Chocolate Almond Torte : Free And Easy Bake-Along #4

For our Bake-Along, together with my baking buddies, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids, we have decided to bake Chocolate Almond Torte from Joy of Baking. I actually baked this twice! The first time, I burned the top, as the temperature of my oven is a little high, I may have forgotten to adjust the temperature from my last baking! Even though the torte was lovely, it is just not the same, eating it by scraping off the top! After all, the rustic and crisp top is what makes this torte. I was dissatisfied and decided to bake this again. 

It was perfect the second time round. Excuse this poor photo, it was taken at 5.20 in the morning, you know, still groggy from sleep and barely awake, as I have not had my "wake-up coffee" yet! By the time it was bright enough for some decent shots, more than half the cake has already gone, my daughter took some to school to share with her friends. This cake will rise above the baking pan during baking, but will settle down after baking, leaving a crater like top that remains crips, and some cracks.

Do not worry that the crips top falls apart upon cutting, it is supposed to be like that! Just put it back in place. 

Though this is great when eaten at room temperature, it is heavenly when eaten chill from the fridge. When chilled, the texture is fudgy, chocolaty, moist and dense. A bite of it will almost melt in your mouth!

This is a delicious chocolate torte. If you are a chocolate lover, you will definitely enjoy this.

Let's hop over to Lena's and Zoe's and see their lovely cake. For our next bake-along,  we will be baking "Super-Delicious Wholewheat Carrot Cake" from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman, and will be posting that on 18/07. Stay tuned for that!

This lovely Torte is shared with :
Bake With Bizzy at Bizzy B. Bakes
Full Plate Thursdays at Miz Helen's Country Cottage
Recipe Swap Thursdays at Prairie Story
Sweet Tooth Friday at Alli n Son

Chocolate Almond Torte
(source from : Joy of Baking)
7 ounces (200gm) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
11 tablespoons (150gm) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup (150gm) granulated white sugar, divided (I use 120gm)
4 large eggs, separated
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (100gm) finely ground almonds (Ground 1 cup (100gm) of blanched or sliced toasted almonds in your food processor)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place oven rack in the middle of the oven. Place the sliced or blanched almonds on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 5-7 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Remove from oven and let cool. Once completely cooled, place the nuts in a blender of small food processor and process until finely ground.


Note : The almond needs to be at room temperature before grinding to prevent them from clumping. If you find the almonds still clump when you ground them, add about 1 tablespoon (13 grams) of the sugar from the recipe. The sugar will help prevent clumping as it absorbs any oil exuded from the almonds.


Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and line an 8 inch (20cm) sprinform pan with parchment paper. Set aside.


Separate the cold eggs, placing the egg yolks in one bowl and the egg whites in another. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand until they reach room temperature (about 30 minutes).


Melt the chopped chocolate and butter in a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Once melted, remove from heat.


Meanwhile place the egg yolks and 1/2 cup (100 gms) granulated white sugar in the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachement. Cream the yolks and sugar until pale and thick (about 2 to 3 minutes). Beat in the melted chocolate mixture and vanilla extract. Fold in the ground almonds.


In a clean bowl, place the egg whites and whisk until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue whisking until soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle in the remaining 1/4 cup (50gm) sugar and whisk until stiff peak forms. Fold about 1/4 of the whites into the chocolate batter to lighten it. Quickly fold in the rest of the whites and mix only until incorporated.


Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake has a few moist crumbs. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. The cake will rise during baking but falls during cooling, leaving a crisp and cracked crust. Once cool, run a spatula around the inside of the pan before releasing the sides. If not serving immediately, cover and place in the refrigerator. Serve cold or at room temperature. Dust with powdered (icing or confectioners) sugar.


(my notes : I did end up baking it a little longer that the time specified, about 15-20  minutes more as the insides are not cooked yet, so watch out for the baking time)

Baked Eggs and Soldiers

A simple, easy, tasty and delicious snack. Ideal as a weekend brunch, breakfast or a light lunch. Made this for my kids' after school meal, with a glass of cold orange juice. Really quick to put together, they thoroughly enjoyed it. I got this recipe from Rachel's Favourite Food At Home by Rachel Allen.

This will definitely be a favourite among children, as almost all children love eggs!

I spread some butter on the bread before toasting it, not the other way round as I prefer it that way. What about you? Butter, then toast? Or Toast, then butter?  :)

The next time, I'll use some homemade garlic butter and herb butter instead. 

