Italian Chocolate Almond Cake

This Italian Chocolate Almond Cake is rich, fudgy and completely flourless. This chocolate cake is made with almonds, dark chocolate and whipped egg whites for a perfect balance of texture and chocolate flavor.

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• Italian chocolate almond cake
• Ingredients
• Recipe tips before you start
• Step-by-step guided recipe
• How to store this almond chocolate cake
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

Italian chocolate almond cake

This Italian Chocolate Almond Cake, also known as Torta Caprese, looks like something you'd find in a European bakery. At first, it seems like the recipe has a lot of steps. I though the same thing. But after making it so many times and having all ingredients ready, this recipe is very straightforward and even the beginner baker can handle. I made it a lot of times now, and Its delicate texture comes from almond flour and whipped egg whites. They yolks are added too, but the whites get an extra step to create lightness. Since the cake is made with rich ingredients like almond flour, chocolate, and butter, the whipped whites act as a natural lift, keeping it soft and airy. This cake is gluten-free and has a truffle like, melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Ingredients

• Eggs: you will need all 5 eggs, separated.
• Almonds or almond flour: I prefer making my own almond flour ( see the instructions below), but you can also use store-bought almond flour.
• Sugar: I used fine baking sugar. Granulated sugar also works.
• Butter: You will need room temperature, softened butter.
• Cornstarch and cocoa powder (optional): Added for texture. I explained in details why I like to add these two ingredients in the recipe tips section below. You can easily skip them though.
• Dark chocolate for baking: I used 70% chocolate bars for baking. You can also use chocolate chips

Substitutions

Got raw almonds in your pantry? Most of the time I make own almond flour, similar to hour I make oat flour in my blender. Toast whole almonds at 350F for about 10-15 minutes, stirring once or twice, until lightly golden and fragrant. Let them cool completely, then blend into flour using a blender, coffee grinder or food processor.

Dark Chocolate: If you are making this cake for kids or prefer sweeter desserts, use semi-sweet chocolate instead of dark. You can also use half dark and half milk chocolate for more balanced taste.

Recipe tips before you start

• Do not skip the whipped eggs step. This cake is gluten free, whipped egg whites folded into batter make the cake lighter.
• Why cornstarch and cocoa powder? Since almond flour is naturally gluten-free, I add a little cornstarch and cocoa powder to help the cake set properly and slice cleanly without falling apart. You can simply omit these two if you do not have any on hand.
• Tastes even better the next day. For the best truffle like texture, let the cake cool down completely before slicing, even better if you let it rest overnight.

Step-by-step guided recipe

• Step 1. In a large mixing bowl, cream egg yolks and sugar using electrical mixer.
• Step 2. Melt chocolate until smooth and glossy using double boiler method or in the microwave. If you are using the double boiler, make sure the water does not get into the chocolate. Let the chocolate cool slightly, so it does not cook the eggs.
• Step 3. Mix in melted chocolate into the eggs and butter mix, using elecric mixer on lower speed.
• Step 4. Add almond flour, cocoa powder and corn starch (if using). and orange zest. Mix on low speed until combined.

• Step 5. Clean the mixer whisks and dry them well. In a separate bowl, mix egg whites and the remaining of sugar for about 5-6 minutes or until stiff peaks form.
• Step 6. Carefully, fold in egg whites into the chocolate cake batter, using a spatula.
• Step 7. Spread the cake batter in the round cake pan lined with parchment paper.
• Step 8. Bake it for about 40-45 minutes at 350F or until the top settles. Let the cake cool down for 30-40 minutes before removing it from the pan. After it cools down, remove and let it cool completely on a baking rack.

• Step 9 (optional). Once it cools down, dust the cake with sugar. I had these petty baking stencils that are perfect for this purpose.

Boosting almond flavor tip: If you have been to Italy and tried their almond, you may have noticed they taste more fragrant and flavorful. A simple trick to bring out richer taste in American almonds is to lightly toast them first.

For this cake, you can toast the almond flour for that extra depth of flavor. Spread it in an even layer on a baking sheet and bake at 350F for 5-7 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until lightly golden and fragrant. Let cool completely before adding to the batter.

How to store this almond chocolate cake

• At room temperature: If your home is cool, you can store it for 1-2 days at room temperature.
• Fridge: Because it is made with eggs, butter and a lot of moisture rich ingredients, it is better to store it in the fridge. The longest it lasted at hour fridge was 3 days, and it tasted like fresh. I am confident it can still taste fresh up to 5 days is stored in the fridge in air tight container.
• Freezer: This cake freezes well and can last in the freezer for up to 2 months. It is best to thaw it in the fridge.

Pro tip: let a slice to sit for 15-20 minutes before serving if you store it in the fridge.

If you love chocolate, you'll fall in love with this Italian almond chocolate cake. Let me know what you thin in comments. Enjoy!

Looking for more recipes with chocolate? Try next our chocolate snack cake with jam filling, chocolate loaf with cranberries, or chocolate sponge cake.

📖 Recipe