Triple Chocolate Torte with Raspberries

Kind of like lava. Thick gooey deliciousness. There's nothing in this not to like - chocolate, white chocolate, raspberries, and whipped cream. This would make a perfect ending to a Valentine's Day dinner.

If you happen to want to make something very chocolatety and very rich, this is your ticket to nirvana. I was surprised that it didn't keep me awake the other night with the caffeine, although it's only got 8 ounces of chocolate (dark stuff) in the whole torte, so that must be why.

Credit goes to Phillis Carey, from a cooking class I took. Over the years of taking classes from her, she's made some really wonderful desserts, and some really good chocolate ones at that. So here's another to add to the stable of chocolate yumminess.

Really, this is a fairly simple dessert to make. You do have to prepare the pan (springform) and line it with parchment. And you'll mess up a few bowls getting all the different batters made, but all combine into one in the end, and you pour it into the springform and bake. It's served with the frozen raspberries in syrup (from the grocery store), thawed, of course, and a nice mound of whipped cream.

Knowing when the torte is DONE is a bit tricky here. This one pictured, is probably a tad under-done - the center of it was too lava like. But it worked and tasted just fine. At about the 35 minute mark, you insert a pick into the center, and you do not want all sticky stuff. In fact, when this one was removed, there was just a tiny, tiny bit of goo, and just a few crumbs attached to the pick. And yet, it was still a bit underdone. Keep testing the torte every 3-4 minutes thereafter until it's done to your liking.

Cook's Notes: Phillis told us to buy white chocolate chips from Trader Joe's because they do contain cocoa butter. Most white chocolate does not. Those other brands will work, but the cocoa butter ones are better. She also cautioned us to NOT chunk up a white chocolate bar for this because it will just melt into the batter and you won't SEE the white chocolate at all (you can see the chips in the photo). That's not what you want here. White chocolate chips contain something (is it wax?) to keep them from melting, like regular chocolate chips. And lastly, do not eliminate the whipped cream because this dessert is really, really rich, and you need the cream to cut down that solid richness. Also, Phillis' recipe contained 2 full cups of sugar. I thought it was too, too sweet, so reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup in both instances (you add the sugar to two different batters as it's made). You can use your own judgment.

Triple Chocolate Torte with Raspberry Sauce
Recipe By: Phillis Carey, cookbook author & instructor

Serving Size : 12 [maybe even 16-18]
1 cup unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate -- chopped
4 ounces semisweet chocolate -- chopped
3/4 cup sugar [reduced from 1 cup]
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar [also reduced from 1 cup]
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips -- Trader Joe's if possible
10 ounces frozen raspberries -- in syrup, thawed
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9-inch or 10-inch (preferred) springform pan and line bottom with a circle of parchment paper.
2. Combine butter and both chocolates in a medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Add 3/4 cup sugar and stir until sugar dissolves, about 1 minute. Stir in vanilla. Set aside and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
3. In a large bowl whisk together eggs and 3/4 cup sugar. Whisk HALF of this egg mixture into the chocolate mixture.
4. Using a mixer, beat remaining egg mixture until pale yellow and slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Gently fold chocolate mixture and salt into the egg mixture. Then, gently fold in flour, then the white chocolate chips. Spoon batter into prepared springform pan.
5. Bake torte until tester inserted in center of cake comes out with just a bit of gooey mixture, but with mostly crumbs, about 40 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool completely on a rack. Will keep at room temperature, covered, for up to 24 hours.
6. Prepare whipped cream: combine heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla and whip until peaks form.
7. To serve, cut into wedges and set on plates. Spoon raspberries and syrup over torte allowing juices to run over the sides. Top with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream.
Per Serving: 646 Calories; 40g Fat (55.1% calories from fat); 8g Protein; 66g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 139mg Cholesterol; 165mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 7 1/2 Fat; 3 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.
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