It’s spring, and along with the warmer weather and sunnier days come lots of chances to get together. This is the season of Baptisms, First Communions, graduations, and picnics. In other words, lots of parties! And that means lots of desserts!
In that spirit, I am starting a spring dessert series for Appetito. These recipes are intended to be light, easy to prepare, crowd-pleasing and, of course, utterly delicious.
I’m kicking this series off with a riff on the classic Torta Caprese.
Torta Caprese is a decadent, gluten-free chocolate cake from, you guessed it, the island of Capri. It’s traditionally made with dark chocolate, almond flour, sugar, and eggs.
In this version, I use white chocolate, lemons, and oranges. The cake is delicious on its own and is wonderful paired with berries for a delicious summer dessert. One more thing: it’s even better made a day or so ahead of time.
Note that, as with all of my recipes, I prefer things less sweet.
If you prefer sweeter, you might want to up the sugar.
Also, feel free to use the liquor of your choice.
I like this with Limoncello, but you can also use Cointreau or any other citrus-flavored liquor. If you don’t want to use liquor, feel free to use lemon extract.
The idea is to have a cake that is moist, delicious, and bright with the taste of southern Italian citrus.
One final thing, you don't actually need an event to for this cake. Make it for yourself and enjoy with an afternoon espresso.
White Chocolate / Citrus Torta Caprese
4
servings25
minutes45
minutesIngredients
5 5 eggs (medium, organic) separated and at room temperature
200 grams 200 white chocolate (preferably Italian)
1/2 cup 1/2 unsalted butter
1/2 cup 1/2 sugar
1 pinch 1 salt
1/2 cup 1/2 cornstarch
2 cups 2 almond flour
1 envelope 1 lievito paneangeli or 2 tsp baking powder.
2 2 lemons (zest and juice)
1 1 orange (zest and juice)
Limoncello or Cointreau (or lemon extract) to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Separate eggs.
- Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- Beat egg yolks with sugar till pale and yellow, about 5 - 7 minutes.
- Add zest and juice to yolks/ sugar as it is mixing.
- In a bagna maria or double boiler (or the microwave) melt butter and white chocolate, be careful not to burn.
- Add the butter and chocolate, little by little to the yolks/ sugar while continuing to mix.
- Once all butter and chocolate are incorporated, add almond flour, lievito and cornstarch and mix to combine.
- Add liquor or extract if using and mix to combine.
- Finally, gently fold in whipped egg whites by hand, a little at a time. Be careful not to deflate the batter.
- Bake in a greased 9-inch springform for about 45 minutes, till done.
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