Mom's Neutron Torte

This is my mother's (in)famous chocolate torte recipe (also known as "neutron torte" or "instant heart attack inducer torte"). She has kindly given me permission to post this recipe. For those people in my department, this is what I brought to the MMG department party two months ago.

I've adjusted mom's recipe to make only one torte. She always makes two and freezes one if she doesn't need the second one immediately; I simply don't have the freezer space to do so. I've also added hazelnut to the glaze, which I quite like.

Recipe:

Snap out the bottoms of an 8" springform pan (flat bottomed preferred). Cover bottom of pan with foil, snap it back in, butter the sides and the foil-covered bottom (or spray with pam, that's what I do).



CAKE:

Separate 3 eggs (save both whites and yolks).


Mix together:
2 melted sticks butter
1.5 C sugar
1 tsp bourbon vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

Add in and beat together until totally blended:
1/4 C cream
3 egg yolks.

Mix together in a separate bowl:
1 C flour
2/3 C cocoa powder (NOT hot chocolate mix). Either dutch processed or normal cocoa will work, they'll just give slightly different flavors. I use whatever I have on hand.



Add to butter mixture and mix until till smooth.



Beat separately:
3 egg whites
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar. Underbeating is better than overbeating.



Side note: do you have any idea how hard it is to photograph white whipped egg whites in a white bowl sitting on a white stove? Yeesh.

Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture:



You really don't want to over-mix, or you'll lose all that air that you so carefully beat into the egg whites. Here's what it should look like shortly before you put it in the pan:



And here's what it looks like before baking:




Put in the pan and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Center will not be solid, and cracking should appear. Run a knife carefully around outer edges; cake will fall.

Cool at least an hour. Loosen springform sides and remove. Put a plate on bottom of cake and flip over. Peel off bottoms of pans, then the foil. Glaze when fully cooled.



GLAZE:

Chop:
1/2 lb (250 g) bittersweet chocolate (we use Trader Joe's pound plus bars)

Add:
2/3 to 3/4 C cream
1 tsp hazelnut extract (this is what I do, mom has done mint before, which is also very good. My next plan is to try raspberry extract).

Melt chocolate in cream using a double boiler or microwave (I use a microwave). Try not to incorporate extra air in as you stir or you'll get bubbles, which are annoying. Also, it is important that every edge of every piece of chocolate be dunked in the cream before heating or that piece of chocolate may seize into a hardened, unmeltable lump.

When glazing, mom makes a backwards J from the center, turns the cake slightly, and repeats all the way around. If you use the smaller amount of cream the indentations will be clearer. When I make these I then stick the glazed torte in the fridge until the glaze sets. Once it has set you can run a knife around the bottom, insert a spatula under the torte and lift the whole thing to a new (clean) plate, which is prettier than leaving it on the plate you used while glazing the torte.

Note: my mom uses manufactoring cream for this recipe, which has a higher saturated fat content, so it holds shape better. I just use regular heavy cream, and I think it works just fine.

So much for the healthy eating resolutions...

Somehow I managed to commit to making two cheesecakes this week... one for church and one for a friend. Here's the first of the two.

Note: I've found that all cheesecakes generally work best if you make them the day before you plan to serve them, and this one is no exception.


(My apologies for the poor picture quality, this is the lone survivor of the church potluck, as people were nice enough to take home most of the extra so I wouldn't have to figure out a way to dispose of a quarter of a cheesecake all by myself).

This recipe is an adaptation of a much love recipe I found in a bargain priced cookbook at Barnes and Nobles.

Melt together on low heat:

½ C Butter
4 oz chocolate (or ½ C chocolate chips)

After chocolate is melted, add the following

1 C sugar (I reduce it to ¾ C if I’m not using bittersweet chocolate)
2 eggs, beaten

Add 1 Tbsp instant coffee to 1Tbsp boiling water, stir until dissolved, then add milk to equal ¼ cup total liquid. Add this liquid to the chocolate mixture.

Stir in until just blended:
1C flour

Add to greased and floured 9” springform pan. Cook at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

While chocolate base is cooking, mix together the following:

2 ¼ C cream cheese at room temperature (I use reduced fat. Nonfat won’t work well, though).
2/3 C sugar

Add in one at a time:
3 eggs (it works best if these are also at room temperature).

Mix until well blended, then add 1 tsp vanilla.

Take 1-2 tbsp instant coffee (I use two for a strong coffee flavor) and add to 1 tbsp boiling water as before. Then add plain yogurt (or sour cream would work, I guess) to a total volume of ½ C. Stir this mixture until fairly well blended, then add to the cream cheese mixture. Mix everything together, then pour over cooked base. I generally give the base about five minutes to cool down before adding the cream cheese mixture, but I don’t think it matters all that much.

Bake cheesecake at 350 for 45-55 minutes or until not quite set. The edges should be set but the center won’t quite be there yet. Run a knife around the edges to prevent cracking, then allow to cool to room temperature. Once it’s at room temperature stick it in the fridge (the more gradual cooling helps prevent cracking). Keep in fridge at least a couple of hours until chilled.

Topping (from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook):
In small saucepan mix the following:
1 ¼ C sour cream (I use low fat)
½ C powdered sugar.
Heat and stir until warm (but not hot) and well blended, then pour over top of chilled cheesecake. Put cheesecake back in fridge for at least another two hours to set the topping. I also grate bittersweet chocolate over the top right before serving just because I think it’s pretty.

Other Notes:
I’ve made this cheesecake without the coffee, and it works great. I’ve also made it without the topping, which is fine. I think the topping is nice when you do have coffee in the cake, though, as you get the three-color visual appeal.