Ingredients
- Hazelnut Praline:
- 1 1 1 recipe Hazelnut praline –see below
- 3 3 3 ounces fine quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped coarse
- ¾ stick (6 tbsp.) unsalted batter, softened
- 1 1 1 tsp. salt
- ½ cup sugar
- 4 4 4 large eggs, separated
- 1 1 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 1 1 cup well-chilled heavy cream
- 2 2 2 tbsp. Frangelico (hazelnut flavored liqueur)
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 1 4 cup hazelnuts (about 4 ¼ ounces), toasted lightly and skinned.
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8 ½” springform pan (2 inches deep) or other cake pan with similar dimensions and line bottom with a round of wax paper. Butter paper and dust pan with flour, knocking out excess flour.
In a food processor, pulse praline until ground fine. Reserve ¼ cup ground praline and transfer remaining praline to a bowl. In food processor, pulse chocolate until finely ground and add to bowl of praline.
In a bowl with an electric mixer, cream together butter, salt, ¼ cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and beat in vanilla. Stir in praline chocolate mixture (mixture will be very thick).
In another bowl with cleaned beaters beat whites until foamy and add a pinch salt and remaining ¼ cup sugar, beating until meringue just holds stiff peaks. Fold one third meringue into yolk mixture to lighten and fold in remaining meringue gently but thoroughly. Pour batter into pan and smooth top.
Bake tort in middle of oven 45-55 minutes, or until it begins to pull away from side of pan. Cool torte in pan on a rack (torte will fall slightly and continue to set as it cooks) and remove from pan. Torte may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring torte to room temperature before serving.
In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat cream until it holds soft peaks. Stir in Frangelico and half of reserved praline. Top torte with cream and sprinkle with remaining reserved praline.