This is the kind of dessert that goes perfectly with espresso. It is neither a cake or a brownie.  It is an intense dark chocolate tart with the crunch of almonds, inspired by the island of Capri and its famous “torta”.  It owes its place in my kitchen journals because of the simplicity of its ingredients and the roasted richness of its flavor.

Ingredients

• 200 grams of dark baking chocolate with 70% cacao*
• 200 grams of almonds
• 175 grams of unsalted organic butter
• 125 grams of local honey
• 4 organic eggs
• the zest and juice of an orange
• cocoa for dusting

Melt the dark baking chocolate in a stainless steel bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir the butter and honey through the melted chocolate until the ingredients shine like satin. Remove the bowl from the pan of water to cool slightly. Preheat the oven at 170 degrees.  Place the almonds on a baking tray and roast them ten minutes. Cover the bottom and sides of a small spring form with baking paper,  about 22 centimeters in width and 6,5  centimeters in height.

Meanwhile grind the roasted almonds into a fine powder and put them in a mixing bowl. Wash the orange and grate its perfumed outer layer into threads with a citrus zester. Cut the orange in half and squeeze its juices over the ground almonds. Add the orange zest.

Crack four eggs and mix them well through the ground almonds.  Fold the melted chocolate with a spatula into the almond-orange mixture, making sure that not a drop of chocolate stays in the bowl. Pour the batter into the prepared spring form. Bake the chocolate almond tart at 170 degrees in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes. The tart is ready when the outside edges have started to come clean from the pan and the middle is soft to the touch, with a slight crust.  As the tart cools the middle will set, making it possible to cut into beautiful dark chocolate slices.

Put the cake on a plate and dust it with pure cocoa. Serve the chocolate tart for dessert with fresh red fruit, preferably raspberries. For a special treat, top the tart with mascarpone and vanilla.

♦  Suggested combinations
For a rich birthday tart, make a glaze of  50 grams of melted chocolate with 50 grams of honey and  25 grams of butter and pour it over the tart before dusting it with cocoa. 

Allow the tart to cool before cutting it into small squares and serve it like a brownie on a summer picnic in the park with fresh cherries.

In the winter, sprinkle the tart with pomegranate seeds or dried fig marmalade. 

♦  Notes
This tart keeps well for three days when wrapped up tightly in baking paper.

* Chocolate made of 85% can be used for this recipe as well. Its flavor is deeper and tastes of roasted coffee.  This darkest of chocolate is also considered bitter by some.  Add 25 grams of honey and 25 grams of butter to the tart recipe when using chocolate with such a high percentage of cocoa solids. 

* Of special interest: coconut oil can be substituted for butter. The tart then becomes a chocolate . coconut  . almond tart.