As home renters, it is hard to find a place that has 100% of everything you are looking for.  That apartment with all of the classic Barcelona decorative elements you just signed a contract for is probably riddled with evil spooks and spiders. But these things don’t deter us!  Our current home has about 99% of what we are looking for, which is pretty awesome. The only downfall is that it doesn’t have an oven!

So, what do we do when we want to bake? 

We use the stove top and a cast iron dutch oven, of course! We started experimenting with baking some sweet gluten free things first, but have ambitions to try to make bread in the near future.  Here is a fool proof, no oven needed, recipe for a dark chocolate torte with peanut butter cream cheese frosting — tested and approved! It’s moist, dense, and not too sweet.

Equipment needed:

Dark Chocolate Torte

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup or 113g   butter (or margarine) *
• 1/2 cup or 113g   cocoa powder (100% pure powder, unsweetened)
• 1/2 cup sugar or 113g sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp or 5ml vanilla (optional)
• 1/2 cup rice flour or other gluten free flour blend (and a little extra to thicken the batter)
• 1/4 tsp or 1.25ml salt
• 1/4 tsp or 1.25ml xanthan gum
• 1/4 cup or 50ml coffee or alternative milk (for added moisture)

*if you don’t want to use butter or margarine, you can substitute 3/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Melt the butter and place in a large bowl.
2. Add cocoa powder and sugar to the melted butter.  MIX WELL.
3. Add eggs, 1 at a time, vanilla, and coffee (or alternative milk). Mix until thoroughly smooth.
4. Slowly add flour, salt, and xanthan gum to the chocolate mixture.
5. The consistency should now be like a brownie batter, thick yet still able to be poured.  Now is when you need to judge if your batter is thick enough.  Some gluten free flour blends absorb liquid differently and you need to adjust for this by adding either more alternative milk or more flour. You want a slightly thicker batter consistency, but still pourable.
6. Pour batter directly into dutch oven, put on lid, and cook over low to med low heat.
7. The torte is thin, so it cooks in 15 minutes or LESS. Test with a knife.  It is done when a knife poked into the center pulls out clean.
8. Let the cake cool, put on a plate, and then frost.

To make the frosting:

• 100g Philadelphia or other brand of cream cheese (about half the package)
• 100g unsweetened creamy peanut butter
• 20 g or 2 tablespoons of soft butter
• 1/4 cup or 62g sugar (or you can use a 2-3 large spoonfuls of honey)

 

Whip together all ingredients (by hand) until smooth.  Spread on cooled cake while frosting is still warm and pliable.

 

Enjoy!