Oh, so scrumptious and rich and chocolaty and a new love affair with my ice cream! This torte is worth every calorie. Dense and moist with it’s curious texture (ground pecans), this one surprised me. Rob loved it and so did friends. This, with his chocolate sorbet turns his lips brown and smiling. And me too – but with vanilla ice cream and jimmies. We were both very happy with our leftovers and this cake stayed fresh and tasty for several days under a cake dome. I topped it with ganache – but you can also skip that and just dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy-
chocolate pecan torte (from Alice Medrich’s Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts):
1 cup (3.5 ounces) pecan halves (toast them now)
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate (66-72 percent), coarsely chopped
8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened but still cool – cut into chunks
3/4 cup (5.25 ounces) sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 cold large eggs
powdered sugar
freshly whipped cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease the bottom and sides of springform pan. Toast the pecans by baking them for 7-10 minutes. Stir once or twice as they bake for even toasting. They should be fragrant and golden (but don’t burn or they will become bitter). Let cool completely.
Turn the oven up to 375 degrees.
Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and place over a pot with an inch of simmering water. Melt the chocolate. Do not cook it. The simmering water should not touch the bowl with the chocolate in it.
Place the cooled pecans and flour in a food processor and plus until finely ground.
Place the melted chocolate, softened butter, sugar and salt in a bowl fitted with the paddle attachment of your mixer and beat on medium speed until the butter is completely melted and the mixture thickens and gets a little lighter in color.
Add the eggs, one at a time and mix on med/high speed until the is fluffier and even lighter in color. 2-3 minutes.
Stir in the pecan mixture and pour into prepared pan.
Bake for about 30-35 m. A toothpick inserted in the outer edges of the pan should come out clean, but the inner area of the cake should still be gooey.
Place the cake on a cooling rack and carefully run a thin knife along the inside of the pan to loosen the cake and allow the think crust to sink a little.
Let cool completely. Remove from pan.
Serve with confectioners sugar and a little whipped cream makes it extra special.
Enjoy-
