We had a celebration at my church on Sunday, recognizing one of our members joining the small (but mighty) Servant Leadership Team.  When I asked Trish what kind of dessert she’d like to celebrate with, she said she liked chocolate and almonds but left the rest up to me.  After looking through the many magazine cut-outs my mom and I have collected, I found “Chocolate-Almond Torte” from December 2009 edition of Food Network Magazine.  I made a few adjustments since I didn’t want to use the rum that was called for, so I substituted almond and vanilla extracts instead of the rum and orange zest found in the original recipe.

This turned out to be quite a hit!  I even had one person tell me that if she has a choice for her last meal she’d pick this torte!

Chocolate-Almond Torte

Serves 10

Adapted from Food Network Magazine (Dec. 2009)

• 1  1/4 cups blanched, sliced almonds
• 12 Tbsp unsalted butter, diced, plus more for greasing
• 8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 Tbsp breadcrumbs
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, separated
• plus 3 egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1  1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Confectioner’s sugar for garnish

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Toast the almonds on a baking sheet until lightly golden, 6 to 7 minutes.  Cool slightly, then pulse in a food processor until finely ground, but not pasty.

Melt 12 Tbsp butter and the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmer water (making sure the bowl doesn’t actually touch the water).  Stir until chocolate is smooth, then remove from the heat and cool slightly.

Grease the bottom and sides of a 9″ springform pan with butter and coat with the breadcrumbs, tapping out the excess.

Set aside 2 Tbsp sugar.  Combine the 6 egg yolks and the remaining sugar and beat with an electric mixer until thick and pale, about 3 minutes.  Add the extracts and the salt and mix well.  Beat in the cooled chocolate mixture in batches until smooth.  Mix in the ground almonds until just combined.

In a clean bowl, beat the 3 eggs whites with an electric mixer until foamy.  Gradually beat in the reserved 2 Tbsp of sugar on high speed until almost stiff.  Stir one-third of the whites into the chocolate batter, then gently fold in the rest.  Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake until the top is firm and cracked (a toothpick will come out fudgy), 35 to 40 minutes.

Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge of the pan and removing the ring.  Serve warm or at room temperature.