Continuing with my Passover baking last week, I consulted the chapter of Rose's Heavenly Cakes titled, "Mostly Flourless Cakes and Cheesecakes." I decided to try "Sybil's Pecan Torte with Coffee Cream," a flourless pecan sponge cake topped with coffee-flavored whipped cream. You make the cake batter by whipping together sugar and egg yolks, adding in coffee extract and toasted pecans that have been ground with sugar, and then folding in egg whites that have been whipped with sugar and cream of tartar (which can be omitted if you are strictly following Passover dietary restrictions -- but since I wasn't, I went ahead and added it).
I baked the batter in a 9-inch round, 2.5-inch tall springform pan, and the edges of the cake rose right to the rim of the pan, with the center domed above the rim. The recipe instructs you to bake the cake for 30-40 minutes, or until "the cake is springy to the touch when pressed very lightly in the center." When I checked with cake at 30 minutes, it looked done and the center sprang back when I pressed it. However, I decided to double check the internal temperature of the cake since the recipe also notes that the cake should be 185 degrees when it's done. The cake was still significantly short of that temperature, and I ended up baking it for the full 40 minutes, at which point it registered 183 degrees.
As directed, I cooled the cake still in the pan, upside down, atop a wire rack that I had coated with non-stick spray. Because the cake had risen above the rim of the pan, this meant that the top of the cake was compressed by the weight of the rest of the cake and the pan on top of it, but the non-stick spray prevented any sticking. After the cake was completely cooled, I released it from the pan and the top had sunk a bit. I filled the crater with whipped cream beaten with sugar, flavored with vanilla and coffee extract, and stabilized with a bit of gelatin.
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I loved this torte. The sponge cake was very moist, and had a terrific texture from the ground pecans. Of course, not surprisingly, it also had a wonderful pecan flavor. While the cake portion would be good enough to eat alone, my favorite part of this cake was definitely the coffee cream. I don't know if I am just in love with coffee extract or what (it's also a key flavoring in the chocolate coffee cake with dark chocolate ganache that I love so much), but the sweet delicate cloud of coffee whipped cream was sooo delicious. The coffee flavor in the cream is subtle, but magnificent. And the gelatin did a fantastic job stabilizing the cream -- I was able to leave the torte out for hours at room temperature with no deterioration in the coffee cream.
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Together, the cake and coffee cream are heavenly. The proportions and the flavor balance between the two are just right. This might be a traditional Passover dessert, but there is no reason not to enjoy this outstanding torte all year round!
Recipe: "Sybil's Pecan Torte with Coffee Cream," from Rose's Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum, recipe available here.
I baked the batter in a 9-inch round, 2.5-inch tall springform pan, and the edges of the cake rose right to the rim of the pan, with the center domed above the rim. The recipe instructs you to bake the cake for 30-40 minutes, or until "the cake is springy to the touch when pressed very lightly in the center." When I checked with cake at 30 minutes, it looked done and the center sprang back when I pressed it. However, I decided to double check the internal temperature of the cake since the recipe also notes that the cake should be 185 degrees when it's done. The cake was still significantly short of that temperature, and I ended up baking it for the full 40 minutes, at which point it registered 183 degrees.
As directed, I cooled the cake still in the pan, upside down, atop a wire rack that I had coated with non-stick spray. Because the cake had risen above the rim of the pan, this meant that the top of the cake was compressed by the weight of the rest of the cake and the pan on top of it, but the non-stick spray prevented any sticking. After the cake was completely cooled, I released it from the pan and the top had sunk a bit. I filled the crater with whipped cream beaten with sugar, flavored with vanilla and coffee extract, and stabilized with a bit of gelatin.
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Recipe: "Sybil's Pecan Torte with Coffee Cream," from Rose's Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum, recipe available here.
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