P F Changs Chocolate Torte Recipe 465

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add chocolate chips and stir occasionally until chocolate is completely melted. Be very careful not to overcook chocolate or it may burn and taste funny. Not funny ha-ha -- funny strange. Remove chocolate from heat. Beat 4 eggs until fluffy in a large bowl, then add sugar and vanilla and mix well until sugar is dissolved. Temper the egg mixture by mixing in just a few tablespoons of the warm chocolate. This keeps the eggs from cooking. Add the rest of the chocolate and mix until well combined. Pour the batter into a 9-inch springform pan that has been lined on the bottom and sides with parchment paper (butter the pan before you add the parchment paper -- the butter will make the paper stick). Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until middle of the cake begins to firm up. Remove, cool, cover and chill the cake until you are ready to serve it. As the torte bakes, prepare vanilla sauce by combining cream with 1/4 cup sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Use a knife to scrape the seeds from inside the vanilla bean, then add the seeds and the bean pod to the pan. Heat mixture, stirring often, just until boiling then turn off heat. Watch the cream closely so that it does not boil over. In a medium bowl whisk together remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and egg yolks until smooth. Temper the egg yolks by adding a few tablespoons of the hot cream mixture. Pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan and heat it up again, stirring often until it begins to boil. Immediately pour the sauce into a medium bowl that has been set in a larger bowl filled with ice. This ice bath will help to quickly cool the sauce so that it doesn't curdle. Cover and chill the sauce until you are ready for it. Make the raspberry sauce by pureeing the thawed raspberries in a blender. Add 2 to 4 tablespoons of water to thin the pureed berries a bit -- if your berries have a lot of juice add 2 tablespoons of water; if they have just a little juice, add 4 tablespoons of water. Pour pureed berries into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons of raspberry liqueur to the pan. Heat until boiling then remove raspberry sauce from heat. Cover and chill it. When you are ready to serve your torte, first spoon some raspberry sauce and vanilla sauce onto a plate. Carefully place the slice of torte on the sauces, but turn it over so that the top, cooked side of the torte is on the bottom. This is how a flourless chocolate cake is served -- topside down. The restaurant zaps the cake for 30 seconds or so in the microwave before serving, so that it is slightly warm. However, I prefer mine cold. This recipe yields 8 servings.

Steps:

• Cake:.
• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter 2 - 9" round cake pans. LIne the bottoms of the pans with circles of baking parchment or wax paper. Dust the sides of the pans with flour and tap out the excess.
• In a microwave-sage bowl, melt the chocolate on High for 1 to 2 minutes, or until melted, stirring halfway through cooking. Set the chocolate aside to cool to room temperature for 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, stir the flour, baking powder and salt together with a whisk.
• In another large bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until combined. Beat in the melted chocolate and vanilla extract. One at a time, add the eggs, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture and milk in thirds, beating until just combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans and spread evenly. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of each layer comes out clean. Transfer the pans to a wire rack. Cool 10 minutes. Carefully invert the cake layers onto the rack and cool completely.
• To make Frosting:.
• Place the chocolate into a large bowl.
• In a saucepan, bring the cream, rspberry jam, butter and salt just to a boil. Pour over the chocolate and let it stand for 1 minute. Whisk until smooth, then mix in the vanilla extract.
• Cover with plastic wrap and let the frosing thicken overnight at room temperature or refrigerate it for no longer then 1 1/2 hours.
• To assemble Cake:.
• Place one layer on a serving plate, Spread frosing over the cake and top with the second cake layer. Frost the outside of the cake first, then the top.
• Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.