{"id":8341,"date":"2026-10-19T23:30:54","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T14:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8341"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:49:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:49:53","slug":"torta-caprese","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/torta-caprese\/","title":{"rendered":"Torta Caprese"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Named after the island of Capri, torta caprese is a low, round cake made mainly from almonds and chocolate. Beneath the white powdered sugar lies a thin, dry crust, while the inside keeps a moist crumb that holds fine particles of nut. The island\u2019s artisans achieve a density unlike that of a light sponge through their proportions and the way they bake it. Several origin stories overlap in this cake, from a legend about forgotten flour to the theory that it was devised at a seaside guesthouse.<\/p>\n

A Batter Built on Almonds, and Differences in How It Is Mixed<\/h2>\n

The proportions of almonds, chocolate, butter, eggs and sugar, and the way they are mixed, differ according to each artisan\u2019s recipe (the proportions of ingredients and the method of making). The finely ground nuts are not pieces that occasionally meet the teeth; they create the flavor of the whole batter and a crumb that comes apart easily.<\/p>\n

The recipe of Bar Grotta Azzurra on the island uses 250 grams of chocolate for every 500 grams of almonds. Using the whole-egg method, in which the yolks and whites are not separated, the eggs are gradually mixed into the butter and sugar, which are then combined with the almonds, melted chocolate, rum and vanilla.<\/p>\n

In the method that Sal De Riso publishes through Crispo, butter, sugar and egg yolks are whipped, and the egg whites are whipped separately with sugar. After the two foams are combined, almond flour and other ingredients are mixed in along with shaved chocolate. Compared with methods that use whole eggs and melted chocolate, both the way air is incorporated and the form of the chocolate differ.<\/p>\n

De Riso\u2019s recipe also includes roasted hazelnuts, cocoa, potato starch and a small amount of leavening agent. The almond flour and starch refine the crumb, and the batter rises not only from the egg foam but also from the small amount of leavening agent.<\/p>\n

Some versions combine two kinds of nuts. The method that Tsuji Culinary Institute published in Japan uses equal amounts of almond flour and toasted, chopped walnuts. Melted chocolate is mixed into the butter, and then the whole eggs, almond flour and walnuts are added in that order, so no separately whipped meringue is made. The fine flour and the chopped nuts give the batter its crumb and its bite, respectively.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
A slice served with powdered sugar and chocolate sauce (July 1, 2012). Fine particles of nut are visible in the dark crumb. Photo: Fabrizio Pucci \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY 2.0<\/a>. Full-size image obtained. No alteration of content or cropping.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

A Dry Surface, a Moist Center<\/h2>\n

During baking, the center is cooked through while still retaining moisture. Because overbaking would cause that texture to be lost, the artisans at Grotta Azzurra also place importance on the balance between the outside and the inside. After baking, the cake is left to settle, removed from the pan and finished with a dusting of powdered sugar. A thin crust encloses the moist interior packed with nuts and chocolate.<\/p>\n

That shop also mentions serving it with ice cream, cocoa and whipped cream. De Riso\u2019s products also include pairings with vanilla ice cream or a chocolate sauce containing sour cherries. Each is a plate on which the rich cake is accompanied by something of a different temperature or acidity.<\/p>\n

In the Tsuji Culinary Institute dish introduced in Japan, the cake is served with a jam made by cooking lemon flesh with sugar and with unsweetened whipped cream. Unlike methods that work lemon into the batter, this presentation sets the acidity alongside the brown cake so that the two are combined as it is eaten.<\/p>\n

Proportions That Differ Between Homes and Shops, and Island Scenes Drawn in Powdered Sugar<\/h2>\n

Caprese is a product sold by pastry shops and also a cake baked in island homes. Some households use more almonds to bring out a toasty aroma, while some artisans make the chocolate more intense. Some bake it tall and soft, others low and with a clean bite. In 2019, the island journalist Marco Milano wrote that homes and shops alike have their own proportions, and that in recent years the balance of flavor has shifted from almond-based versions toward methods that strengthen the chocolate. Even among the island\u2019s makers, preferences differ over which ingredient should take the lead.<\/p>\n

