Torta Caprese (Italian Flourless Chocolate Cake)

Torta caprese is a delicious light Italian flourless chocolate cake. Made from just 5 ingredients, this gluten free chocolate cake is delicious enjoyed with coffee or for afternoon tea, or served for dessert.

Jump to:

• What is Torta Caprese
• Why we love this recipe
• Ingredients notes and substitutions
• How to make this Italian chocolate torta
• FAQ
• My recipe tips
• Storage
• More almond meal / almond flour recipes
• Torta Caprese (Italian Flourless Chocolate Cake)

What is Torta Caprese

Packed with rich dark chocolate and almond meal (aka ground almonds and almond flour), this chocolate cake is a famous dessert from the Island of Capri. The history of ‘Torta Caprese’ remains unknown, but most agree that is was due to a mistake when the flour was accidentally left out of a chocolate cake. If that is indeed true, then this cake is one of the most delicious baking mistakes I have ever eaten!

Related recipes: ricciarelli, amaretti biscuits, and lemon almond biscuits. As you see I have a particular fondness for Italian recipes using ground almonds / almond meal!

Why we love this recipe

• Crispy on the outside, soft, fudgy and moist in the centre, this flourless chocolate torte is a show stopping dessert or special gluten-free chocolate cake.
• Although this chocolate almond cake is a rich chocolate cake, it has a very light texture, and after eating a slice you aren’t left feeling weighed down. You still get a hit of deep and rich chocolate flavour though – this is definitely a cake to make for any chocolate fan!
• The almond meal / ground almonds give the cake a moist and light texture.

Ingredients notes and substitutions

Please scroll down to the recipe card at the end of the post for ingredient quantities.

• Almond meal – also known as ground almonds un the UK, or almond flour in the US.
• Chocolate – use a good quality dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa content.
• Granulated sugar – white sugar.
• Eggs – size large eggs. Use room temperature eggs for the best results.
• Butter – I recommend using unsalted butter to make this cake recipe.

How to make this Italian chocolate torta

Please scroll down to the recipe card at the end of the post for the full recipe.

1. Melt the butter with the chocolate in a ban marie/double boiler. Take the bowl off the heat and leave to cool slightly.
2. In a roomy mixing bowl whisk the egg whites with 1 tablespoon of the sugar until stiff using a hand mixer. If you prefer, you can use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment.

3. In another bowl, with the same whisk (no need to wash it after whisking the egg whites), whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and fluffy (see the image below).
4. Carefully stir the almond flour  / almond meal and cooled melted chocolate mixture into the egg yolks using a large spoon or spatula, then fold in the egg whites.

5. Spoon the batter into the prepared tin
6. Bake in the preheated oven until a skewer or toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with only a few crumbs attached. (See the image below for how the skewer looks when the cake is cooked.)

7. Cool completely in the tin. Turn out then dust with icing sugar / confectioner’s sugar to serve. You can sprinkle with cocoa powder if you prefer.

FAQ

My recipe tips

• Separating the eggs: don’t get any egg yolk in with the whites, as this will stop them from whisking to stiff peaks.
  • I use 3 bowls when separating eggs: I break the egg and seperate it over one bowl to capture the egg white, then put the yolk into another bowl. I then tip the clean egg white into the whisking bowl and repeat. This way, if I get egg yolk into a white, then I don’t have to start over again and waste a lot of eggs.
• Do not overcook the cake: it will make the cake dry.
• Leave the cake to cool in the tin: if you try to turn it out when hot then you risk it breaking, as it is very fragile when warm.
• Missing an Egg white: I don’t expect you to miss an egg white out of the recipe, but I did on one occasion when I was testing the cake and I was chasing my toddler to get off the cat. I put the cake in the oven and was cleaning up, when I discovered one egg white left in a bowl. The cake rose, and still tasted delicious and fudgy; however it didn’t cut as neatly and was slightly more crumbly. But, I wanted to mention this as if you happen to do the same thing – it is not a complete disaster! 😉

Storage

• This flourless chocolate cake keeps for 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge or at room temperature. I prefer to store it in the fridge as the texture stays slightly fudgy.
• Freeze: Cool the torta caprese completely then wrap well, first in a piece of parchment paper then in plastic wrap, and freeze for up to two months. Defrost at room temperature.

More almond meal / almond flour recipes

If you love baking with almond meal as much as I do, have a look at these other ground almond recipes: