Brokers reduced to posting recipes . ..

Seriously, the two people who end up making this are going to love me for it. Happy Pesach everybody! ali r. {downtown broker} PASSOVER CHOCOLATE WALNUT TORTE. Best made one day ahead, but can be made a few hours before serving. From Andrée Abramoff of Café Crocodile, published by Time Out New York, march 25 - Apr 1, 1999 -- with Ali modifications FOR THE BATTER: 8 eggs, room temp. 3/4 granulated... [more]

Seriously, the two people who end up making this are going to love me for it. Happy Pesach everybody! ali r. {downtown broker} PASSOVER CHOCOLATE WALNUT TORTE. Best made one day ahead, but can be made a few hours before serving. From Andrée Abramoff of Café Crocodile, published by Time Out New York, march 25 - Apr 1, 1999 -- with Ali modifications FOR THE BATTER: 8 eggs, room temp. 3/4 granulated sugar 1 3/4 c. walnuts, chopped 5 oz. semisweet choc. 1 teaspoon lemon juice pinch salt Walnut halves (optional) Parchment paper + 8- or 9-inch springform pan + cardboard circle Cuisinart Chilled egg beater FOR THE GLAZE: 1/3 c. water 3 T. veg oil 1 c. sugar 1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder Spare dried fruit such as apricots. **** Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the springform bottom and sides, add a parchment paper circle on the bottom and grease again. Set aside. Make walnut "flour" by pulsing the nuts in the Cuisinart until chopped finely. (Adding one spoonful of sugar will prevent them from turning into a paste.) Separate the eggs. Melt the chocolate (I do this in the microwave) and let cool. Beat egg whites with lemon juice and salt until stiff. Set aside. In another bowl, beat yolks with sugar until thick and pale yellow. Add the melted chocolate to the yolk mixture; add nuts.The mixture will be stiff. (Do not rinse the Cuisinart yet, you will want the dregs of the nuts -- about a spoonful-- later). Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg-white mixture gently but thoroughly into the chocolate-yolk-nuts mixture. (This is the tough part -- I try for twenty to thirty strokes -- underfolding causes bubbles, but overmixing makes the cake flatter, so try and err a little on the side of undermixing). Pour batter into the springform and bake for 1 hour. Remove and let cool on rack to room temperature. (If you rush it, it will fall) Run a knife or icing spatula around the inside edges of the springform, gently. Then cover a cardboard circle or cake platter with aluminum foil. Invert the torte onto it, and remove the springform sides and bottom. For the chocolate glaze, combine the water, oil, sugar and cocoa in a small saucepan (this really does work better than a skillet) and mix well over low heat, stirring CONSTANTLY for 10-15 minutes or until glaze thickens slightly and is very smooth and shiny. DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL. Remove glaze from heat and stir 3-4 minutes longer. Pour on top of the cake and ice the sides -- you have about 2 minutes before the glaze becomes unworkable. Decorate with the nut powder dregs from the Cuisinart, and/or walnut halves.(If you are fast and you have a little glaze left over, you can glaze some apricots and stick them on waxed paper before the glaze in the pot gets too solid. ) Refrigerate the uncovered torte for several hours or overnight. For best flavor and texture, remove from the refrigerator a few hours before serving. ### [less]