CHOCOLATE AND BRAZIL NUT TORTE

 
 

I made this cake for my mum's birthday this August, and there was one specification - mum had a tonne of Brazil nuts that needed using up! I found a delicious looking, simple, flourless chocolate torte recipe from Love From Luisa and adapted the recipe to use up even more Brazil nuts! I reduced the amount of butter and dark chocolate according to what I had and swapped the sugar for coconut sugar and a bit less of that too. I also really wanted to enjoy the Brazil nuts in this dish so I left in plenty of chunks while grinding them rather than creating a fine crumb or ‘flour’, and this crunchy texture was enjoyed by all. Continuing with my theme of incorporating spices into my bakes, to not only tantalise the tastebuds but help with digestion of such a rich and decadent dessert like this one, I added in cardamom and ginger to my second recipe test which everyone complimented. 
Slightly cake and slightly brownie, depending how much air you beat into the egg and coconut sugar mixture, let me know how you get on with this one @jasminehemsley.

METHOD

  1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F). Grease a 9-10-inch loose bottom cake tin with butter and line it (I used a 9.5 inch scalloped flan dish instead and crumpled up a piece of baking paper for a quick liner).

  2. Grind 250g of Brazil nuts finely using a food processor. Stop to mix often so you don’t end with nut butter at the bottom and chunks on top, but also don’t try to get a uniform crumb. Chop the additional 50g into chunks and set aside. 

  3. Using a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt the butter and chopped chocolate until smooth. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

  4. While the chocolate mixture cools, prepare the eggs. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the coconut sugar until it forms a nice and frothy top, about 5 minutes. Add a splash of vanilla and the cardamom and ginger.

INGREDIENTS

250g Brazil nuts, ground

50g Brazil nuts, chopped nice and chunky with a knife

180g 70% dark chocolate 

180g butter, unsalted

180g coconut sugar

6 eggs, medium

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cardamom

¾ tsp ground ginger

Jasmine Hemsley