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Chocolate Almond Torte (Torta di Mondorle e Cioccolata) (P, KLP, TNT)
Source: "The Book of Jewish Food," byClaudia Roden
Serves: 12

1-1/2 cups (250g) blanched almonds
7 oz. (200g) dark, bitterwseet chocolate
1-1/4 cups (250g) sugar
7 egg whites
Oil and matzo meal (or cake meal) for cake pan

Finely chop the almonds and the chocolate together in a food processor, then add the sugar and mix well.

Beat the egg whites until still and fold into the chocolate-almond mixture.

Oil a preferably non-stick springform pan, then dust with meal. Bake in a pre-heated 300°F (150°C) oven for 1 hour, until firm.

Poster's Notes:
My mom started making this as soon as the book came out. She gave me the recipe which I started using every year too. One year I drove with three of these tortes in the car from Atlanta to three different stops in Florida (Bonita Springs, Miami Beach, and Ft. Lauderdale) where we were returning for Pesach, having recently moved away from Miami Beach and missing it so. Thus, this is a special cake for me! It's really special but soooooooo easy. And you metric-centered people on the list will be glad to see that it's written in both.

So, I had some over-ripe bananas--and what does one do with over-ripe bananot during Pesach? I decided to substitute 3 for the chocolate in that Torta di mandorle e cioccolata recipe. I used a little less sugar.

It looked normal out of the oven so I assumed it had worked. And then I gave it to the taster (Chaim, my partner) and he ate it with joy and lots of "yum" sounds. I think it was a little too moist so it might work with one less banana.

And I'm also thinking of making some caramel to pour over, I think that might be nice--I've never done it--but my sister did it effortlessly and deliciously for bread pudding when she was using up her chometz while I was in NY so I'm inspired. I'm open to suggestions. Oh, and by the way, I did the ground almonds on the springform.

Posted by Jenni Person

Nutritional Info Per Serving: N/A