Caprese Cake, A Traditional Italian Flourless Chocolate Cake (VIDEO)
Caprese Cake is a traditional Neapolitan dessert, originally from the island of Capri, a delight made with chocolate and almonds, without flour and with a very soft heart!
Torta Caprese is a dessert that has very ancient origins. It seems that it was born in 1920 thanks to a mistake by the Capri pastry chef Carmine di Fiore in preparing his almond cake to be served to three criminals who came to Capri to buy a batch of Al Capone’s leggings. Probably due to his haste, he forgot to add flour to the cake but, at the end of cooking, he noticed with amazement that the cake was not only delicious, but really special: soft inside and crunchy outside, so much so that even the three Americans were ecstatic, asking the pastry chef for the recipe which has since taken the name of Torta Caprese.
The first time I tasted it in Capri, I fell in love with it. Apparently, a normal chocolate cake, in reality, the Torta Caprese is a unique delicacy: moist and very soft in the center and covered with a thin crunchy crust that melts in the mouth at the first bite! For me it was unforgettable.
And then it’s perfect for any occasion: the Caprese cake can become a healthy and substantial breakfast, a delicious snack, and an elegant dessert and it’s perfect for all traditional holidays such as Easter, and Christmas!
Authentic Caprese Cake Recipe
Like all traditional recipes, even that of the Caprese chocolate cake undergoes small variations depending on who prepares it. The recipe I’m about to show you was given to me by a friend of mine who lives in Naples, and it’s so easy that it’s impossible to go wrong!
So here’s the step-by-step recipe to make a perfect Caprese Cake!
Chocolate Torta Caprese Ingredients
- Almond flour – Use fine ground blanched almond flour, completely gluten-free. You can also use peeled whole almonds. In this case, you must first chop them finely and reduce them to flour.
- Dark chocolate 75% – 85% – The most used dark chocolate in Italy is definitely Lindt EXCELLENCE Dark Chocolate. In any case, choose a dark chocolate with a cocoa percentage ranging from 75% to 85%. The higher the percentage of cocoa, the more intense the flavor.
- Unsalted butter
- Eggs
- Granulated sugar
- Gran Marnier liqueur or Rum – The liqueur gives this dessert a delicious aroma. Even if you don’t like alcohol, you should consider that it will completely evaporate during cooking. In any case, you can omit this ingredient or, for a NON-ALCOHOLIC version of Chocolate Caprese Cake, you can add this rum flavoring
- Icing sugar for decoration
Tool You Will Need To Make the Torta Caprese Recipe
How to Make Traditional Caprese Cake
Melt the Chocolate. Start melting the butter and chocolate in a double boiler. You must obtain a smooth and homogeneous mixture. In the meanwhile, separate the egg yolks from the whites.
Beat the Egg Yolks. Beat the egg yolks with 80 g of sugar with an electric mixer for a few minutes until you get a frothy and pale yellow cream. Add the liqueur and beat again for a few seconds. Add the melted chocolate and mix well. Finally, add the almond flour little by little. Mix and set aside.
Whip the Egg Whites. Whip the egg whites with the remaining sugar until stiff and add to the chocolate mixture, little by little, stirring from the bottom up.
Bake the Torta Caprese. Pour the Caprese cake mixture into a greased and floured 7-inch (18 cm) spring form pan and level well with a spoon. Bake at 350°F (180°C) on the middle rack for about 30 minutes. Baking times may vary from oven to oven, but be aware that Caprese Cake should be moist inside. Let the cake cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes, then flip and allow to cool completely. Serve your Italian chocolate cake at room temperature.
Decorate the Caprese Cake. Decorate your chocolate Caprese Cake when it’s very cold. If you add powdered sugar while it’s still hot, the sugar will be sop up by the surface. If you want to decorate your Torta Caprese with beautiful drawings, as we do in Italy, you can use these cake decorating stencils, with which you will create decorations that will amaze everyone! Place them on the cake and sprinkle it with plenty of icing sugar. Or you can use anything else that allows you to create some lovely patterns on the cake. In the video, I used a cooking round rack.
Watch Torta Caprese Video Tutorial
More Italian Cake Recipes You May Like
- Caprese Cake, A Traditional Italian Flourless Chocolate Cake (VIDEO)
- Best Vanilla Egg White Cake Recipe (VIDEO)
- No-bake Panettone Cassata Cake, Panettone with ricotta cream (VIDEO)
Caprese Cake, A Traditional Italian Flourless Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 125 g dark chocolate 75% – 85%
- 125 g butter
- 3 medium eggs at room temperature
- 125 g granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon Gran Marnier liqueur or Rum
- 185 g almond flour
- Icing sugar for decoration
Instructions
- Melt the butter and chocolate in a double boiler. You must obtain a smooth and homogeneous mixture. Set aside.
- Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Beat the egg yolks with 80 g of sugar for a few minutes.
- Add the liqueur and beat again for a few seconds.
- Add the melted chocolate and mix well.
- Finally, add the almond flour little by little. Mix and set aside.
- Now you can preheat your oven to 180 °C in static mode. Grease and flour an 18 cm (7-inch) non-stick spring form pan.
- Beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar until stiff.
- Add to the chocolate mixture, little by little, stirring from the bottom up.
- Pour the Caprese cake mixture into the spring form pan and level well with a spoon. Bake on the middle rack for about 30 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes, then flip and allow to cool completely.
- Now you can garnish your Caprese cake with icing sugar. If you want to decorate your Torta Caprese with beautiful drawings, you can use the cake decorating stencils.
- Serve your chocolate Caprese cake at room temperature.
