Chocolate-Pistachio Torte with Warm Chocolate Ganache

I make this every year for Christmas dessert. I use ALL the pistachio paste, and never have a problem with the mixture being too dry. I bake it in four small aluminum loaf pans, which makes it easy to cut thin slices. I wrap each loaf tightly with plastic wrap and foil and freeze until needed. It is a bit messy, dish-wise, but my family and friends love it which makes it worth doing.

• dancelady

• 12/20/2013

巧克力天堂! !这道菜是巧克力爱好者dream and very rich - so slice it thin. It also has the bonus of being gluten-free.

• ritabarrera

• California

• 5/2/2013

Great cake on the first try! Moist and flavorful. Make sure to use a not too-bitter dark chocolate (60% cocoa solids or a 50%/60% mix is best). Just to be on the safe side (don't like under-sweetened cakes), added about 1 tablespoon more sugar to the nut paste and about 1 tablespoon each of the white and brown sugar to the cake batter. BTW, all the cake batter ingredients (except egg whites, of course,) can be blended together in the food processor used to prepare the pistachio paste. It's much easier than trying to beat the relatively stiff mix with a whisk. Transfer the resulting mixture to a bowl and fold in the whipped egg whites. Also make sure, as the recipe suggests, to bake only till cake tester comes out still coated with a little bit of batter. The resulting texture on cooling will be like that of good, moist brownies. To preserve the moistness of the cake, I would pour the still-liquid (but not warm) ganache over the cooled cake to coat it entirely. That way the cake will stay moist for longer. No need to use a plastic wrap (just a cake dome).

• lenotchka1

• USA

• 11/27/2012

Not the best flourless chocolate cake I have made, but I made mine with walnuts since I couldn't find unsalted pistachios at my local grocery store. The oil did start separating from the nut mixture, but seemed to work fine. It was a little dry. and did not have a super-rich chocolate flavor or a super nutty flavor. I thought it was sweet enough, but I can see where someone who likes a sweet cake would want it a little sweeter. It did dirty up a lot of kitchen equipment.

• Anonymous

• halifax, NS

• 10/2/2010

i don't understand what issues people were having with this cake. it was delicious!! i followed the recipe to the letter. it was definitely sweet enough, although not too sweet either. i used lindt dark chocolate. i also used a kitchenaid mixer; perhaps the users who had difficulty were using a less strong hand held mixer? the initial mixture WAS thick but hardly "cement" and the egg whites folded in beautifully, as per the instructions. very easy! the only thing i changed was to half the ganache recipe. it was still more than enough. will definitely make again!

• ask4janice

• vancouver, canada

• 12/7/2009

This recipe was not what I expected. At first bite it was okay but then it just stuck in my mouth and did not have nearly enough sugar. I do not recommend this recipe.

• Anonymous

• DC

• 10/9/2009

Great recipe! For you chocolate lovers this is the perfect dessert. I am unsure why there are so many negative reviews. In terms of folding in the egg whites to the chocolate mixture, you should always take a bit of the egg whites and beat (not fold) them into the chocolate first to loosen it up. I made this with a combination of bittersweet and semisweet (for torte 6 oz bitter, 6 oz semi; for ganache 8 oz bitter, 4 oz semi) and it gave just enough chocolate flavor without being sweet. I highly recommend this to anyone.

• rrainville

• Kansas City, MO

• 5/2/2009

I was discouraged by the bad reviews this recipe got, but went ahead and made it anyway - you can't really go wrong with nuts and chocolate I figured. We really enjoyed the torte. I used half bitter-sweet and half semi-sweet, that seemed to make the cake just sweet enough. We had a lot of leftover ganache, I would say making half of what the recipe calls for is adequate.

• louise_b

• Vancouver, BC

• 9/26/2008

I found this recipe to be easy to make and delicious. A perfect dessert for chocolate lovers. I do suggest it be paired with strong coffee and served in slim slices, it's RICH.

• ridetta

• Stockton, CA

• 8/25/2008

I made this dessert after sifting through my archived recipes from bon appetite. I was thoroughly disappointed in it. You could not taste the pistachios, the cake was dry and had a grainy consistancy. The ganache was the best part. For 27 oz. of good quality chocolate, I'll take my pocket book to a better chocolate recipe.

• tm171503

• 2/14/2008

WELL....We attended a wine pairing dinner last night, and the wine of choice was a Cabernet. I was to bring dessert. I figured hmmmm, something rich and chocolate. Some would think that I need a life. I have every Bon Appetit magazine since 1970 and I have indexed them all. So I decided to make a flourless chcolate torte and found this recipe, under my desert section. It sounded great. I did not read any reviews before I started, just jumped on in and started making the pistachio paste. A lot of work, my poor food processor got a work- out. I then made the chocolate batter, which as previous raters stated set up in a solid blob. I used a large metal spoon and stirred and stirred and it softened up. I then folded in the egg whites and baked it. While it was in the oven I decided to read the reviews. Oh dear.....I might have screwed up. No body seems to like this. I made sure to take it out of the oven as they suggested leaving a little batter on the tester. I made the ganache, took it to the dinner party and it was AWESOME !!! Nice and moist, not too rich (I used chocolate chips) It's a keeper. Try again folks.

• rreenee

• Springville,Ca

• 11/18/2007

WELL....We attended a wine pairing dinner last night, and the wine of choice was a Cabernet. I was to bring dessert. I figured hmmmm, something rich and chocolate. Some would think that I need a life. I have every Bon Appetit magazine since 1970 and I have indexed them all. So I decided to make a flourless chcolate torte and found this recipe, under my desert section. It sounded great. I did not read any reviews before I started, just jumped on in and started making the pistachio paste. A lot of work, my poor food processor got a work- out. I then made the chocolate batter, which as previous raters stated set up in a solid blob. I used a large metal spoon and stirred and stirred and it softened up. I then folded in the egg whites and baked it. While it was in the oven I decided to read the reviews. Oh dear.....I might have screwed up. No body seems to like this. I made sure to take it out of the oven as they suggested leaving a little batter on the tester. I made the ganache, took it to the dinner party and it was AWESOME !!! Nice and moist, not too rich (I used chocolate chips) It's a keeper. Try again folks.

• rreenee

• Springville, California

• 11/18/2007

The torte was dry and I could not taste the pistachios. Overall, I thought it was a waste of ingredients.

• tetellita

• Kennett Square, PA

• 8/23/2007

BOY what is the deal with the recipe? After I finely ground the nuts and sugar to almost a peanut butter consistancey I added the egg whites and all the oils separated from the nuts. What a globby mess. If I try this again I will not add the egg whites and move on. I quit after the frustration of this recipe. I made the torte "La Bete Norie" from the September issue. GREAT torte. However I would like to try this pistachio torte some other one because I love pitachios.

• Anonymous

• Americans home town, IA

• 1/1/2007

I really wish that I had read the reviews on this site before I spent all the time that I did on this recipe.

• 3babies

• 1/1/2007