The colours of the torta cioccolato e lamponi are a true masterpiece, the composition of the aromas is a poem: dark chocolate meets fruity raspberries, quirky pistachios and piquant pink peppercorns. A sophisticated cake for special occasions!
Jump to RecipeMyths ....
"Hintperi" was the name of the raspberry in Old High German, which means "berry of the doe". Its leaves and fruits are very popular with animals. The botanical name "rubus idaeus" has its origin in Roman times. In 77 A.D. Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History, mentioned the raspberry, which came from Mount Ida. There was such a mountain in Asia Minor as well as the Ida mountain range on Crete.
... and Tales about Raspberries
The French doctor and founder of phytotherapy, Henri Leclerc, referred to this when he mythologised the origin of the name almost 100 years ago. The nymph Ida, daughter of the Cretan king and one of the nurses of young Zeus, gave her name to "rubus idaeus": Ida heard Zeus crying in the mountains. To calm him down, she picked raspberries for him, which were all white at the time. Ida hurt her breast on the thorns of the bushes. Her blood dripped onto the berries and coloured them red forever. Today there are white-yellow, orange and even blackberry-coloured raspberry varieties. But the classic red is one of the tastiest and it harmonises wonderfully with dark chocolate.
Chocolate raspberry cake with pistachios and pink peppercorns
Ingredients
Cake:
- 150 g dark chocolate, 70 % cocoa content
- 100 g butter
- 4 large eggs
- 175 g sugar
- 150 ml full fat milk, room temperature
- 75 g plain flour
- 75 g potato starch, or corn starch
- 1 baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tsp peppercorns, pink
- 200 g raspberries
- 100 g shelled, unsalted pistachios
Icing:
- 100 g dark chocolate, couverture
- 80-100 ml whipped cream
- 20 ml glucose syrup
To decorate:
- approx. 50 g raspberries
- approx. 20 g pistachios, shelled, unsalted
- a few peppercorns, pink
Instructions
- Line a baking tin (20 cm Ø) with baking paper, pre-heat the oven to 170° C upper and lower heat. Peel and weigh the pistachios. Roughly chop almost half of them. You need about a 250 g pack of pistachios for 120 g of shelled pistachios.
- Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Melt the chocolate with butter in a bain-marie. Mix starch, flour, baking powder and salt and sieve together. Crush the peppercorns in a mortar and add to the mixture. The original recipe recommends 5 g (2-3 tablespoons) of pink pepper. The taste was too intense for me but of course you can increase the amount if you wish.
- Melt the chocolate with butter in a bain-marie. Beat the yolks and sugar in a bowl until creamy. Then alternately and in several stages add the milk and the flour and chocolate mixtures. Carefully stir in 50 g chopped pistachios and 150 g halved raspberries. Finally, fold in the beaten egg white and pour the dough into the mould. Cover the surface with about 50g each of pistachios and raspberries. Put the cake into the pre-heated oven and bake for about 75 minutes. Use a toothpick to test if the cake is baked.
- For the icing, cut the chocolate very finely. Mix the whipping cream with glucose syrup and warm it up over a low heat. When you see the first little bubbles, take it off the heat. Stir in the chocolate shavings, one-third at a time, until you have a smooth, shiny mass. This gradual adding of the chocolate shavings is important so that the chocolate and cream can combine well. Stir slowly to avoid air bubbles forming. Cover the cooled cake with the icing. Before serving, decorate with pistachios, raspberries and a few coarsely crushed pink peppercorns.
Nutrition
Tipp: Homemade glucose syrup
You will find glucose syrup in the ingredients list of many Italian desserts. Its preparation is simple. You need 150 g granulated sugar, 70 ml water and 1 tbsp filtered lemon juice. Put everything in a small pot and let it warm up slowly. When the sugar is dissolved, reduce the temperature. As soon as the syrup boils slightly and discolours, remove the pot from the heat.
This step is crucial. The syrup must not thicken. After cooling, it should have the consistency of honey. Otherwise it is useless. The syrup can be kept in a jar for up to two weeks. After this time, the sugar crystallises and you can no longer use the syrup. If you only need a little syrup, halve the ingredients.
Buon appetito!
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