I love lots of white pepper powder in my eggs! 

I'm sharing this with Cookbook Sunday over at Mom's Sunday Cafe. Don't forget to share and link your post on any dish or bakes from any of your cookbook with Cookbook Sunday!


Baked Eggs and Soldiers
(adapted from "Rachel's Favourite Food At Home" by Rachel Allen)
Serves 6
6 eggs
6 tbsp single cream (I use double cream)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
15gm (1/2 oz) butter, divided into 6 knobs
Bread, for toasting


Preheat the oven to 160C (325F), gas mark 3. Bring the kettle to the boil.

Break each of the eggs into a ramekin dish, add 1 tablespoon of cream to each and then top with a knob of butter and a pinch of salt and pepper. Place the ramekins in a roasting tin, pour boiling water into the tray so that it comes about halfway up the sides of the dishes and place carefully into the preheated oven. Bake the eggs for 10 minutes or until the eggs are almost set.

Toast some bread until golden, butter it and cut into soldiers (fingers). Serve the baked eggs with hot buttered soldiers on the side.

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"Choo-choo Train" Birthday Cake

Ask any kid what they would like to have for dinner, the answer is most likely one of those fast food. I asked my son what he wants for dinner and he immediately said "PIZZA"! I knew he would say that! Since yesterday was my son's birthday, he got his wish. We went to Pizzahut for dinner. After that, we had his birthday cake at home.

Made him this "Choo-choo Train" birthday cake which was taken from Betty Crocker's "The Big Book of Cupcakes" and they called this "Snow-capped Gingerbread Train". Since mine is not as beautiful as the one in the book, I'll just name it "Choo-choo Train" birthday cake!  :) 

I just made the basic chocolate cupcake instead of the gingerbread cupcake. The frosting is Cream Cheese frosting. The decorations I used are Smarties, gummy sweets, marshmallows, pretzels sticks for the joining of the wheels and cheezels for the rims of the wheels.

He was happy with his birthday cake. Guess what he reached for first as soon as he has blown the candles? Marshmallows !

My baby is 9 years old! And next year there will be two numbers to his age! Oh my, we are getting older too!   : o)

Chocolate Cupcakes
(adapted from "The Big Book of Cupcakes" by Betty Crocker)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup hot water
2/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
3/4 cup shortening
1-1/2 cups sugar (I use 180gm)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Heat oven to 350F. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. (I got exactly 8 regular muffin size and 12 mini cupcakes).
2. In medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder, set aside. In small bowl, mix hot water and cocoa until dissolved; set aside.
3. In large bowl, beat shortening with electric mixer on medium speed 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping bowl occasionally. Beat 2 minutes longer. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. On low speed, alternately add flour mixture, about 1/3 of mixture at a time, and cocoa mixture, about 1/2 at a time, beating just until blended.
4. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.
5. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pans; place on cooling racks to cool. Frost with desired frosting.

(For regular size, bake for 20-25 minutes and for mini size, bake for 12 to 16 minutes)

Cream Cheese Frosting 

1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 to 3 teaspoons milk

4 cups powdered sugar (I use about 3 cups)

1. In large bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla and 2 teaspoons of the milk with electric mixer on low speed until smooth, beat in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time.
2. Gradually beat in just enough remaining milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too thick, beat in more milk, a few drops at a time. If frosting is too thin, beat in a small amount of powdered sugar.
3. Leftover frosting can be tightly covered and refrigerated up top 5 days or frozen up to 1 month. Let stand 30 minutes at room temperature to soften; stir before using. Frosts 24 cupcakes (about 2-1/2 cups).

Decorations :

Assorted candies (such as candy-coated chocolate pieces, round chewy caramels in milk chocolate, chewy fruit snacks, licorice twists, hard round peppermint candies, fruit-flavoured ring-shaped hard candles and gumdrops)

Pretzel sticks

Sample-size cones

To Assemble Train :

Make Cream Cheese Frosting, reserve 1/2 cup frosting for decorating. Frost cupcakes with remaining frosting leaving one regular size cupcake unfrosted. Place 5 regular cupcakes on serving platter. Cut unfrosted cupcake in half; place upside down at front of train as shown. Attach mini cupcakes to both sides of train with frosting and connect with pretzel sticks. Add additional cupcakes to front and back of train as shown. Decorate with candies, pretzel sticks and cone, as desired (attaching with frosting as needed).