Our wonderful friends and former neighbors gave us this fabulous book
I think the book pretty much sums up the foundation of my marriage :). One insatiable sweet-toothed chocoholic, and one insatiable baker with a soft corner for chocolate. It is a match made in cocoa heaven, at least until we keep diabetes at bay!
The husband flipped through the book and predictably pointed at a recipe that involved chocolate (of course), caramel, and nuts. He also wanted me to somehow add orange to it, so that all his favorite flavors get mushed up, but I laughed him off.
The original recipe called for walnuts. Since peanuts are my husband's favorite, that too peanuts gelled in caramel (South India's kadalai mittai/peanut brittle), I added peanuts instead.
This was the first time I tried baking a torte - a type of cake that has little to no flour that is baked at a lower temperature (300 F). In this case, there is no flour; just healthy amounts of bitter-sweet chocolate, butter, sugar, and eggs (whipped whites and creamed yolks). It is topped with a simple caramel sauce made from brown sugar, corn syrup and more butter! Finally, the peanuts add a lovely bite. This is surely a rich cake. A small serving goes a long way.
The best part of the cake is the play of textures and layers of flavors - soft, gooey and crunchy, with bursts of peanuts and caramel mixing with the rich and fudgy bitter-sweet chocolate.
Thank you so much N and C for the lovely book!
The husband flipped through the book and predictably pointed at a recipe that involved chocolate (of course), caramel, and nuts. He also wanted me to somehow add orange to it, so that all his favorite flavors get mushed up, but I laughed him off.
The original recipe called for walnuts. Since peanuts are my husband's favorite, that too peanuts gelled in caramel (South India's kadalai mittai/peanut brittle), I added peanuts instead.
This was the first time I tried baking a torte - a type of cake that has little to no flour that is baked at a lower temperature (300 F). In this case, there is no flour; just healthy amounts of bitter-sweet chocolate, butter, sugar, and eggs (whipped whites and creamed yolks). It is topped with a simple caramel sauce made from brown sugar, corn syrup and more butter! Finally, the peanuts add a lovely bite. This is surely a rich cake. A small serving goes a long way.
The best part of the cake is the play of textures and layers of flavors - soft, gooey and crunchy, with bursts of peanuts and caramel mixing with the rich and fudgy bitter-sweet chocolate.
Thank you so much N and C for the lovely book!
