Chocolate Cake with Lemon (Italian Torta Caprese)

italian-tortacaprese2 One of my favourite desserts ever is a torta caprese. It's a quintessential flourless cake (made with almond flour - so it's gluten free.) from the island of Capri, made traditionally with bittersweet or dark chocolate. That said, I might enjoy this lemon torta caprese version even more. In Italy, you'll sometimes see a version of the torta caprese made with white chocolate - and sometimes, like in this recipe, with a bit of lemon as well. It's much less rich than the classic chocolate version, and I find it to be the most perfect bite with coffee or tea in the afternoon. This cake is great eaten when it's just cooled out of the oven, but it's also delicious when you let it chill overnight in the fridge.

¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter
6 oz white chocolate, chopped
5 eggs, divided
¼ tsp. sea salt
⅔ cup sugar
1½ cups almond flour
¼ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed (from 2 lemons)
4 tsp. lemon zest, freshly grated (from 4 lemons)

Place the butter and chocolate in the top of a double boiler and melt until smooth. Cool slightly until just warm to the touch.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C/160°C fan, Gas Mark 4). Butter the inside of a 9" spring form pan.

Place the egg whites in a medium bowl with the salt. Place the yolks in a slightly larger bowl with the sugar. Using a handheld mixer beat the whites on medium speed until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes.

Transfer the mixer to the yolk bowl and beat on medium speed until light, pale and fluffy, about 1½ minutes. Using a rubber spatula, stir the chocolate mixture, almond flour, lemon juice and lemon zest into the yolks.

In 2 batches, fold the whipped whites into the chocolate base. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until puffed, golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs.

Cool completely on a wire rack. When cool, run a thin knife around the edge of the pan to release the cake. Remove the outside ring and dust the top with confectioners' sugar. Serve with soft whipped cream if desired.

Makes 10 servings.