TWD - 15 Minute Magic: Chocolate Amaretti Torte

I have noticed that I keep miniaturizing the pies and cakes I"ve been baking lately.  That, and I tend to also double or triple the recipes.  I am guessing my reasoning (if I have any) is that if I make them small, they're easy to give away (and I won't eat them all), and as long as I double or triple the recipe, I'll have ENOUGH small cakes and things to make sure some of the neighbors, family, and so on all get a sample.

Eventually I'll be running up and down the streets of the neighborhood, handing out miniature things to all the houses...kind of like a paper route, only tastier.

But I digress.

This week's recipe, the Chocolate Amaretti Torte, WANTS to be doubled.  Or tripled.  Or quintupled.  Or octupled.  It's really, really, REALLY good.  I doubled the recipe and made four 4" cakelets and three dozen mini tortes out of all that.  And I think tripling would have been even better, because then there'd be more left for me.  I mean my FAMILY.  Yeah, that's what I meant.

The Chocolate Amaretti Torte was selected by Holly of Phe/MOM/enon, and usually I wait til the end of the post to say this, but if you want the recipe, AND BELIVE ME, YOU DO, then you must head on over to Holly's site (which is a worthwhile journey in and of itself) to read her post and take a look at the recipe and scribble it down on the back of an envelope or a legal pad or your arm and then head out to the store to get what you need to make it, and come home and MAKE IT RIGHT THEN AND THERE.  Or - and this is a good idea, too - buy Dorie Greenspan's book and flip to page 276 where the recipe begins and get going on it.

That said, here's my Chocolate Amaretti Torte story.

First of all, it's a good thing that I decided to read through the P & Q (Problems and Questions) on the TWD site for this recipe.  I was planning to bake the tortes a day or two before Easter so I could bring some to Easter brunch at my cousin's house.  I hadn't looked at the recipe yet, other than the picture, which, I know, is quite pathetic of me, but there it is...and so I didn't realize that Dorie recommended a specific brand of Amaretti cookie for this recipe.  In reading the P&Q comments, I discovered that these cookies weren't always easy to find, and that there was a pretty good chance that none of the grocery stores I shop at would have them.  Hm!  Good to know.  Fortunately several people had made the cookies themselves, and a couple had also posted recipes or links to recipes, so I figured if I couldn't get the Amaretti at the one store I planned to go, I'd make them.  And, as fate would have it, the store didn't have the cookies, so I ended up making them.  You can read about that here.

Once I had the Amaretti baked and cooled, I could finally make the tortes.  The recipe is wonderfully quick and simple (yes, really - 15 minutes from food processor to oven), with just a few ingredients.

The recipe calls for almonds, but I was (I thought) saving some of my almonds for another dessert, so I used MOSTLY almonds and some macademia nuts and walnuts to make up the correct quantity for Dorie's recipe. 

 

Other than that, I followed the rest of the recipe exactly. 

Or pretty much exactly - mine were tortelets and mini tortes rather than one full-blown torte. 

  

(The batter looked kind of curdled when the sugar, butter and eggs were combined...but it was nothing to worry about in the long run.)

 

 

 

 

Yum.  Chocolate.

 

 

The only other change I made in the recipe was with the glaze.  It called for heavy cream, and I'd purchased a pint while I was out shopping for Amaretti and other things, but when I opened the container to make the glaze, something was off.  It smelled funky.  I tasted it, just to be sure (because  sometimes milk or cream around the opening will get an off smell even though the contents of the container are perfectly fine), and it kind of tasted okay, but kind of tasted like...watered-down turpentine.  And since turpentine and chocolate don't really go together all that well, I poured the pint down the drain (oh, and I checked the expiration date - it should have been fine, so maybe the cows at that farm actually LIKE turpentine and that's why the cream picked up the flavor) and just used the third of a cup or so of heavy cream I had in the fridge and added about 5 ounces of unsalted butter.  Why?  Because I had it.  And I knew nothing bad would come of it, unless you count weight gain and hardening of the arteries as bad, but the heavy cream will do that, too, so the substitution was acceptable.

 

 

(Doesn't look pretty at the moment, but just keep stirring and everything will be just fine.)

 

My four tortelets.  (I don't know why I didn't take pictures of the tiny mini tortes after I'd glazed them...probably because I was trying to hide them from the rest of the family.)

 

(Sorry.  Blurry.)

The tiny little mini tortes were a huge hit with my tiny little offspring and my not-so-tiny husband.  Bite size, melt-in-your-mouth perfection.  I had to keep shooing the family away from the food.  Despite my best efforts, the number of mini tortes dwindled from 3 dozen to 2 1_/2...to 2...to just 18 little tortes.  Annoying, but understandable.

I gave some of the tortelets away and kept one (okay, two) for us.

  

You know, so I could take pictures.

 

For the blog, of course.

 

And for the good of all mankind.

For other Chocolate Amaretti Torte stories, check out all the other Tuesdays with Dorie blogs!

Comments

[Tracey]

Your mini tortes look amazing! I made one quarter of the recipe and baked it in a 4 inch springform as well! Glad it was a hit at your house :) It was a bit too rich for me.

[Karen]

Adorable little mini tortelettes! :) Glad eveyone liked these so much. Ya gotta hate when the cows have been drinking tupentine again...

[Jessica]

I loved this too, it's so good! I love all of the minis -- things in miniature are just so darn cute. And, I don't feel as guilty while I keep popping them in my mouth, gotta love it. The glaze looks shiny and perfect.

[Marthe]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with mini's!! I love them too!!

[Kellene]

Good heavens, your blog is a work of art! Love following the step by step process and seeing the glorious finished product. Bravo on an excellent blog. Just started following you on twitter, too, @preparednesspro.

[pinkstripes]

Your minis look wonderful. I loved this recipe. Wasn't it delicious?

[Kara]

Now see ... after making this, I am telling myself that I am going to have to start cutting the recipes in HALF. Or smaller. Because .. um .. this morning I had to really suck in to button my pants and that's just not good! :)

I love the little torte-lettes. Too adorable. I'm going to have to try that next time. I think it would make them easier to give away. And pretty cute, at that.

[Carolyn]

Wow you went to town!! Cupcake size would be perfect for these!

[vibi]

Those helping elves of yours must have found the raw batter delicious! ...I surely did! LOL LOL
You'll still have to explain to me the reason behind doubling and tripling recipes to give them out... but, as usual Jayne, all you do is truly well done and original!

[jomamma]

They look divine. Paula Dean would be proud of you for using more butter, she'd probably enjoy these too.

[erin]

Heehee, you share my knack for making 15 minute recipes into 2 day projects :) But don't change anything, I love reading your posts. You're oneoff my favorite food bloggers and I only just discovered you! It's like...well, like you're my extremely sarcastic mother and my calmly deadpan coworker of a former job in a bookstore. But funnier, and in writing, so I get to review as I go and smile again. Just saying hi and thanks for the entertainment :)

[Jayne]

I think I double or triple just to make sure I have enough to give to whatever family or neighbors I expect to see...and because somewhere in my brain there's a sparkplug that misfires and causes me to think that whatever I cook won't be enough.  It's a programming glitch, I guess.

[Jayne]

Hahahahaha

[Jayne]

Erin,  thank you so much for writing!  Honestly, you made my morning.  :) 

[pamela]

LOL...for the good of all mankind! They look fabulous.

[Margaret]

Those look perfect. Great post. Good read.

[Y]

I'm very tempted to make these myself! Love that you made your own amaretti as well!