Nowadays, we look forward to enjoying quiet moments with family or friends, whether it's over a nice dinner or for coffee and cake. Personally, I always feel happy when I have a delicious piece of chocolate cake (just like I do with pasta). Eating chocolate can instantly lift our mood; it triggers the release of chemicals in our brains that bring us joy. This is because chocolate contains endorphins, which are natural substances that make us feel happy. Here are a few recipes for your Happiness Cake or "Torta di Felicità": Crostata Tart with Dark Orange Ganache; Torta al Cioccolato e Mascarpone - Dark Mascarpone Cake and the Torta Stracciatella - The Stracciatella Cake.
Crostata con ganache fondente all'arancia - Tart with dark orange ganache
The tart with dark orange ganache is a truly delicious dessert. A shortcrust pastry shell encloses a sinful dark chocolate ganache flavored with orange and decorated with orange slices, chopped almonds and anise stars. A dessert that will make all chocolate lovers rejoice, perfect as a birthday cake, a tasty dessert for a snack or breakfast and whenever the desire for sweet temptations arises.
Ingredients:
For the Short Pastry Base: 200g flour; 130g soft butter; 110g almond flour; 80g sugar; 60g egg; 1 yolk; 1 anise star
For the Ganache: 300g dark chocolate; 300g fresh cream; 1 orange. To Complete: orange; almonds; star anise
Preparation:
Step 1: Mix the flours with the butter, sugar, egg and yolk, add the crushed anise seeds and knead everything until you obtain a soft dough. Wrap it in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Step 2: Then roll it out to a thickness of 4 mm and line a square tart mold (22 cm) with it; trim the dough at the edges and place the mold in the refrigerator for another 20 minutes.
Step 3: Then prick the bottom with a fork, cover it with a sheet of baking paper, fill with dried beans or with the appropriate beads for plain cooking.
Step 4: Bake the cake at 180°C for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, remove the beans and paper and leave to cool.
Step 5: Bring the cream to the boil with the grated zest of 1/2 orange. Pour it over the chopped chocolate. Mix well, until you obtain a smooth and shiny cream. Add 30-40 g of orange juice and mix again.
Step 6: Pour the orange ganache into the shortcrust pastry shell and leave the tart to cool in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
Step 7: Decorate the cake with orange slices, chopped almonds and anise stars.
Torta al cioccolato e mascarpone - Dark Mascarpone Cake
The combination with Mascarpone makes this Chocolate Marscarpone Tart lighter but still very chocolately and tempting. It's impossible to resist such a delicious temptation, a dessert that couldn't be more "chocolaty"! Discover the easy to prepare recipe for the Dark Mascarpone cake.
Ingredients:
For the cake: 250 g mascarpone; 200g 65-70% dark chocolate; 70g icing sugar; 40g flour; 4 pcs eggs; salt; butter. For the garnish: 100g dark chocolate; 50g butter
Preparation:
Step 1: For the dark mascarpone cake recipe, melt the chocolate (in a bain-marie or in the microwave) and let it cool; work the mascarpone with the whisk to make it creamy, then add the chocolate, then the icing sugar, a pinch of salt and the eggs, mixing them completely one at a time; at the end add the flour.
Step 2: Transfer the mixture into a buttered mold (ø 20 cm) and cook in a fan oven at 160°C for approximately 25 minutes.
Step 3: Melt the butter with the chocolate in a bain-marie or in the microwave; mix the mixture, wait for it to thicken and spread it over the cake. Worth knowing The goodness of this dessert lies in the chocolate: choose high quality chocolate.
Torta Stracciatella - The Stracciatella Cake
The term ‘stracciatella’ is a diminutive of the Italian word “straccia,” which means “rag” or “shred,” thus translating to “a little shred.” In Italy, stracciatella has a few culinary interpretations. It is most commonly known as a type of soup that includes beaten egg stirred into it, which is delicious! Additionally, stracciatella refers to a kind of gelato that is similar to chocolate chip but typically features smaller, more evenly distributed chocolate shavings. This gives it a smooth, delicate texture with a crunchy bite.
Ingredients:
150 g of 00 flour; 20 g of bitter cocoa; 150 g of sugar; 2 eggs; 100 ml milk (half a glass); 60 g of seed oil; 8 g of baking powder (half a sachet); 0.5 g of vanillin (1 sachet); 250g of mascarpone; 250 ml of fresh cream; 30 g of icing sugar (2 tablespoons) + to taste to decorate; 100 g of condensed milk; 70 g of chocolate chips
Preparation:
Sift all the powders: flour, bitter cocoa, baking powder and vanillin. Mix well and set aside.
In a large bowl, break the eggs and add the sugar. Beat with an electric mixer for a couple of minutes until the mixture becomes very frothy. Add the oil, the milk and work again with the mixer until they are integrated into the mixture.
Incorporate the previously prepared powders using a spatula or the electric mixer at minimum speed.
Transfer the dough into a buttered and floured 22cm springform pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes. While the cake is cooking, place the cream, mascarpone, icing sugar and condensed milk in a large bowl.
Work with an electric mixer until you obtain a smooth, firm and well-whipped cream. Add the chocolate chips and mix with a spoon to distribute them evenly. Once the cake is cooked, remove it from the mold and let it cool completely.
Cut the cake in half with a long-bladed knife to obtain two discs. Using the ring of the springform pan, lined with baking paper, place the first cake disc on the bottom. Fill with the stracciatella cream, leveling it with a spoon. Cover with the other cake disc, applying light pressure to level the cream well. Leave the cake to rest in the fridge for at least 4-5 hours.
Once cooled, remove the ring and baking paper. If the cream on the edges is uneven, smooth it with a heated knife.
Decorate the cake with strips of cardboard to create a striped pattern, then dust with plenty of icing sugar. Gently remove the paper strips to reveal the decorative pattern.
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