Vegan Desserts
Deliriously Decadent Double Chocolate Torte

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! This cake is dense, rich, and full-flavored. I've never met anyone that didn't like this cake! It's simple and freezes well so you can always have one ready to frost at a moments notice.

Ingredients
1/2 box or 6 ounces of boxed Mori-Nu Extra Firm Silken Tofu (the non-refrigerated type)
1 cup pitted dates
1/2 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup succant, brown sugar or cane sugar (your choice)
1 cup Silk Chocolate Soymilk or Silk Vanilla Soymilk
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 1/4 cups unbleached organic all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup Premium Ghirardelli Hot Cocoa Mix
1 large jar of your favorite organic jam... raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, apricot, fig

Ganache Chocolate Frosting Ingredients
1/4 cup Silk Soymilk: Plain, Chocolate or Vanilla
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
12 ounces of Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Tools
2 nine inch cake pans
Cuisinart 14 cup Food Processor
parchment paper
thin long blade serrated bread knife
silicone spatula
measuring cups
measuring spoons
citrus juicer
scissors

Oven Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Trace the bottom of two cake pans onto parchment paper.

Fold the traced circles, matching the marks & cut the circles out.

Place the parchment circles into the bottoms of the torte pans... trim as needed for a good fit.

Spray both torte pans and the parchment paper liners with no-stick oil spray and dust with 2 tablespoons flour.

Tap out any leftover flour.

In your Cuisinart combine:
1/2 box of extra firm tofu
1 cup firmly packed pitted dates
1/2 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
pulse these three ingredients until smooth in a Cuisinart Food Processor

Add:
1 cup succant, brown sugar, or cane sugar (your choice)
blend until incorporated with dates, tofu and applesauce

In a measuring cup combine:
1 cup Silk Soymilk: Chocolate, Plain or Vanilla with
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
pour this mixture into the Cuisinart Food Processor and pulse into mixture

Measure into a separate bowl:
2 1/4 cups unbleached organic all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (non-aluminum)
3/4 cup Premium Ghirardelli Hot Cocoa Mix
Use a wire whisk to combine ingredients.
Put all the dry ingredients into the Cuisinart and pulse until smooth.
The batter will be thick and not runny.

This recipe will make 2 nine inch rounds.

Pour the batter into the pans spreading evenly.

Cook for 30 minutes at 350 degrees... do not overcook.

Remove pans from oven and cool in pans for 10 minutes.

Invert the layers onto wire torte racks and let cool completely.

Chocolate
Ganache Frosting
While the torte is baking, make the chocolate ganache frosting!

Simmer Soy Milk
Simmer 1/4 cup of Silk Soy Milk: Plain, Vanilla or Chocolate. Do not boil and have it ready to use before melting the chocolate.

Melt Chocolate
Depending on how much ganache frosting you want to use, you’ll need at least 12 ounces of Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips or another excellent chocolate chopped and placed into a double boiler to melt the chocolate.Remove the chocolate from the simmering water before it's totally melted. It should have absorbed enough heat to continue melting the chocolate while whisking the mixture. Now, slowly whisk in about 1/4 cup of simmered, not boiling, Chocolate Silk Soymilk or Vanilla Silk Soymilk and 2 teaspoons vanilla.

Continue to whisk the mixture until smooth, creamy and glossy... if you want to have a smoother frosting surface to the torte, add a tablespoon or two more of simmered soy milk.

Add more chocolate or simmered milk to get the desired texture you want for frosting your torte. The end result of this recipe will be a thick glossy semi-hard covering over the rich chocolate cake.This chocolate ganache frosting is great on cupcakes too!

Clean UP!
It always helps to have a helper for clean-up frosting pans!

Silk Soymilk HINT: I keep both refrigerator Silk Soymilk and boxed Silk Soymilk in my refrigerator and pantry. Because I live in the mountains, I don't always get to a grocery store before I run out.... especially when it snows or when we had a big fire come through our area. Also it's just good to keep the boxed versions around for any disaster that could happen... like an earthquake, hurricane, flood, etc. So keep extra boxed Silk Soy Milks in your pantry for the times when a small or large disaster may occur.

Frost the Cake!

Split the Layers
After the torte cake rounds are completely cool, use a long serrated bread knife to split each layer into two even layers.

Remove the parchment paper bottom.

Place the first layer onto a torte cake plate with the bottom side against the platter and the cut side up. Apply a liberal layer of your favorite organic jam to this layer with an off-set spatula...

For an even richer torte cake.... apply a thick layer of the chocolate frosting over the jam!!!!! Use an off-set spatula to make the ganache frosting easier to apply.

Put the second half of the cut-layer on top of the jam and chocolate ganache base with the cut side down.

HINT: You can never have too much chocolate! This torte will look just like the photo, shinny and gorgeous. The chocolate ganache will harden once applied and makes cutting and serving very easy. If it's winter and the chocolate is HARD from the cold, put in the oven for a moment on the lowest setting and the frosting will become glisteny again.

Second Layer for Later
I cut the second layer of the torte like the first, wrap each section with plastic wrap and put them into the freezer for another time. This way I always have something easy to prepare for those unexpected guests or events! Simply remove the cake from the freezer, make the ganache frosting, and frost. In no time you have an elaborate desert without much effort.

Two Layered Version A Mistake
I made this as a two layer torte the first time, but it was too dense to cut nicely for presentation purposes. This torte is verrrrrry RICH and a nine inch frosted version will serve 12 easily!

Presentation
One layer will serve 8 generous servings... but 12 pieces served with fresh sliced strawberries and a small scoop of homemade Silk Soymilk ice cream or fruit sorbet make this a dessert not to be forgotten. Any fresh fruits make this torte a winner.

To decorate the dessert plate like a five star restaurant, melt more chocolate and put enough soymilk into it to make a syrup that will flow through a plastic squirt bottle... then swirl a free form pattern onto the plate before or after placing the torte slice... and/or dust Ghirardelli Hot Cocoa Mix Powder over the plate before serving. Bon Appetite!