Torta Tenerina (Italian Flourless Chocolate Cake)

Torta tenerina is a flourless chocolate cake that could be considered Italy's version of a decadent brownie. With only 6 simple ingredients, this tender chocolate cake is so easy to make! It has a beautiful crackly meringue-like top and a rich, moist interior. Enjoy it plain with a dusting of powdered sugar or serve with whipped cream or mascarpone.

I stumbled upon this delicious chocolate cake when I was researching alternative starches for my torta paradiso (Italian paradise cake) recipe. Reading about the use of starches as substitutes for all or a portion of the flour in a recipe, I discovered this dark and dramatic torte.

Torta tenerina, or "tender cake" in Italian, is a juxtaposition of textures, with a light crust and a more dense interior. It's a flourless chocolate cake, which renders it gluten free.

Due to the addition of corn starch, it's not as heavy and rich as some flourless chocolate cakes. It's somewhat lighter - I'd call it a marriage of a moist chocolate cake, a brownie, and a rich flourless chocolate torte.

The chocolate flavor comes through with intensity, which is what I'm always looking for in a chocolate dessert. If you're a chocolate lover, this will most definitely satisfy.

That said, if you're looking for a super gooey, fudgy recipe, I recommend you try my brownies with port wine soaked cherries.

This cake is fit for a queen - truly! It was first made by pastry chefs in Ferrara, Italy in the early part of the 20th century. They created it to honor the new wife of Italian King Vittorio Emanuele III, Elena Petrovich, who was from the Balkan country of Montenegro.

For this reason, the cake is sometimes referred to as Torta Montenegrina. It was tender and sweet, just like the new queen.

For another flourless Italian recipe, try these chocolate hazelnut sandwich cookies, Baci di Alassio.

Ingredients

* See recipe card for detailed list of ingredients and quantities.

Dark chocolate - Use a good quality dark chocolate bar with around 70% cocoa. Mine had 72%. The chocolate flavor is key here, so choose something that you'd enjoy eating plain.

Unsalted butter - Using unsalted butter allows you to control the total amount of salt in the recipe. Make sure your butter is at room temperature.

Eggs - Use large eggs. Separate the yolks and whites and bring them to room temperature. (I find it's easier to separate the eggs while cold, and then leave them for an hour to reach room temperature).

Granulated sugar - Separate the sugar into two equal 75 gram/6 Tablespoon portions. You'll add half the sugar to the egg yolks, and the other half to the egg whites.

Corn starch - Torta tenerina uses corn starch in place of flour to bind the ingredients and create a tender texture. See substitutions for notes on alternatives.

Instructions

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the base and sides of a 9 inch (23 centimeter) pan with parchment paper.

Step 2: Melt butter and chopped chocolate. Remove from heat to cool down while beating the egg yolks and sugar.

Step 3: Whisk egg yolks and half of granulated sugar in a mixing bowl. Beat at low speed until sugar is incorporated, and then increase speed to medium high for 3-5 minutes, until mixture reaches ribbon stage. It should be very pale, thick, and doubled in volume. When you lift up the whisk, the mixture should fall down in a "ribbon" without breaking. See here for more cues on ribbon stage.

Step 4: Once chocolate mixture is cooler but still runny, add to egg mixture and mix.

Step 5: Add corn starch and salt. Mix until incorporated.

Step 6: To a clean mixing bowl, add egg whites. Whisk on low until foamy. Slowly pour in remaining sugar. Beat egg whites on medium speed until they have reached firm peaks. When lifting the whisk out of the egg whites, a peak will form but tip to the side.

Step 7: Scoop ⅓ of the egg whites into the chocolate batter and use a spatula to gently fold them into until only a few streaks remain. Add remaining egg whites in two further stages. Gently fold in using the minimum amount of strokes necessary.

Step 8: Pour batter into prepared pan and level with a spatula.

Step 9: Bake for 23-26 minutes, until center of cake is just set, and a crust has formed over the top. If you test the center of the cake, it should still be moist. Set on a rack to cool.

Step 10. Once cool, remove springform ring. Sprinkle powdered sugar over the top of the cake.

Substitutions

Corn starch - You can replace the corn starch with an equal amount of unmodified potato starch. Make sure it's potato starch, not potato flour.

Potato starch is made from the liquid of crushed potatoes. Potato flour is made from the whole potato, and has a strong potato flavor and much more rustic consistency.

Variations

• Espresso - Add a tablespoon of instant espresso powder to the melted chocolate and butter mixture for a rich coffee flavor.
• Cocoa topping - Dust the finished cake with a bit of cocoa powder rather than powdered sugar for an extra dark chocolate kick.
• Orange - Add the zest of a large orange to the batter after beating the eggs and sugar together.

Equipment

Springform pan - Use a 9 inch (23 centimeter) springform pan for best results. The cake is too fragile to invert and flip over onto a platter. Use a springform pan in order to easily remove the sides.

Parchment paper - Line the base and sides of the springform pan with parchment paper.

More chocolate recipes

If you like this Italian chocolate cake recipe, you might also enjoy these rich chocolate desserts!