Dense Chocolate Torte

Super rich and chocolatey. Must serve with whipped cream! Chocolate lovers will delight in this fudgy cake.

For the past year I've been collecting recipes to put together for a family cookbook. I wanted to make it more personal, so I had everyone answer a few food related questions to put with their recipes. One question was about your worst kitchen disaster. I originally talked about a gnocchi incident, which I won't elaborate on, but this torte was a bit of a disaster as well.

The method for making this torte was unique and that's what caught my attention. It's not complicated, just different. After the chocolate batter is ready, you pour it into a spring form pan and bake it in a water bath for 45 minutes. Not difficult, I've done it before. Well, after 50 minutes, mine was a soupy mess! I realized that water had leaked through the foil and into the pan and then puddled on the top, preventing the torte from baking. I pulled out the soup goo, drained off the water, restired the contents and then rebaked it. Surprisingly it turned out fine. It setup nicely and tasted super rich and chocolaty as stated in the recipes description.

We have a local restaurant and bakery here in Salt Lake called Red Butte Cafe. They have a dark, dense, fudgy dessert called the "Aztec". They serve it in a crust and sprinkle the top with a cocoa powder design, but the fudgy chocolate filling reminds me of this torte. Same flavor and texture. I would definitely serve this chocolate cake with whipped cream. It needs it to cut down on the richness. This is a fabulously, indulgent dessert for choco-holic fans.

Recipe: Gourmet Magazine, February 2009

Finely chopping the two different kinds of chocolate took a bit of time

Torte, fresh out of the oven
The torte needs to chill for 8 hours. At this point, it had chilled for three hours and was still soft.

A little cocoa powder sprinkled on top is a nice touch.Gourmet Magazine, February 2009

Up Next: Sour Cream Crumb Cake