The main feature of this chocolate cake is a creamy inside covered by a crunchy outside.
Tenerina is a traditional dessert from Ferrara, a city in Emilia-Romagna, North Italy. It is the nominated city of the Renaissance by Unesco for its well preserved historical buildings and for being a centre that attracted the greatest minds of the Italian Renaissance in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Thanks to our dear friend Sergio Rossi for sharing his family recipe of this easy-to-make cake. If you find yourself in Ferrara go to Pasticceria Cioccolateria Chocolat (Via Corte Vecchia 55), so you can have a taste of the original Tenerina cake.
INGREDIENTS for 8 servings (∼22 cm diameter cake pan)
100 grams (1/2 cup ) butter (at room temperature/soft) cut in small pieces
200 grams (7 ounces) sugar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
4 medium eggs
200 grams (7 ounces) high quality dark chocolate (70%)
icing sugar to decorate
Break the chocolate in small pieces and melt it a bain-marie (place it into a bowl suspended over a saucepan of simmering water, stir occasionally) or in microwave until smooth, shiny and glossy. While the chocolate is melting, in a bowl whip egg whites with a pinch of salt until forming stiff and firm peaks.
Melt the butter into the hot chocolate, stir well and and let it cool.
Preheat the oven at 180 °C.
In a separate bowl beat the sugar and yolks until creamy and smooth, then sift the flour straight into the bowl, and mix again (all lumps have to be gone). Add the chocolate and butter mixture and beat it until homogeneous and fluffy.
Slowly incorporate the white eggs with a mixing – spoon going up to down into it. Butter and flour a 22 cm diameter cake pan, pour the dough into it and cook for 25 – 30 min. When completely cool dust with icing sugar.
