La Torta Tre Monti (Sammarinese Three Mountain Cake)
La Torta Tre Monti (Sammarinese Three Mountain Cake) is a traditional Sammarinese (from San Marino) recipe for a classic cake of five waffled wafers sandwiched with chocolate or hazelnut cream which is dipped in chocolate ganache around the edges before serving. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Sammarinese version of: Sammarinese Three Mountain Cake (La Torta Tre Monti).
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Torta Tre Monti (lit. 'Three Mountain Cake') is a traditional Sammarinese cake made of layers of thin waffled wafers cemented together by chocolate or hazelnut crème. The final product is covered in chocolate fondant. It is similar to other layered desserts common to San Marino, this one being representative of the Three Towers of San Marino.
This is the typical cake of the Republic of San Marino, completely hand made. Five fragrant layers of round wafer are bound with chocolate or hazelnut cream and crowned with a delicious rich dark chocolate. It has a very delicate and crispy taste.
The main problem with these was making the waffled wafers and in the end I bought a 10-inch ASIN Waffle Cone Maker for that purpose.
Ingredients:
For the Waffled Wafers:
1 whole egg
1 egg white
1/4 teaspoon salt
50g granulated sugar
90g sifted plain (all purpose) flour
2 tbsp of melted butter
For the Chocolate Crème:
500ml Full Cream Milk
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Paste, or extract
4 large Egg Yolks, at room temperature
2 tbsp Caster Sugar
4 tbsp cornflour
120g Dark Chocolate, finely chopped
For the Hazelnut Crème:
200g toasted hazelnuts
20g cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g dark chocolate
50g brown sugar
50ml vegetable oil
150g milk chocolate
For the Chocolate Ganache:
100g dark chocolate
100ml double cream
Method:
Start by preparing the chocolate and hazenut crèmes and the fondant.
For the chocolate Crème: Combine the milk and vanilla in a medium size saucepan and place over low heat. In the meantime, place the egg yolks in a heat-proof mixing bowl along with the sugar and whisk for a minute. Add the cornflour and whisk until smooth. Once the milk has started to simmer, pour it over the egg mixture while continuously whisking. When smooth, pour it all back inside the saucepan.
Put the mixture back on the stove and cook over very low heat for about 5 minutes or until the custard starts to thicken. Make sure to continuously stir while the cream is cooking. Once the cream starts to thicken, cook for another 30 seconds to a minute then remove from the heat.
Away from the heat, add the finely chopped chocolate. Leave for 2 minutes to melt then stir until the chocolate has completely melted and you get a smooth, thick chocolate pastry cream. Alternatively, use an stick blender (without too much movement to avoid creating air bubbles) to incorporate the melted chocolate in the pastry cream.
Transfer the chocolate cream in a clean bowl or shallow pan such as a brownie pan. Cover with clingfilm (plastic wrap) ensuring it's touching the surface of the cream and place in the refrigerator to chill and set for about an hour.
To prepare the Hazelnut Crème: Combine the toasted hazelnuts, brown sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and cocoa powder in a blender. Process until smooth and free of lumps. This may take a few minutes, so be patient. Once smooth, pour the mixture into a bowl and add the melted milk chocolate and dark chocolate. Stir well to combine. Transfer the mixture into a jar and let it cool. The cream will become thicker as it cools.
For the ganache: chop the chocolate into pieces and place in a heat-proof bowl. Pour the cream into a pan and bring to a simmer then pour over the chocolate. Set aside for 2 minutes then whisk the mixture until smooth. Keep warm in a shallow dish until needed.
For the waffled wafers: Simply combine the ingredients and blend together but do not overmix. Preheat the waffle oven and bake according to the oven instructions (it really works a treat).
As the waffles cook spread a thin layer of either the chocolate or hazelnut crème on top (you can alternate the fillings if you like, or use just one). Sandwich 5 waffles together per cake with four layers of filling between them. Once 5 waffled wafers have been stuck together turn the sandwich on its side and dip in the chocolate ganache to cover the edges (not the whole thing).
Set aside in a cool place for the ganache to firm up for at least 30 minutes before serving.
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