Chocolate Amaretti Cake
I got the recipe from Giada De Laurentiis’ Everyday Italian. According to her, Amaretti means “little bitters” but it commonly refers to light, airy, crunchy, dome-shaped almond cookies. These cookies were used in this cake.
For the cake, you will need:
- 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup slivered almonds
- 1 cup (about 2 oz) amaretti cookies
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
- 4 large eggs
- unsweetened cocoa powder for garnish
Procedure:
1) Heat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-inch springform pan with non-stick spray.
2) Microwave chocolate chips in a bowl, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth.
3) Put almonds and cookies in a food processor; pulse until finely ground. Transfer to a bowl. Put sugar, butter and orange zest in processor; process until smooth and creamy. With machine running, add eggs one at a time. Add almond mixture and melted chocolate; pulse until blended. Scrape into prepared pan.
4) Make 35 minutes, or until top is firm and slightly cracked around the edges and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes before removing pan sides and cooling completely. Dust cake with cocoa stirred through a strainer.
Note: If you can’t find amaretti cookies, you can substitute 1 cup ladyfinger cookies and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract.
