnamon and pulse, scraping the edges and backside of the bowl usually and taking care that you simply don’t course of for thus lengthy that the walnuts grow to be a paste and the chocolate melts. You need to find yourself with a bread-crumb–like combination—it’s higher to have some discernible morsels than to overdo it.
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Separate the eggs, placing the yolks in a big bowl and the whites within the bowl of a or a big bowl that you need to use with a hand mixer.
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Working with a whisk, beat the yolks till they’re homogeneous. Progressively whisk in 3/4 cup (150 g) of the sugar after which beat till the combination is pale and your whisk leaves tracks, about 2 minutes.
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Beat within the vanilla. Swap to a versatile spatula and stir within the walnut combination.
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Add the salt to the whites. Connect the bowl to the mixer stand, if utilizing, and match it with the whisk attachment. Beat the whites till they’re foamy, opaque and only a bit thick, 1 to 2 minutes.
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Beat within the remaining 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar, including it a tablespoon at a time. As soon as all of the sugar is in, the whites needs to be thick and shiny—elevate the beater(s), and the meringue ought to maintain a reasonably peak. If it doesn’t, proceed to beat for two to three minutes extra.
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Utilizing a versatile spatula, scoop out a couple of quarter of the meringue and add it to the bowl with the egg yolk combination. Stir every part collectively energetically in order that the whites lighten the thick combination.
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Scrape the remainder of the meringue into the bowl and, being mild, stir and fold it in. (With out overdoing it, you need to get as a lot of the meringue into the nut combination as shortly as attainable. If there are a number of white streaks, it’s advantageous (higher to have streaks than to knock all of the air out of the meringue.) Scrape the batter into the pan, swiveling the pan back and forth to settle the batter evenly.
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Bake till the cake feels agency to the contact and has risen and a tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clear, 40 to 50 minutes. (The rise is likely to be increased across the edges, however the center ought to elevate too.)
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Transfer the pan to a rack and let relaxation for five to 10 minutes, then run a desk knife between the cake and the edges of the pan to launch the cake. Take away the edges of the springform and permit the cake to chill to room temperature on the rack.
Make the chocolate ganache (elective)
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Rinse a small saucepan with chilly water, however don’t dry it (this helps stop the cream from scorching). Pour within the cream, set the pan over medium warmth and produce simply to a boil.
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Take away from the warmth and add the chocolate. Wait 30 seconds after which, working with a small versatile spatula and starting within the middle of the pan, begin stirring the chocolate and cream collectively. Stir in ever-widening concentric circles till you might have a thick, shiny, clean combination. Piece by piece, mix within the butter till melted and clean, about 3 minutes.
Serve the cake
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When the cake is cool, invert it, take away the bottom of the pan and the parchment and switch the cake proper aspect up onto the rack.
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If you wish to glaze the cake, now’s the time. Put a chunk of foil or different drip catcher beneath the rack, pour the ganache over the cake and use an offset spatula or knife to clean it excessive. (Alternatively, you possibly can drizzle the ganache over the cake. And for those who’re utilizing toasted walnuts, sprinkle them over the glaze whereas it’s nonetheless heat.)
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Refrigerate the cake till chilled, wrapping it nicely as soon as it’s chilly. The cake is nice at room temperature, however I favor it straight from the fridge. It additionally cuts higher when it’s chilly.
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Serve with whipped cream or crème fraîche or, for those who favor, mud the highest with confectioners’ sugar. Or don’t—it’s advantageous simply the way in which it’s.
Serving: 1 servingEnergy: 630 kcalCarbohydrates: 51 gProtein: 9 gFats: 45 gSaturated Fats: 19 gMonounsaturated Fats: 11 gTrans Fats: 1 gLdl cholesterol: 132 mgSodium: 192 mgFiber: 5 gSugar: 41 g
Vitamin info is routinely calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.
Recipe © 2021 Dorie Greenspan. Photograph © 2021 Mark Weinberg. All rights reserved.
Recipe Testers’ Critiques
Oh yummm! Since desserts should not the same old temptation allowed in our family (too arduous to withstand!) and our tastes are usually in direction of not-too-sweet, I actually respect a extremely good cake that goes collectively simply, additionally retaining some for future occasions we crave only a slice. Tortes made with nuts work very well for this. And there’s something barely magic about folding the egg white into the nutty batter that makes me all optimistic.
This mocha walnut torte from Dorrie Greenspan meets all of these standards, and could be prettied up with a glaze if you’re serving all of it for visitors, otherwise you could be extra austere with a dusting of sugar or some excellent berries. We obtained fortunate, and a few mates dropped by with recent lime curd, which was an ideal accent together with a dab of cream (softly whipped, mascarpone or crème frâiche) to serve, and simply with a slight dusting of confectioners’ sugar.
