Mocha Walnut Torte

This is my moms birthday cake, not the nicest photo. I should have cleaned the plate up a little before I took the photo. It is however a delicious cake, yum!

mocha pecan torte

The recipe is from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts, however I made a couple of changes to the recipe today for this cake. The recipe in the book is Mocha Walnut Torte. I substituted pecans for the walnuts, and I doubled the frosting recipe, and split the layers and   made a 4 layer cake. I will give you the recipe for the Mocha Walnut Torte. 

Mocha Walnut Torte

Cake:

1 1/2 cups walnuts

6 eggs, separated

1 1/3 cups sugar

2 tbsp. instant coffee granules

1/4 cup very hot water

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cornstarch

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Whipped Cream Frosting:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup icing sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of two 9" pans with 9" parchment circles. Butter and flour the bottoms and sides of the lined pans.

In a food processor or in a small batches in the blender, whirl the walnuts until ground or finely chopped but not a paste. Set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks for 3 to 4 minutes, until light in colour. Add the sugar and beat until smooth. dissolve the coffee in the hot water. With the mixer on medium speed, resume beating the egg yolks and add the coffee in a slow steady stream. Sift the flour, cornstarch, salt, and cocoa into the batter and stir until well blended.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Stir 1/3 of the whites into the batter and then gently fold in the rest in two equal batches. Fold in ground nuts.

Carefully pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for about 35 minutes, until the cakes are firm and pull away form the sides of the pans. Cool the cakes in the pans for 15 minutes before inverting onto a rack and removing from the pans.

When the cake shave cooled, prepare the frosting. With a whisk or electric mixer, beat the cream until frothy and beginning to thicken. Add the vanilla and sift in the icing sugar. Continue to beat until soft peaks form. Frost the cake and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. the frosted torte will keep for 3 or 4 days, Chill any leftovers.

Serves 12. Enjoy!