 | |
| Type | Flourless chocolate cake |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Italy |
| Region or state | Capri |
| Main ingredients | Butter, sugar, egg yolks, egg whites, almonds, chocolate |
Torta caprese is a flourless [1] cake made with chocolate and either almonds or hazelnuts. Named for the Italian island of Capri from which it originates, the cake is widely known and especially popular in nearby Naples, Italy. [2]
The origins of torta caprese are not clear, although it seems probably it was created by the hospitality industry of Capri, which catered to tourists. [3]
One background story suggests that torta caprese was created when the King of Naples' Austrian wife requested a Sacher cake (an Austrian chocolate cake), Neapolitan chefs improvised by using a typical Neopolitan ingredient, almonds. [4] Another unauthenticated story suggests that torta caprese was created in the 1920s, when a baker fulfilling a tourist's order for an almond cake mistakenly forgot to add flour—resulting in a simultaneously soft and crunchy delicacy. [5] Another account attributes the recipe to two Austrian women who inherited a guest house in Capri's Marina Piccola during the 1930s, the Strandpension Weber, from Munich-born August Weber (1846–1928). [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Despite the uncertainty surrounding its origins, torta caprese has been called "uno dei pasticci più fortunati della storia" (lit. 'one of history's most fortunate mistakes'). [3]
With many variations, the core recipe combines softened butter at room temperature with sugar followed by egg yolks. Once combined, the remaining ingredients are added, including finely minced almonds, chocolate (melted using a bain-marie), and whipped egg whites. After baking, the cake has a moist interior with a thin, hard shell—typically dusted with powdered sugar. It is sometimes made with a small amount of Strega or other liqueur.
Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly savory to create desserts. In some parts of the world there is no tradition of a dessert course to conclude a meal.
Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate and which share features with desserts such as pastries, meringues, custards, and pies.
Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce to the thick pastry cream used to fill éclairs. The most common custards are used in custard desserts or dessert sauces and typically include sugar and vanilla; however, savory custards are also found, e.g., in quiche.
Pastry refers to a variety of doughs, as well as the sweet and savoury baked goods made from them. These goods are often called pastries as a synecdoche, and the dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often described as bakers' confectionery. Common pastry dishes include pies, tarts, quiches, croissants, and pasties.
Shortbread or shortie is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part white sugar, two parts butter and three to four parts plain wheat flour. Shortbread does not contain any leavening, such as baking powder or baking soda. Shortbread is widely associated with Christmas and Hogmanay festivities in Scotland, and some Scottish brands are exported around the world.
Cheesecake is a dessert made with a soft fresh cheese, eggs, and sugar. It may have a crust or base made from crushed cookies, graham crackers, pastry, or sometimes sponge cake. Cheesecake may be baked or unbaked, and is usually refrigerated.
A Swiss roll, jelly roll, roll cake, cream roll, roulade or Swiss log or swiss cake —is a type of rolled sponge cake filled with whipped cream, jam, icing, or any type of filling. The origins of the term are unclear; in spite of the name "Swiss roll", the cake is believed to have originated elsewhere in Central Europe, possibly Austria or Slovenia. It appears to have been invented in the nineteenth century, along with Battenberg cake, doughnuts, and Victoria sponge. In the U.S., commercial snack-sized versions of the cake are sold with the brand names Ho Hos, Yodels, Swiss Cake Rolls, and others. A type of roll cake called Yule log is traditionally served at Christmas.
Torta is a culinary term that can, depending on the cuisine, refer to cakes, pies, flatbreads, sandwiches, or omelettes.
A génoise, also known as Genoese cake or Genovese cake, is a French sponge cake named after the city of Genoa and associated with French cuisine. It was created by François Massialot in the late 17th century. Instead of using chemical leavening, air is suspended in the batter during mixing to provide volume.
Molten chocolate cake or runny core cake, is a French dessert that consists of a chocolate cake with a liquid chocolate core. It is named for that molten center, and it is also known as mi-cuit au chocolat, chocolat coulant ("flowing"), chocolate lava cake, or simply lava cake. It should not be confused with fondant au chocolat, a recipe that contains little flour, but much chocolate and butter, hence melting on the palate.
Flourless chocolate cake is a dense cake made from an aerated chocolate custard. The first documented form of the cake was seen in Ferrara, Italy, though some forms of the cake have myths surrounding their origins. The dessert contains no gluten, which makes it acceptable for those with celiac disease, gluten-free diets, and during religious holidays in which gluten and grains are not permitted.
Jumbles are simple butter cookies made with a basic recipe of flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. They can be flavored with vanilla, anise, caraway seed, or other flavoring like almond. They were formerly often made in the form of rings or rolls.
Sponge cake is a light cake made with eggs, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most of them do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during the Renaissance, possibly in Spain. The sponge cake is thought to be one of the first non-yeasted cakes, and the earliest attested sponge cake recipe in English is found in a book by the English poet Gervase Markham, The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman (1615). Still, the cake was much more like a cracker: thin and crispy. Sponge cakes became the cake recognised today when bakers started using beaten eggs as a rising agent in the mid-18th century. The Victorian creation of baking powder by English food manufacturer Alfred Bird in 1843 allowed the addition of butter to the traditional sponge recipe, resulting in the creation of the Victoria sponge. Cakes are available in many flavours and have many recipes as well. Sponge cakes have become snack cakes via the Twinkie.
A pasticciotto is a type of filled Italian pastry. Depending on the region, they are traditionally filled with either ricotta cheese or egg custard.
Torta setteveli is a seven-layer cake. Traditionally served at birthdays, it includes chocolate and hazelnuts.
Pie in American cuisine has roots in English cuisine and has evolved over centuries to adapt to American cultural tastes and ingredients. The creation of flaky pie crust shortened with lard is credited to American innovation.
translation: "The caprese cake is the typical dessert of Capri. Its origin is somewhat controversial. Tradition has it that its creation happened by chance in a craft workshop of the island in the twenties. It seems that the pastry chef had forgotten to put the flour in an almond cake, ordered by some tourists. A delicacy came out of it, a soft cake in the center and crunchy outside, much appreciated by those tourists and then depopulated and become famous all over the world. In fact, the caprese cake, very delicate in taste, is extremely simple in its preparation and, not providing the use of flour, is also suitable for coeliacs. Add 200 g of butter with 200 g of sugar, then add 6 egg yolks, already slightly beaten. When the mixture is homogeneous, add 300 g of almonds, finely chopped and 200 g of dark chocolate, finely chopped or melted in a bain-marie, a teaspoon of baking powder and half a cup of aromatic liqueur. Finally, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt. Then, a round mold (27 cm diameter) is buttered, lined with baking parchment and the mixture is distributed, leveling it with a spatula. It should be cooked for 50 minutes at 180 degrees. Once baked, the cake should be turned over on a plate and allowed to cool. Before serving it should be sprinkled with powdeered sugar. Many variations on the market outside the island, according to the taste and imagination of pastry chefs."
