There Caprese cake is a dark chocolate cake with almond flour whose name refers to the island where the recipe was born and spread: Capri, one of the most famous off the coast of Naples. Made with finely ground almonds, granulated sugar, fresh butter, dark chocolate, eggs and bitter cocoa, the Neapolitan caprese cake is one of the easiest and at the same time loved preparations in all of Italy and abroad. served dusted with sugar icing and accompanied by a cup of coffee. In some versions of the caprese cake you can also find the grated peel of one lemon, or a mix of hazelnut or almond flour. The inside of the cake is moist and very soft, while the surface is slightly crunchy. We offer you the original Neapolitan basic recipe of caprese, to be made in just 20 minuteswith simple and genuine traditional ingredients!

Preparation

1

On a cutting board, break the chocolate into coarse pieces. Size is not important. Put a saucepan ¾ full of water on the fire, turn on a medium flame and wait for it to almost boil. When the water is hot, place a glass bowl on the saucepan that must not touch the water inside.

2

Pour the chocolate into the bowl and melt it, stirring with a spatula. Set aside and let cool.

3

In a bowl, pour the butter at room temperature, the granulated sugar and 1 pinch of fine salt. Activate the electric whisk of a mixer and mix the ingredients well, until you obtain a cream with the consistency of an ointment.

4

Add the eggs and continue mixing with the electric whisk.

5

In a second bowl, sift the almond flour with a sieve with not too tight meshes. Separately sift the cocoa.

6

Add the almond flour to the egg, sugar and butter mixture and mix with a spatula until completely absorbed.

7

Also add the cocoa and mix the ingredients. You can pour the cocoa all at once, taking care to mix it immediately to mix it with the rest of the dough.

8

Finally, add the now lukewarm melted chocolate, stirring to incorporate it into the mixture.

9

Melt a small piece of butter in a saucepan or in the microwave, placing it in a cup and placing it in the microwave for 20 seconds at maximum temperature. Brush a 22 cm diameter round pan and then lightly flour it. If you don’t want to use 00 flour, you can use cocoa powder.

10

Turn on the oven at 180°C in static mode. As soon as it is hot, bake for 30 minutes in the central part of the oven.

11

After 30 minutes, do the toothpick test: insert a long toothpick in the center of the cake and then remove it. The cake should be soft but not wet. If it is still too moist, leave it in the oven for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely, then move it onto a serving plate and sprinkle with icing sugar.

Advice and tips

For convenience, you can use almond flour as we did. But if you can’t find it or you have some almonds available, you can make it yourself by going to lightly toast in the oven for 10 minutes at 180°C and then blending them with a mixer until you get a flour. You can also use skinned almonds.

For an even more particular taste, even if less traditional, you can use 100 g of almond flour and 80 g of hazelnut flour or finely chopped hazelnuts.

For a softer consistency, you can whip the egg whites separately and then add them to the mixture, incorporating them delicately with a spatula.

The chocolate must be of excellent quality and dark chocolate at least 70%. You can also use half the 50% chocolate and half the 85% chocolate.

It is essential to let the caprese cake cool completely before removing it from the mold, otherwise it will break and crumble when transferred to the serving plate.

Curiosity

The true story of the Neapolitan caprese cake is not known. However, a legend tells that a pastry chef who worked in Capri forgot to add the flour to the mixture of chocolate, butter, eggs, sugar and ground almonds that he was preparing, thus baking the cake that would be known as the caprese cake. Lately a caprese cake version made with white chocolate and grated lemon peel has been spreading.