{TWD} 15 Minute Magic

The title of this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie—15 Minute Magic: Chocolate Amaretti Torte–reminds me of the junior high school game called 7 Minutes in Heaven. But instead of two giggling kids and a closet, this torte involves chocolate, almonds, and amaretti. What more could a girl want?

This cake truly is heavenly and is a very simple recipe, but the name is a bit of a misnomer. It really is quick and you do get it in the oven in 15 minutes, but it doesn’t take into account the time it takes to find amaretti. Amaretti are Italian almond macaroons. Apparently the only place in my town that sells them is a Starbucks and I found them there after checking World Market, the health food store, 2 regular grocery stores, the gourmet grocery, and the Trader Joes. I don’t know the exact time I spent looking for these things, but it was definitely more than 15 minutes.

Because I love ice cream, I paired the cake with homemade White Chocolate Ice Cream from The Perfect Scoop. The key to this ice cream is to use good quality white chocolate.  I mixed most of this batch of ice cream with dark chocolate truffles, but for the torte I thought plain was the best.

In her playing around section for this recipe, Dorie Greenspan suggests making an ice cream sundae. So I did. I topped a square of the cake with two mini-scoops of white chocolate ice cream, crushed strawberry sauce, whipped cream, and sliced almonds.

As good as this cake was at room temperature, it was awesome just out of the freezer. Thank you to Holly of Phe/Mom/enon for selecting this torte. We loved it! Please visit her blog for the recipe.

White Chocolate Ice Cream

From The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

• 8 ounces white chocolate
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2/3 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 5 large egg yolks
• 2 cups heavy cream

Place the white chocolate  in a large bowl and set a mesh strainer over the top.

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan.  In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.  Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula.  Pour the custard through the strainer over the white chocolate.  Stir until the white chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth, then stir in the cream.  Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.