DARK CHOCOLATE CAPRESE CAKE

Dark chocolate Caprese cake

This gluten-free dark chocolate cake was created by accident in Capri in 1920, in a similar way to the birth of Tarte Tatin. The pastry chef was in a stressful day and created this magic cake with chocolate and ground almonds forgetting flour: the result is this magic cake covered by a thin and crunchy crust that contains a moist and soft interior like a chocolate truffle.

 

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Yield: Makes 8 servings.

 

Ingredients for a 7 IN (20 cm) mold

  • 6,5 oz (g 185) almond flour
  • 4,5 oz (125 g) dark chocolate 70%, crumbled
  • 4,5 oz (125 g) butter, soft
  • 3 medium eggs, room temperature (kept out of the fridge at least 12 hours in advance)
  • 4,5 oz (125 g) white sugar
  • 1 tablespoon dark rhum

Instructions

Melt chocolate and butter in microwave or bain-marie until they are perfectly mixed and smooth.

In another bowl, using a hand mixer, mix for some minutes 3 yolks and 2,8 oz (80 g) sugar, until they are soft and foamy. Add the Rhum, still mixing and the chocolate and butter.

Place half of the sugar into a bowl and the egg yolks. Using a hand mixer on medium-high speed, whisk the ingredients. After a few minutes the mixture will be frothy. Add the Rhum, keep mixing, and the mix of chocolate and butter.

In another bowl pour the egg whites and the remaining sugar. Make sure that the whisks are clean, otherwise the egg whites will not whip.

After a few minutes the egg whites will be shiny and frothy: you have to whip them stiff. When all preparations are complete, preheat the oven to 340°F (170°C) in convection mode and start combining them: fold a third of the whipped egg whites then a third of the almond flour into the egg yolks and chocolate mixture using a spatula, stirring gently from bottom to top. Add another batch (one third of the egg whites and one third of the dry ingredients) and continue until you get a uniform texture.

Pour the smooth and creamy mixture into a buttered 7-inch (20 cm) round cake mould already buttered and floured with potato starch. Carefully level the surface and bake in a convection oven at 340°F (170°C) for about 45 minutes.

Once baked, let the cake cool down in the mould, then turn it upside down to unmould it. Then turn it over again on a plate lined with baking paper and let it cool completely. Once cold, turn the cake upside down one last time, remove the baking paper and dust the surface with powdered sugar.




FIG COOKIES

This fig cookie recipe brings out the magic flavour of an incredible, sugary fruit. Figs are at their best at the second part of August and the beginning of September, and if you have the possibility to buy them or better yet get them ripened on the tree, you are a very lucky person. The filling could be replaced by fig jam, but it would not have the same incredible taste enhanced by lemon zest and almond flour, which create an unmistakable taste.

Since the flour reacts differently depending on the country of origin and the percentage of gluten, it is difficult to be precise. Moreover, the size of the egg can also contribute to a great variation. Add one or two tablespoons of milk to the pastry if the dough is too dry.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cooking Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Yield: Makes 4  servings.

Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry

  • 1 cup (140 g) multi-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup (40 g) corn starch
  • 1½ tbsp (10 g) almond flour
  • 1 tsp (3 g) baking powder
  • ¼ cup (50 g) white sugar
  • 2 tbsp (60 g) butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp (15 ml) milk

Ingredients for the filling

  • 9 oz (250 g) fresh figs, peeled and chopped
  • 2 tbsp (30 g) white sugar
  • ½ lemon zest, grated
  • 3 tbsp (20 g)  almond flour

Instructions for the shortcrust pastry

In a mixer, mix all the dry ingredients with the butter until it crumbles. Place in a bowl or on a marble surface and knead with the egg and milk. Wrap in plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Instructions for the filling

In a pot, cook the sugar, figs and lemon zest together for 10 minutes. When it cools, add the almond flour and mix again.

Roll the shortbread pastry between two sheets of parchment paper. Cut the pastry edges into a rectangle, then cut again into two rectangles. Place the filling in the centre of each rectangle lengthwise and seal it, overlapping the two edges.  Move the two rolls to the fridge and let sit for 15 minutes.

Heat the oven to 350 F (180 C) Bake the cookies for 25 minutes and cut them only when they reach room temperature.