Torta Di Chocolate with Candied Oranges and Macadamias

In my quest for the richest chocolate cake i stumbled across the torta; and this one is fantastic. It is very, very easy to make, and very, very sinfully delicious. A word of warning: the darkness of the chocolate will determine the bitterness of the final product; i love bitter chocolate cake so i went with the highest cocoa content i could find easily. 

Not only does this cake have no flour, it also has no nuts as a binding agent! Much like the spanish puddings i cooked on this blog once before, the only thing holding this cake together is the egg. As a result, the finished cake is rich but so light it dissipates on the palate. Along with the candied oranges, this is a cake fit for royalty :)

Ingredients (Serves... a lot!)

• 400gm good quality dark chocolate
• 8 eggs
• 250gm unsalted butter, cubed
• 1/4 cup caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp almond essence
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 large orange
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup macadamias

Method

Preheat oven to 170 degrees. 

Grease and line a 30cm spring form tin.

Coarsely chop the chocolate

Add with butter and almond essence to a double boiler and melt.

Remove from heat and set aside. 

Set a large saucepan of water to boil. 

Meanwhile, combine eggs, 1/4 cup sugar and vanilla in a mixer.

Beat mix until light and doubled in size.

Fold 1/3 of the egg mixture into the chocolate.

Repeat 2 more times, each time adding another 1/3 of the egg mix.

Pour into the tin. 

If your tin is not 100% sealing, then cover the base with foil as well.

Place the tin into a large baking tray. 

Pour in enough water into the baking tray, around the sides of the cake tin, to come up around 2 inches.

Transfer to oven and bake for about 40 minutes or until slightly risen and sides appear cooked. 

Leave to cool to room temperature in tin and then refridgerate until 20 minutes prior to serving. 

Meanwhile, combine the 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/2 cups water in a frying pan.

Bring to the boil.

Slice the oranges in 3mm slices and place in the sugar syrup, not overlapping.

Cook for 5 minutes then reduce heat to a low simmer.

Continue to cook until the liquid is reduced to a thick syrup and the oranges are semi translucent, turning every 5 minutes.

Transfer orange slices to a baking sheet.

Briefly toss macadamias in the orange syrup and also transfer to baking sheet.

Serve cake at room temperature with a slice of orange, a few macadamias, a dollop of cream, and a sprinkle of cocoa.