Dark Chocolate Torte

Dark Chocolate Torte

Happy 1st birthday to T&H! This year has just flown by and I've learned so much and have had such a positive experience sharing my cooking and baking with you all this year.

As a celebratory post, I'm sharing with you one of my all-time favorite recipes. I actually made this recipe to share with my loved ones for Valentine's Day. As I realized that T&H's birthday was soon approaching and the fact that I cannot bring myself to make a birthday cake for my blog (just seems rather silly), I decided to share this recipe as T&H's birthday post instead.

This recipe is not only one of my favorite recipes, it's several family and friends' favorite recipe too. Throughout the years, I've make this for various birthdays and holidays, including a couple times for Valentine's Day. My friend Jessica refers to this recipe as "Chocolate Heaven" and I have a feeling I'll be making this recipe for her birthday next month too.

What makes this recipe more special this year is that it's gluten-free. Every year, I make Joe a personal-sized dessert but was struggling to figure out what to make this year because my gluten-free baking repertoire isn't very large that this point. How great is it to discover that one of my favorite recipes is gluten-free?

This dessert is very easy to make and tastes like a condensed brownie. The inside is incredibly chewy and fudgy, it's seriously one of the best chocolate dishes ever! This recipe is for a 9-inch springform pan, but I've also used this with four or five 4-inch springform pans to give away as well. If you decide to make the smaller tortes, be sure to place them in a larger pan in case the batter rises over the rim of the springform pan. Also, if you make the smaller tortes, be sure to reduce baking time-- I usually put the smaller ones in for about 30 minutes. This time, I accidentally had the timer on my iPad on silent and then got distracted so I overcooked the torte a little bit, so the edges were a little more crumbly than usual, but it still very good. So make sure not to overcook!

If you're in the mood for a deliciously decadent dessert (and gluten-free!), this is a perfect dessert to make for special occasions or just because. I hope that this dessert becomes one of your favorite recipes as it has with me and my loved ones!

Heart shaped for Valentine's Day

Dark Chocolate Torte
Adapted from Bon Appetit (April 2006, page 117)

2 2/3 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (16 oz.), divided
1 c. unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder
5 large eggs
1 c. sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line the bottom of your springform pan with parchment paper. (Use a 9-inch pan if you're making one torte or 4-5 4-inch pans in your making indvidual-sized) Grease the bottom and sides of your pan with butter. Set aside.

Stir 1 2/3 c. chocolate chips and 3/4 c. butter in a medium saucepan over low heat until smooth. Whisk in cocoa and espresso. Remove from heat and cool about 10 minutes.

While chocolate is cooling, use an electric mixer to beat eggs and sugar in a large bowl on high speed until thick, about 6 minutes. Fold in chocolate mixture until well incorporated.

Pour batter into prepared pan(s).

Bake torte(s) until dry and cracked on top and tester inserted into center comes out with some moist batter attached. This should be about 42 minutes for a 9-inch springform pan. If you're making individual 4-inch springform pans, this should be about 30 minutes.

Cool in pan for about 1 hour. (The center will fall, so don't worry when you see it!) After an hour, use a spatula to press down the raised edges to that the top of the cake is level. Cut around pan sides, remove sides. Place a plate atop torte and invert onto plate. Remove pan bottom and peel off parchment paper and cool torte completely.

For the ganache topping, stir the remaining 1 cup chocolate chips and 1/4 c. butter in a small saucepan over low heat just until melted. (Careful not to overheat and burn the chocolate.) Cool ganache for 15 minutes (I didn't do this step). Pour ganache onto the center of the torte and smooth out with a spatula, allowing some of the ganache to drip down the sides. Refrigerate uncovered until the ganache is set, about 1 hour.