Earl Grey Chocolate Torte
Author: 
Cuisine: dessert
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 12
 
A moist, chocolate cake with a pleasant scent of Earl Grey tea.
Ingredients
  • 2 Earl Grey tea bags
  • 100ml (just under half a cup) milk
  • 250g/8.8 oz dark chocolate (I used very nice 72% swiss bars from Tesco, if I was in the US I'd use 70% Ghiradelli bars)
  • 200g/14 tbsp/1 stick plus 2 tbsp butter, diced
  • pinch of salt
  • 140g/1 cup flour
  • 6 eggs, separated
  • 200g/7 oz caster sugar (aka superfine sugar, which in the US is granulated sugar you put through a food processor, but you should be fine with regular US granulated unless the crystals are huge)
  • a few tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder and powdered sugar/icing sugar to dust, optional
Method
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F/180C/160C fan/gas 4. Spray a 23 cm/9 inch springform pan with flour spray if you have it, and if you don't, coat with butter/oil and dust with flour. Set aside.
  2. Put the milk in a microwave-safe container and heat on high until it is steaming but not boiling.
  3. Cut open the Earl Grey tea bags and pour the leaves into the milk. Set aside.
  4. In a nonstick pot on low temperature, melt the butter. Mix in a pinch of salt.
  5. Chop/break up your chocolate into small pieces and add to the melted butter. Stir thoroughly with a silicone spatula until the chunks of chocolate are almost gone. Turn off the heat, then continue to stir until the chocolate is completely melted.
  6. Add flour to chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly. Add the egg yolks and tea-milk mixture, mix thoroughly again.
  7. In a grease-free bowl using a stand mixer, hand mixer, or electric whisk, beat the egg whites until they are stiff. Add the caster sugar and beat again until incorporated and the eggs are stiff once more.
  8. Fold the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture, taking care not to deflate the egg whites.
  9. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. It should still wobble slightly on the top when done; do not overbake! Allow to cool completely for at least a couple of hours in the pan.
  10. Remove the torte from the pan and place on a serving dish, then dust first with some cocoa powder and then with powdered sugar, if desired.
Recipe by Eat The Evidence at https://www.eat-the-evidence.com/2014/09/04/earl-grey-chocolate-torte-because-england/