A recipe that’s effortlessly gluten-free is a bonus–no tradeoffs or detectible substitutions are concerned, so that is very helpful for sharing or entertaining.
With so few elements this mocha walnut torte recipe by the fantastic Dorie Greenspan ensures the principle flavors are entrance and middle, particularly the tannic nuttiness of the walnuts and the deep darkish chocolate hit. We loved how mild the top result’s. With no flour and with the whipped egg whites the cake has a beautiful crumbly (in a great way) barely-holds-together texture that we actually appreciated alongside a darkish espresso.
I selected to not do the elective glaze and I actually don’t assume the recipe wants it. For my style although, I feel I’d somewhat cut back the cinnamon or take away all of it collectively. I feel its taste distracts from the remaining.
This mocha walnut torte is an excellent shock. I haven’t used walnuts in a cake of this type, solely almonds, so I didn’t actually know what to anticipate. The headnote for the recipe states that walnuts carry a “bitter” aspect. You received’t understand it as bitter, simply actually good, I would even favor it to these made with almonds. It comes collectively pretty simply utilizing pantry elements.
The mocha walnut torte smelled heavenly whereas baking. On this gloomy day, I used to be transported to Vienna with my beautiful torte and a cup of espresso. The cake has a very nice texture. I erred on the aspect of under-pulsing within the meals processor and I beloved the bits of nut and chocolate.
A dessert with nuts as the principle ingredient will all the time get my consideration AND when the recipe known as for chocolate and occasional, I used to be all in. This mocha walnut torte is really an unfussy dessert and most cooks would readily have all the mandatory elements readily available to whip this up. The recipe was simple to comply with and was as scrumptious at room temperature or chilled, serving it with a dollop of whipped cream to mellow a number of the richness.
The mix of all of the elements makes for a scrumptious and substantial torte that simply serves 10 to 12 individuals and I assure will impress your visitors. My style testers beloved the torte and have been shocked by how few elements it included. The opposite wonderful thing about this torte is it’s gluten-free!
I did add one minor change to the method. From all my previous baking expertise, any nut has extra taste if frivolously toasted earlier than including them to any baked good. So, I frivolously toasted my walnuts, letting them cool fully earlier than placing them within the meals processor.
The one essential instruction to concentrate to within the instructions is don’t overdo the final step of gently folding within the meringue, an important step.
Oh, my. Hold on a second whereas I swoon over my plate.
This cake is totally beautiful. It’s a really grownup taste: darkish, wealthy chocolate with a bitter edge from the espresso, walnuts, and ganache, and an awesome nubbly texture from the walnuts and chocolate bits within the batter and simply to gild the lily, it’s each gluten-free AND appropriate for Passover! It’s additionally surprisingly simple to make; if I have been consuming this at a restaurant I’d have assumed it to be a way more complicated cake.
Although I doubt we’ll discover out about its retaining qualities, I’m excited to learn within the recipe that it holds up nicely along with being gorgeously scrumptious. We didn’t look forward to the ganache to chill earlier than making an attempt it so didn’t make whipped cream, however I would go whip some up for the remainder of the cake as a result of that might be a incredible foil for the deep, darkish bitter chocolatey-ness! I feel if I make this for a particular dessert I would make candied walnut halves for fancy ornament.
I used to be anxious to do that mocha walnut torte as a deal with for my coworker with a gluten allergy. I might be making this many times. Studying over the recipe, and looking out on the picture, I anticipated this to be fairly dense. It was surprisingly ethereal, very moist, and so wealthy. The bottom chocolate melted so evenly it was arduous to imagine there was no cocoa or melted chocolate within the batter. I used 60% bittersweet Ghiradelli chocolate and floor espresso.
I did make the half recipe of ganache and drizzled it excessive. Small wedges with a dollop of whipped cream on the aspect have been an ideal dessert.
In case you’re searching for a wealthy and decadent flourless chocolate cake, look no additional. It’s full of deep espresso and cinnamon flavors that blow most different desserts of this selection out of the water.
Be warned although, as soon as paired with the ganache, it is a RICH cake. The recipe says to make a half batch of ganache and drizzle it, although a half batch continues to be sufficient for a flood of biblical proportions. Except your intention is to make a lake within the middle (and there’s nothing fallacious with that), drizzle with as a lot as you’d like and save the remaining for an additional function. I topped mine with toasted chopped walnuts and shared them with some very comfortable neighbors.
I’m not an enthusiastic baker, nor a chocolate lover, and I discover following baking directions to the letter tough. Having stated that, the preamble of this mocha walnut torte recipe, evoking European desserts and wealthy coffees, had me imagining the clink of china saucers on marble tabletops earlier than I even had it printed out.
Additionally, I noticed that I may skip the ganache; utilizing whipped cream as a substitute cuts the chocolate a little bit, and this cake is RICH. I like to recommend toasting and cooling the walnuts earlier than beginning the recipe.
