Chestnut Almond Torte

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.02

Title: CHESTNUT ALMOND TORTE
Categories: Desserts, American
Yield: 10 servings

4 Egg yolks
3/4 c Sugar
2 1/4 c Heaping cups (roughly 1/2lb
-unshelled chestnuts, peeled
-and put through food mill)
2 tb Dark rum
1 c Whole, shelled almonds,
-blanched, peeled, and
-put through food mill
5 Egg whites
Unsalted butter
Flour

------------------CHOCOLATE WHIPPED CREAM------------------
3 oz Semisweet chocolate
1 c Heavy cream, whipped

-----------------------APRICOT GLAZE-----------------------
3 tb Apricot jam
1 tb Dark rum

----------------------CHOCOLATE ICING----------------------
4 oz Semisweet chocolate
6 tb Unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
Beat yolks and sugar until very light and fluffy. This
will take several minutes even with an electric
beater. The end product should have an off-white color.
Add chestnuts and run to yolk-sugar mixture. Blend
together and add half the almonds.
Beat egg whites to stiff peaks and fold into mixture.
Next, fold in rest of almonds and pour mixture into a
buttered, floured, 10x2.5 inch spring mold.
Place filled mold in oven. After 10 minutes, reduce
heat to 325 deg F and bake for 35 to 50 minutes more,
until cake has pulled away slightly from sides of mold.
Remove from oven, let cool, unmold, and cut into two
layers of equal thickness, leaving spring mold bottom
attached to bottom of 1 layer. Apply chocolate whipped
cream to top of bottom layer and arrange the other
layer on top of that. Several hours before serving,
glaze top of top layer with hot apricot glaze.
When glaze has set, prepare icing. Balance cake in one
hand, with hand under spring mold bottom, and dribble
icing over top of cake. Tilt cake back and forth to
coat evenly. Put cake on a rack and finish icing sides
with a table knife or spatula. Refrigerate until icing
sets. CHOCOLATE WHIPPED CREAM FILLING:
Place chocolate and 3 tb water in a small pan, over
low flame. Stir until
chocolate melts into water and mixture is smooth.
Start with 3 tb water
and add more if necessary for smooth texture.
Cool, but do not refrigerate. Combine with whipped
cream. APRICOT GLAZE:
Heat jam until it thickens slightly.
Add rum off heat and apply immediately to cake.
CHOCOLATE ICING:
Soften chocolate in a double boiler over simmering
water.
Add butter to chocolate. When butter melts, stir it
into chocolate until
mixture is smooth and all lumps have disappeared. If
icing is too thick
to pour, add more butter. If it is too loose, add a
small amount of
chocolate. It should coat the spoon heavily and drip
slowly off.

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