The Rich And Dense Italian Chocolate Cake That Was Made By Mistake

Sometimes, accidents happen. It's a fact of life — and all but a guarantee in the kitchen. Occasionally, though, those accidents are happy ones. Indeed, some of the most beloved innovations in food history have been serendipitous: chicharrones, the popsicle — even the very disturbing origin of cornflakes was an accident. One Italian chef got particularly lucky when, in the 1920s, he invented what would become the pride and joy of the island of Capri: torta Caprese.

The story is, by now, the stuff of legend. On Capri (a gorgeous island just off the Amalfi coast, which also gave its name to the legendary Caprese salad), a baker by the name of Carmine di Fiore was under pressure: Three American mobsters, emmisaries of the legendary gangster (and, unexpectedly, food safety pioneer) Al Capone had visited his patisserie for a spot of dessert. They were on the island, so the story goes, to secure a bulk order of spats for Capone (ever the snappy dresser), so Fiore made them a chocolate and almond cake for dessert — but to his horror, realized only after he had served it that he had forgotten to add any flour.

Luckily for Fiore, though, the cake that resulted was delicious — a wonderfully dense, moist cake, with a delicate crust on the outside and a gooey, rich, chocolatey interior. The mobsters were none the wiser, and the soon-to-be iconic cake quickly became a favorite on Capri — and Carmine lived to cook another day.

The torta Caprese is about as close to a foolproof cake as you can get, making it a fantastic option for at-home bakers looking to wow without much effort. It's also naturally gluten-free (like chocolate olive oil cake, another beloved Italian dessert) and will stay moist and gooey for days after you make it – if you can resist finishing it for that long.

The Caprese works so well because of its delicate balance of ingredients, combining fat and sugar with just enough almond flour (or ground almonds) to give it some structural integrity, resulting in a texture that's at once subtly crumbly and perfectly gooey. The almond is the key here — because the almonds themselves contain natural oils (unlike regular flour) that are released during the cooking process, the cake stays especially moist, giving it its signature texture. 

It's a simple enough recipe — butter, chocolate, sugar, and almonds (with the addition of some eggs, which you'll need to separate, before whipping up to ensure the cake rises) -– but requires precision; apart from the eggs, all the ingredients should be of equal weight: Cooking with a scale is the way to go, here.

If you can strike that balance, though, you'll have a simple-to-make, classic dessert on your hands — equal parts elegant and indulgent and undeniably delicious. A useful recipe to have in your back pocket, just in case you happen to get a visit from some hungry mobsters.