
A day or two ago I mentioned I’d made a flourless chocolate cake for Christmas Day. It was really wonderful. I made it on the 25th, and it came out of the oven mere moments before we had to put it in the car to drive to a family get-together.
The recipe came from a Sunset Magazine article - a reader recipe. Trisha Kruse, from Eagle, Idaho, submitted the recipe and said “Guests always ask for the recipe and beg to bring home leftovers.” The cake is made with ground almonds (I used the almond meal from Trader Joe’s), chocolate of course, butter and eggs, which would be normal for a flourless chocolate cake. But what makes this one different is the orange and lemon flavors. The recipe called for orange juice (the juice from the fresh orange you use for the zest). And although I could have used the fresh juice, I made up a concoction of half orange juice concentrate and half water. Gave the cake a bit more zing, perhaps, than the developer planned. It also calls for some lemon zest also, so you get a double-whammy of citrus.
As I explained above, I made this just an hour or two before it was served. We did have leftovers, but I must admit, I think the cake tasted better the day it was made. It certainly wasn’t “bad” the next day, but there was something a bit more tender about it when it was freshly cooled, with a big, healthy dollop of whipped cream. The recipe calls for a dusting of cocoa, but knowing such a cake is rich, I decided to give it a little whipped cream side. Delish. Recommended.
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Chocolate Citrus Almond Torte
Recipe: Trisha Kruse, Eagle, ID via Sunset, Jan. 2007
Servings: 8
1 1/4 cups almond meal — (or pulse whole almonds to a fine meal)
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate — coarsely chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder — plus more for dusting cake
6 large eggs — separated
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange juice frozen concentrate
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon orange zest — grated fresh
2 teaspoons lemon zest — grated fresh
14 tablespoons butter — melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 10-in. springform pan with cooking spray.
2. In a food processor, pulse almonds and bittersweet chocolate until finely ground. Add cocoa and pulse to combine.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, orange juice concentrate and water, orange zest, and lemon zest until the mixture is thick and pale. Beat in the chocolate-almond mixture and melted butter.
4. In a clean bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites and salt until stiff peaks form; do not overbeat.
5. Gently fold whites into chocolate mixture, then pour into the prepared pan.
6. Bake until cake pulls away from edges of pan and top is well browned, about 50 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack. To serve, run a knife around cake, release pan, and cut cake into wedges. Garnish with a light dusting of cocoa powder if you like. Or serve with a large dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream. Best if eaten the same day as baked.
Per Serving: 594 Calories; 44g Fat (60.9% calories from fat); 18g Protein; 46g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 213mg Cholesterol; 398mg Sodium.





Erika
said on January 2nd, 2009:
Oooh! That sounds wonderful! Bookmarking for a special occassion!
You’ll be glad you tried it. It really is special. . . Carolyn T