Dessert: Chocolate Toasted Almond Torte

Recipe by Melissa Roberts Rich with chocolate and studded with bits of toasted almonds with a faint coconut flavor, this heavenly dessert is a special finish to a holiday meal. Because the leavening comes from aeration, it is essential that the ingredien

Ingredients

Vegetable oil for greasing pan
1 cup blanched almonds (5 ounces)
8 ounces fine quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
5 large eggs, separated, at room temperature for 30 minutes
2/3 cup well-stirred coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup matzoh cake meal
2 tablespoons potato starch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 °F with rack positioned in middle.
Grease spring-form pan and line bottom and sides with parchment (greasing pan will help parchment stick).
Arrange almonds in a shallow baking pan and toast in oven until deep golden in color, about 15 minutes. Cool completely. Reduce oven temperature to 325 °F.
While nuts cool, place chocolate in a heatproof bowl and melt over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally. Cool chocolate to warm.
Place cooled almonds with matzoh cake meal, potato starch and salt in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. (Be careful not to grind to a paste.)
Whisk yolks, coconut milk, and vanilla into chocolate until smooth, then whisk in half of almond mixture until combined (mixture will be slightly grainy).
Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer at medium speed until they just hold soft peaks. Increase speed to medium high and add sugar in a slow steady stream, beating, until whites hold stiff glossy peaks.
Fold one third of whites into chocolate mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly.
Sprinkle remaining almond mixture over the top and fold in gently but thoroughly until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake until cake is firm to the touch and begins to pull away from sides (center will appear moist but will set once cool), 45 to 50 minutes.
Transfer to a rack and cool 30 minutes, then remove sides of spring-form and parchment and cool completely. Invert cake on rack and remove bottom and parchment, then reinvert cake onto a serving plate.

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