I decided to try this recipe for the first time when I was asked to bring a dessert to a Memorial Day party. The host was recently put on a wheat-free and gluten-free diet so I my usual desserts were not going to be put to use.
This recipe is from my favorite dessert cookbook: Classic Home Desserts by Richard Sax. This is dairy-free and wheat-free. It is pareve and was said to be a good Passover recipe.
This dessert was suggested to be served with confectioner’s sugar sprinkled on top. Although it is delicious, it’s a bit plain. If you want to kick it up I suggest serving with fresh berries such as raspberries or strawberries. If you don’t care about it being low-fat or low-calorie or dairy-free, serve it with homemade whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Thanks to the cognac, the dessert is rich. It takes like a brownie but fancier. My kids swore they could not taste the walnuts or almonds (they claim to not like nuts) – they loved this.
You can substitute the vegetable oil for a non-strong tasting oil of your choice. If you are into the recent trend of baking with coconut oil, give it a try.
Low-Fat Chocolate Nut Torte
9 inch springform pan
½ cup walnut pieces
½ cup whole almonds
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (or cacao powder)
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp cognac or dark rum (optional)
8 large egg whites
Pinch salt
Confectioner’s sugar: sifted, for sprinkling
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. When heated, put nuts in a pan and toast 10 minutes, until fragrant. Remove nuts. Leave oven on.
2. Spray oil the pan or oil the pan by hand with the oil of your choice. Put confectioner’s sugar in pan and shake to coat then dump out excess sugar.
3. Put nuts into food processor with ¼ cup sugar. Process until it is a fine meal but not until it turns oily.
4. In a bowl put the ¾ cup sugar, cocoa powder, oil and cognac and stir by hand to mix until thoroughly combined. This forms a thick paste.
5. Put egg whites and salt in bowl of stand up mixer and beat until almost stiff.
6. Put ¼ of the egg whites into the bowl with the other ingredients and thoroughly mix by hand.Then fold in the rest of the egg whites until it is combined well. Do not overmix.
7. Put batter in springform pan. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. When done, it should be nearly set and wobbly in center.
8. Remove from oven and let cool in pan 15 minutes.
9. Run a knife along the sides then release the sides of the pan.
10. Sprinkle sugar on top.
11. Cool to room temperature to serve. Add more sugar on top at serving time if needed.