Torta Giulio by Ernst Knam

• 90 minutes to prepare • 25 minutes to cook • 1 hour to cool down • Serves 10

And by sweet "tooth" I mean "teeth".
All of them.

 

Penuche is a fudge-like candy made from sugar, butter, and milk cream. It often has a tannish color, and is lighter than regular fudge. It is formed by the caramelisation of sugar; thus, its flavor is said to be reminiscent of caramel. Sometimes nuts are added for texture, especially in the making of penuche candies.

I’m a huge penuche fan, so Giulio cake was destined to be love at first bite.
Is it about the soft layer of penuche that captivates the taste buds? Sure, it’s sugary-sweet, and that means it will always be popular on some level; but there’s just something more about this recipe that makes me curl my toes and bite my lip.

Its buttery, creamy, and sweet taste is here combined with a dark chocolate ganache. The cocoa tart pastry adds a little nutty crunch to the rich caramelly flavour. Even dough I usually love my chocolate straight-up and unfettered by any sort of distracting cake or cookie...Giulio cake is the exception.

The recipe is (again) by Maestro Ernst Knam.
Welcome to sugar-friend heaven: you will maybe get few grams but it will definitely be worth!

Here are ingredients for a 10-serving recipe (24-cm diameter baking pan):

 

For the pastry

200 g flour 00
125 g sugar
125 g butter
40 g cocoa powder
1 egg
1/2 sachet vanilla baking powder
salt


For the salty penuche

100 g sugar
100 g fresh milk cream
90 g butter
2 g salt


For the dark chocolate ganache

150 g fresh milk cream
300 g chopped dark chocolate

1. Start preparing the pastry: cut the butter into cubes and place it in a bowl. Add sugar, a pinch of salt and knead it quickly
2. Stir in the egg, and mix again. Then, add flour, cocoa powder and vanilla baking powder, all sifted. Knead it again
3. Form a ball, wrap it with plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour
4. When we are close to the the 1-hour resting time of the pastry, preheat oven to 180°C
5. Grease and dust the baking pan with cocoa powder, then cover bottom and sides with the pastry cut into a flattened disc-shape, about 5 mm thick
6. Cover the pastry with baking paper and place some beans on top. Bake the cake at 180° for 15 minutes
7. At this point, remove the baking paper on top and go on with the baking for 10 more minutes. The, let the cake to cool down
8. Move on to the penuche preparation: place the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat and let the sugar to caramelise without stirring. Meanwhile pour the fresh cream into a saucepan and warm it up. When the sugar has liquified, pour the fresh cream in. Stir for 5 minutes over medium heat until you obtain the desired consistency. Then, remove from heat, add the salt and the butter - cut into small cubes - and keep on stirring until the mixture has cooled down
9. Pour the penuche into the pastry pan and level well. Let it rest in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes
10. Start preparing the dark chocolate ganache: pour the milk cream into a small saucepan and place it over medium-low heat for a few minutes. Keep an eye on the cream — it's not necessary to boil it. It just needs to get hot: the cream is ready when you can place a finger in the cream and keep it there for 3 to 4 seconds. Turn off the flame and remove the cream from the stove
11. Scoop the chopped dark chocolate into the cream. Stir gently to distribute the chocolate through the cream and let it sit for a few minutes to give the chocolate time to soften and melt. Finally, stir again with a wooden spoon, then let the mixture to cool down
12. Pour the chocolate ganache into the pastry pan. Level well
13. Place the cake in the fridge and let it rest for one hour...once the cake surface has thickened, your amazing Giulio cake is ready!

Nutrition Facts are detailed in the table below. Data is provided per serving.

I'm only going to heaven if it feels like hell
I'm only going to heaven if it tastes like caramel
(Hot Chip - Hold On)