A Recipe is a Terrible Thing to Waist
Apparently my Pomegranate Smoke Chocolate Torte was not chosen, noticed, loved nor even its typos caught for my slaved-over entry into Tuttifoodie.com and Scharffen Berger's Chocolate Adventure Contest at the end of last year. It's okay- in all likelihood the typos were a problem- last minute lucy loo mishigash. In the simplicity/ease of prep category, I fell into the trap no doubt hundreds of others did and did a baked dessert. Ho hum.
However, in the spirit of sharing, here it is-with typos corrected. They tried to issue us a "cakeage fee" because I brought it to Luka's to feed the bunch of us.
Pomegranate Smoke Chocolate Torte
Gluten free, but recommended for ultra dark chocolate aficionados
Ingredients:
Pam cooking spray
1 cup unsalted butter
8 oz. 99% cacao unsweetened Scharffen Berger chocolate
4 eggs
1/2 cup caster sugar
4 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
Zest of 1 lemon, preferably Meyer
2 tablespoons rice flour
3/4 cup pistachios ground into 2 tablespoons fine pistachio powder (1 tbsp. for inside torte, 2 tbsp. for garnish)
3 teaspoons powdered sugar
12 whole pistachios
Equipment:
- Coffee or spice grinder capable of producing very fine grinds
- Electric mixer, preferably handheld
- Two mixing bowls
- Plane zester
- 9” Diameter cake pan
- Wax paper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9” diameter cake pan lined with wax paper with the Pam.
Melt the butter and chocolate (broken into small pieces with a knifepoint) in a double boiler over low heat. Combine eggs and caster sugar in a bowl and mix together on medium speed. Then add molasses and lemon zest- mix well.
Grind ½ cup whole pistachio nutmeats into a fine power in the coffee grinder. Mix 1 tablespoon ground pistachios in a separate bowl together with the rice flour. Beat flour/pistachio blend into egg/sugar/molasses mixture until well blended. Fold in the melted chocolate mix.
Pour into the cake pan and bake for 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 1 hour outside the oven. Cut and serve warm garnished with the remaining ground pistachios sprinkled on top and mixed together with the powdered sugar and a dash (to taste) of ground cardamom. Embed one whole pistachio upright on top of each serving’s layer of ground pistachios for presentation.
Gluten free, but recommended for ultra dark chocolate aficionados
Ingredients:
Pam cooking spray
1 cup unsalted butter
8 oz. 99% cacao unsweetened Scharffen Berger chocolate
4 eggs
1/2 cup caster sugar
4 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
Zest of 1 lemon, preferably Meyer
2 tablespoons rice flour
3/4 cup pistachios ground into 2 tablespoons fine pistachio powder (1 tbsp. for inside torte, 2 tbsp. for garnish)
3 teaspoons powdered sugar
12 whole pistachios
Equipment:
- Coffee or spice grinder capable of producing very fine grinds
- Electric mixer, preferably handheld
- Two mixing bowls
- Plane zester
- 9” Diameter cake pan
- Wax paper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9” diameter cake pan lined with wax paper with the Pam.
Melt the butter and chocolate (broken into small pieces with a knifepoint) in a double boiler over low heat. Combine eggs and caster sugar in a bowl and mix together on medium speed. Then add molasses and lemon zest- mix well.
Grind ½ cup whole pistachio nutmeats into a fine power in the coffee grinder. Mix 1 tablespoon ground pistachios in a separate bowl together with the rice flour. Beat flour/pistachio blend into egg/sugar/molasses mixture until well blended. Fold in the melted chocolate mix.
Pour into the cake pan and bake for 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 1 hour outside the oven. Cut and serve warm garnished with the remaining ground pistachios sprinkled on top and mixed together with the powdered sugar and a dash (to taste) of ground cardamom. Embed one whole pistachio upright on top of each serving’s layer of ground pistachios for presentation.
Photo: cacao flowers from Wikipedia
Thanks for entering the contest! We did indeed notice--and admire--your entry. It was difficult to narrow down all the entries--everyone was really creative. Including you! I'm (TuttiFoodie) in downtown Oakland, and was glad to see an entry from the hometown.
ReplyDeleteAnd--it's not just about winning, right? It's often about the journey, too.
Lisa
My kudos to Lisa at Tootie Foodie who called me to say, the recipe was appreciated. In fact, I was making drama in the first few lines of my post. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey of making this recipe and with over 900 competitors, I really have no complaints. I mean come in, Grapefruit Madeleines with Sea Salt and Drizzled Chocolate? Now that's innovative (though kind of a sneaky way around the chocolate- however stunningly simple it was). Visit Tutti Foodie to read the winning recipes!
ReplyDeleteExcept that I must spell Tutti as if I were a PASSIONATE Italian pastry chef. Tutti!!
ReplyDelete