February is the month of love, so it’s the time to truly appreciate the health benefits of chocolate. And making a chocolate torte is a great start to a delicious month.
Would you believe that chocolates, especially dark chocolates, are beneficial in moderation? The flavonoids found in cocoa beans are high in antioxidants and can influence vascular health such as lowering blood pressure and improving blood flow to the brain and heart. When you consume dark chocolate — less processed than milk chocolate (and more acidic) — the beneficial flavanols are not lost through fermentation, alkalizing, roasting. etc.
Ingredients
- 15 oz. 70% dark chocolate, chopped – we recommend Theo Chocolate (takes two bars, be adventurous, try different flavors)
- 1/2 cup of soft, unsalted butter (plus some for coating pan)
- 5 room temperature eggs, separated
- 2 drops lemon juice
- 2 tbs. granulated sugar (plus some for coating pan)
Directions
- Preheat to 325 degrees F. Place jelly roll pan filled with water on bottom rack. Grease a 9” springform pan with butter on the bottom and sides. Cut a round of parchment paper to fit your pan and place in the bottom. Dust the sides of the pan with sugar, it will stick to the butter.
- Beat your egg yolks a bit with a whisk until they start to foam a little. In a separate large DRY bowl, add your egg whites and 2 drops of lemon juice. Beat with a whisk or hand mixer until it becomes foamy, then gradually add the 2 tbs. sugar as you continue to beat to stiff peaks.
- Melt the chocolate in a double boiler on med-low heat, melt chocolate and butter together. Stir pretty constantly as soon as the chocolate shows signs of melting. When completely melted, take off heat and whisk in egg yolks.
- Fold about half of egg whites into the chocolate to “loosen” it up a bit, and then gently fold all of the chocolate back into the big bowl of egg whites. Fold until it just blends together.
- Pour into springform pan, smooth out with a spatula, and tap to get rid of any air bubbles, then bake in the oven on middle rack for 40 min.
- Take out and cool on a cooling rack. Eat or refrigerate overnight.