Torta Tenerina (Italian Flourless Chocolate Cake) - The Floured Table (2024)

Torta tenerina is a flourless chocolate cake that could be considered Italy's version of a decadent brownie. With only 6 simple ingredients, this tender chocolate cake is so easy to make! It has a beautiful crackly meringue-like top and a rich, moist interior. Enjoy it plain with a dusting of powdered sugar or serve with whipped cream or mascarpone.

I stumbled upon this delicious chocolate cake when I was researching alternative starches for my torta paradiso (Italian paradise cake) recipe. That cake includes a fair amount of potato starch in the batter to provide an extra light crumb and tenderness. Corn starch is another common replacement. Reading about the use of starches as substitutes for all or a portion of the flour in a recipe, I discovered the dark and dramatic torta tenerina.

Torta tenerina, or "tender cake" in Italian, is a juxtaposition of textures, with a light crust and a more dense interior. It's a flourless chocolate cake, which renders it gluten free. Due to the addition of corn starch, it's not as heavy and rich as some flourless chocolate cakes. It's somewhat lighter - I'd call it a marriage of a moist chocolate cake, a brownie, and a rich flourless chocolate torte.

The chocolate flavor comes through with intensity, which is what I'm always looking for in a chocolate dessert. If you're a chocolate lover, this will most definitely satisfy. That said, if you're looking for a super gooey, fudgy recipe, I recommend you try my brownies with port wine soaked cherries instead.

This cake is fit for a queen - truly! It was first made by pastry chefs in Ferrara, Italy in the early part of the 20th century. They created it to honor the new wife of Italian King Vittorio Emanuele III, Elena Petrovich, who was from the Balkan country of Montenegro. For this reason, the cake is sometimes referred to as Torta Montenegrina. It was tender and sweet, just like the new queen.

Ingredients

• Dark chocolate - Use a good quality dark chocolate bar with around 70% cocoa. Mine had 72%. The chocolate flavor is key here, so choose something that you'd enjoy eating plain.
• Unsalted butter - Using unsalted butter allows you to control the total amount of salt in the recipe. With salted butter, brands use different amounts of salt, so you're never sure where you're starting with salt quantity. Make sure your butter is at room temperature.
• Eggs - Use large eggs. Separate the yolks and whites and bring them to room temperature. (I find it's easier to separate the eggs while cold, and then leave them for an hour to reach room temperature).
• Granulated sugar - Separate the sugar into two equal 75 gram portions. You'll add half the sugar to the egg yolks, and the other half to the egg whites.
• Corn starch - Torta tenerina uses corn starch in place of flour to bind the ingredients and create a tender texture. See substitutions for notes on alternatives.
• Kosher salt - For added flavor.

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius, Gas mark 4) and line the base and sides of a 9 inch (23 centimeter) pan with parchment paper.

Step 2: Melt chopped chocolate in the top of a double boiler (or a heatproof glass or metal bowl that fits snugly over a small pot of simmering water), stirring frequently. Once chocolate is melted, add butter and stir until fully melted. Remove from heat to cool down while beating the egg yolks and sugar.

Step 3: To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add egg yolks and half of granulated sugar. Beat at low speed until sugar is incorporated, and then increase speed to medium high for 3-5 minutes, until mixture reaches the ribbon stage. It should be very pale, thick, and doubled in volume. When you lift up the whisk, the mixture should fall down in a "ribbon" without breaking. See here for more cues on ribbon stage.

Step 4: Once chocolate mixture has cooled somewhat, add to egg mixture and mix until incorporated. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a spatula.

Step 5: Add corn starch and salt. Mix until incorporated.

Step 6: To the (completely clean and grease free) bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add egg whites. Beat on low until foamy. Slowly pour in remaining sugar. Beat the egg whites on medium speed until they have reached firm peaks. (When lifting the whisk out of the egg whites, a peak will form but tip to the side).

Step 7: Scoop ⅓ of the egg whites into the chocolate batter and use a spatula to gently fold them into until only a few streaks remain. Add remaining egg whites in two further stages. Gently fold in using the minimum amount of strokes necessary.

Step 8: Pour batter into prepared pan and gently level with a spatula.

Step 9: Bake for 23-27 minutes, until center of cake is just set, and a crust has formed over the top. If you test the center of the cake, it should still be moist. Set on a rack to cool. Remove springform edge. Cake will sink (and top may crack a bit) as it cools. This is fine and expected!

Step 10. Once cool, use a small sieve to sprinkle powdered sugar over the top of the cake. Serve plain or with whipped cream, mascarpone or fresh berries (raspberries, blackberries, etc.).

Hint: It will be much easier to fold the egg whites into the chocolate batter if the chocolate mixture has not begun to cool all the way and set up too much. Work promptly through the steps to ensure the chocolate mixture is still soft.

Substitutions

This tenerina cake doesn't contain any flour, so it's completely gluten free. Corn starch is naturally gluten free, but to be extra sure, make sure your corn starch is produced in a gluten-free facility.

• Corn starch - You can replace the corn starch with an equal amount of unmodified potato starch. Make sure it's potato starch, not potato flour. Potato flour is made from the whole potato, rather than just the liquid from crushed potatoes, and has a potato flavor and much more rustic consistency.

Variations

• Espresso - Add a tablespoon of instant espresso powder to the melted chocolate and butter mixture for a rich coffee flavor.
• Extra dark chocolate - Dust the finished cake with a bit of cocoa powder rather than powdered sugar for an extra dark chocolate kick.
• Orange - Add the zest of a large orange to the batter after beating the eggs and sugar together.

Equipment

Use a 9 inch (23 centimeter) springform pan for best results. The cake is too fragile to invert and flip over onto a platter. Use a springform pan in order to easily remove the sides.

Parchment paper for lining the base and sides of the springform pan. One roll of this 15 inch x 164 foot (38 centimeter x 50 meter) non-stick paper lasts a LONG time! If you can purchase it in the store at Costco, the price is often a bit better.

Storage

Store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

To freeze, wrap the cake in plastic wrap and place in an airtight container. Freeze for up to 3 months. To defrost, unwrap cake and set on a platter to defrost at room temperature.

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