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40 minutes

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1 hour 30 minutes

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40 minutes

Chocolate recipes

Mama Turilli’s chocolate torte

30–40 minutes

Mama Turilli’s chocolate torte

Serves 6

Difficulty Easy

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cooking Time 30–40 minutes

Ingredients

For the chocolate torte:

225 g salted butter
225 g dark chocolate
3 T cocoa
5 free-range eggs
200 g brown sugar
2 T dark rum
icing sugar, sifted, for dusting
cherries, to decorate

For a drunken pears topping option:

4 Forelle pears
3 cups Pinot Noir
2 cups water
100 g light brown sugar
3 cinnamon sticks
2 strips lemon peel
1 strip orange peel

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Place the butter into a heavy-based saucepan and melt over a medium heat. Turn off the heat and submerge the chocolate in the butter. Allow the chocolate to stand for a few minutes without stirring.

2. Whisk the chocolate mixture until smooth and glossy, then sift in the cocoa. Beat the eggs and sugar together until fluffy and pale in colour.

3. Gently fold the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture in three stages, taking care not to overmix. Gently stir in the rum.

4. Pour into a greased 20 cm springform cake tin. Bake for 30 minutes until the top forms a crackly crust. Allow the torte to cool in the tin, then remove from the tin and place on a plate. Allow to cool, then chill overnight or serve slightly warm. Dust with icing sugar and decorate with the cherries.

Cook’s note: Omit the rum or replace it with a shot of espresso or one teaspoon of vanilla extract for an alcohol-free version. This cake is also delicious warmed with a scoop of gelato.

We made the torte with drunken pairs for TASTE's August/July 2022 cover. If you would like to make this topping for the torte, here's the method for the drunken pairs:

1. To make the pears, peel, halve and core them using a melon baller.

2. Place the wine, water, sugar, cinnamon and citrus peel into a large, heavy-based saucepan.

3. Carefully place the pears into the saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, then simmer for 30 minutes. The pears will take on the ruby hue of the wine and the syrup will thicken and smell fragrant. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Find more chocolate recipes here.

Photograph: Jan Ras
Production: Abigail Donnelly
Food assistant: Bianca Strydom

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Mama Turilli’s chocolate torte

Mama Turilli’s chocolate torte

Ingredients

Method