Italian Amaretti Chocolate Cake

Fragrant, easy-to-make Italian amaretti chocolate cake (torta facile amaretti e cioccolato) combines bittersweet almond and wealthy chocolate flavors.
Great for each and every occasion.

Ingredients:
200 g (7 oz) amaretti,
50 g (1.7 oz) semisweet chocolate, ground
one hundred g (3.5 oz) butter, softened,
four eggs,
120 g (four oz) sugar,
120 g (four oz) flour,
1 tsp yeast,
1/4 to 1/2 cup amaretto liqueur
cocoa powder, for sifting

PREPARATION:

1. Put amaretti in a processor. Pulse till cookies are finely ground.

two. Whisk the egg whites until stiff.

3. Mix butter with sugar for 20 seconds. Add egg yolks and mix for an additional 20 seconds. Add amaretto liqueur, flour, yeast, ground amaretti and chocolate. Mix for 30 seconds.

four. Fold in beaten egg whites.

5. Pour into a greased and floured pan. Bake for 45 minutes at 175 C (350 F). Let cool.

six. Just prior to serving, dust the prime with cocoa powder.

Amaretti cookies have been invented in the early 18th century in the town of Saronno, Italy. That is why they are sometimes referred to as Amaretti di Saronno. A bishop or cardinal  from Milan shocked the town of Saronno with a pay a visit to. A young couple of residents of the town, welcomed him and paid tribute with an original confection. On the spur of the moment, they had baked cookies produced of egg whites, sugar and crushed apricot kernels or almonds. The visiting bishop was so pleased  that he blessed them with a satisfied and lifelong marriage. The result was preservation of the secret recipe over several generations.

Amaretti (meaning ‘little bitter things’) is the Italian name for macaroons.They small, domed-shaped biscuits that are crunchy and crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle. Amaretti cookies are created from ground almonds (or almond paste), collectively with sugar and egg whites and can be flavored with liqueurs or chocolate. Sometimes, two baked biscuits are sandwiched collectively with buttercream, ganache or jam.

In Italy these biscuits had been served with a liqueur or sweet dessert wine, but they can also be a wonderful accompaniment to a bowl of gelato (ice cream), sorbetto (sherbets), semifreddo or mousses. Another favored way to use amarettis is to finely grind them and then add them to desserts (such as trifles) for added flavor and texture. There is also a mini version of amaretti, known as amarettini.