Baking

Well, the baking of the birthday cake is underway.

I have never made a torte, so when I came across a recipe for Chocolate and Ginger Torte, I thought this would be a good time to try it. If it comes out well, I'll make a ganache tomorrow to coat it. Of course, this being me, the cake isn't being made to the highest of standards. For one thing, I couldn't find 'stem ginger' to save myself; I put in an arbitrary amount of ground ginger. The eggs never did make peaks; that only happens, in my experience, with a power whisk, and my only bowl for the stand beater was holding the chocolate, flour, and butter. C'est la vie -- I did it by hand, sue me. The final batter is pretty tasty, though -- could almost be brownie batter.

chocolate & ginger torte

5 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 stick butter
3 extra-large eggs, separated
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 pieces of stem ginger in syrup, chopped
generous 1/4 cup superfine sugar
unsweetened cocoa powder, to dust
heavy cream, to serve

Heat oven to 325°F
Grease an 8-in round springform cake pan and line its base with waxed paper.
Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water.
Heat until melted.
Remove from the heat and cool for about 10 minutes.
Beat in the egg yolks, then sift the flour over the top and fold in, along with the chopped ginger.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy, then whisk in the sugar, 1 tbsp. at a time, until peaks are formed.
Fold egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then pour into the prepared cake pan.
Bake for about 25 minutes until firm to the touch, but still slightly soft in the center.
Let cool completely in the pan.

To serve, remove the cake from the pan, and dust with cocoa powder.
Serve in wedges with heavy cream poured on top.