• Chocolate Torte

  Filed under dessert - cakes/cupcakes
  Mar 30
  
  I always love it when I have the opportunity to bake. I don’t bake very much at home these days, seeing that there is just the two of us, and we can’t (nor should we!) eat a whole cake ourselves. I used to bake all of the time – share with roommates, co-workers, family, but these days, a cake is pretty rare.

  It was a co-worker’s last day today, so we were throwing a shin-dig, and I volunteered to bring a cake because I have been dying to try this chocolate torte recipe I ran across. I have never made a “torte” (a cake with many layers) and the frosting on this just sounded divine. So I used this chance to make my torte. I think it was a big success. Everyone that ate some complimented me, and I was even able to manage a small slice to try out. The cake portion is just a plain old cake mix (sometimes I love to take a shortcut) but any chocolate cake recipe would work just fine. My biggest complaint about this cake had to do with my abilities, not so much with the recipe. I made the two cake layers, which I later cut into two – forming the four cake layers. I just wish that I knew how to make the layers more uniform. Once you sliced into the cake, you could tell where the layer with the rounded top of the cake was. I was worried about this when I was putting it together, and thought about cutting the top off to make it level, but that wouldn’t leave as much cake. Hmmmm, dilemma. If anyone out there is a cake baker – the solution to this would be welcome!!!

  My other trick that I just learned – although it is probably well known out in the cooking world – is a great trick to making the chocolate curls to adorn the cake. I heard years ago to use a vegetable peeler, but when I tried that, all I got was chocolate powder. I read (in the reviews on allrecipes.com) to heat the chocolate in the microwave for a few seconds before trying for the curls. It worked magic!!
  
  Anyway, the recipe is listed below. It can also be found at one of my favorite places for recipes – allrecipes.com. Credit goes to Erica L. Drapela. I definitely would make this again!!

  Chocolate Torte
  Serves 24

  1 pkg chocolate cake mix
  1 cup heavy whipping cream
  1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
  2/3 c packed brown sugar
  1 t vanilla extract
  1 oz square unsweetened chocolate
  
  1. Prepare and bake chocolate cake as directed on package. Bake in 2 – 9 inch round pans. Allow cakes to cool. When cakes are cool, cut each one in half with a long serrated knife, making four layers.
  2. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, brown sugar, and vanilla. Beat until soft.
  3. In a separate bowl, whip cream to soft peaks, then fold into cream cheese mixture.
  4. Place the bottom layer of cake on the serving plate. Spread 1/4 of the filing on cake layer, then continue to stack up layers with 1/4 of the filling on each layer. Finish top with the final 1/4 of filling and grate the chocolate on top. Refrigerate for 6 hours before serving.

  **Changes I made to the recipe**

  I doubled the frosting. I wanted to be able to frost the whole cake. Double was a little too much, but it was so good that 1 1/2 probably wouldn’t have been enough because I ate so much while I was making it!

  I also used milk chocolate for the garnish, but just because I am a milk chocolate fan!!
  

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  3 Comments

3 Responses to “Chocolate Torte”

1. 

   Arfi Binsted said on April 23rd, 2007 at 8:48 am

   It looks delicious, Deborah!

   [Reply]

2. 

   Gwen said on June 25th, 2007 at 11:10 pm

   Seems sort of silly to leave a comment on a post this long after the fact but… you asked about ways to keep a cake more level and no one else has answered so I’ll take a stab at it. My favorite cake pans for a level cake are cushionair or any of the other brands of insulated pans. They really do help. However, they don’t come in a lot of sizes and are a bit pricey so a more versatile and cheaper solution is cake strips, or bake even strips or even bake strips… they have a lot of names. You can find them at stores that carry cake decorating supplies. They are fabric strips that you soak in water first and then wrap around the cake pans. I find that the strips or insulated pans work well and for most family and friend cake baking the cake is plenty level. If I am doing a cake for something touchy, like a wedding, using the strips means I don’t have to trim as much. There are a bunch of gadgets and tricks for cutting level layers too but that’s a whole ‘nother post and this one is long enough.

   [Reply]

3. The Daring Bakers – March – And My Blog Birthday! | said on April 29th, 2012 at 10:21 pm

   [...] was going to remake the cake I made for my first post for my birthday post, but the Daring Bakers posting date just happened to [...]

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