Powdered sugar does more than whiten the surface; it also serves as a material for drawing lettering and island scenery. When a stencil is placed on the cake, dusted with powdered sugar and then removed, a pattern appears through the contrast between the brown cake and the white areas. In 2022, a stencil was also made depicting the Faraglioni, the sea stacks of Capri, together with the moon and the word \u201cCaprese.\u201d Sal De Riso\u2019s workshop also gives customers a small packet of powdered sugar and a stencil of the sea stacks. Before eating, customers can finish the decoration depicting the island themselves.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
A surface on which the Faraglioni sea stacks of Capri and the word \u201cCaprese\u201d are drawn in powdered sugar and cocoa (November 26, 2021). Photo: Aron and Gianina \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY 3.0<\/a>. Full-size image obtained. No alteration of content or cropping.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The Legend of the Forgotten Flour, and a Theory Linked to Postwar Chocolate<\/h2>\n

The most frequently told story is that around 1920, the artisan Carmine Di Fiore forgot to add the flour. One version adds that he was working in a hurry because three Americans had come to the island as emissaries of Al Capone. The cookbook Il Cucchiaio d\u2019Argento also includes the story of the forgotten flour as a tradition, but it is an origin story that links an island artisan with foreign guests.<\/p>\n

Another theory traces the beginning to ingredients available after the Second World War. A local article based on interviews with island cooks explains that it may have been a cake created using chocolate brought in by American soldiers. The forgotten flour and the postwar chocolate differ both in era and in what prompted the cake to be made.<\/p>\n

Another tale of a mistake is set at Fontelina, a seaside establishment. In the story handed down in Claudio Novelli\u2019s book on Capri cuisine, a stand-in cook named Capocchiella, worn out, mixes up the flour and the cocoa and dozes off while the cake bakes. When he wakes, the scent of chocolate fills the air; unable to make it again, he serves it to the guests, and because it is well received, it comes to be called by the island\u2019s name. The story differs from Di Fiore\u2019s in both the person involved and the nature of the mistake.<\/p>\n

A Theory of Its Invention at a Seaside Guesthouse, and a Queen\u2019s Legend Whose Dates Do Not Match<\/h2>\n

In accounts that do not begin with a mistake, the almonds and chocolate are combined intentionally. The July 2010 issue of the magazine Yacht Capri carries the theory that the cake was devised in the early 1930s at the Strandpension Weber in Marina Piccola. Two Austrian women, heirs of the painter August Weber, are said to have combined Mediterranean almonds with northern chocolate.<\/p>\n

Set in an even older court is the story of Maria Carolina, Queen of Naples. In the version related in 2022 by Emmanuele Cuomo, a culinary expert from Campania, the queen longed for the Sachertorte<\/a> of her homeland. Neither the queen nor the cook knew the exact ingredients, and while they tried to recreate it from a description, a different and delicious cake came into being.<\/p>\n

This story contains a chronological contradiction. Maria Carolina died in 1814, while the origin of Sachertorte is placed in 1832, so the story that she longed for it does not fit the dates. An artisan, American soldiers, the women of the guesthouse, a queen and her cook: a wide range of people appear in the stories about the cake\u2019s origin.<\/p>\n

Capreses Made with Lemon or White Chocolate<\/h2>\n

De Riso\u2019s \u201cCaprese al limone della Costiera\u201d makes use of lemons and extra-virgin olive oil. Artisans on the Amalfi Coast also make capreses that bring out citrus flavor in place of the intense taste of chocolate.<\/p>\n

In Anacapri, on the island itself, there is also the \u201ccaprese sbagliata.\u201d In the methods of the shops and households that local journalist Marco Milano covered in 2021, the dark chocolate is replaced with white chocolate and the almonds are ground with their skins on, so the baked cake turns beige. The \u201canacaprese,\u201d which the former cook Antonio distinguishes from it in the same article, uses lemon and skinned almonds.<\/p>\n

Sbagliata means \u201cmistaken.\u201d The name alludes to the Negroni sbagliato, a cocktail in which an ingredient is substituted, and, separate from the legend of the forgotten flour, it is used for a cake whose ingredients were deliberately changed.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
Torta caprese al limone, made with lemon (September 18, 2022). The name shown in the image and the author credit are kept as they appear in the source. Photo: DinaBenedettoFerrandina \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Full-size image obtained. No alteration of content or cropping.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

A Low-Moisture Cake for the Beach, and Cake on a Stick<\/h2>\n

Older ideas for taking the cake to the seaside have also been handed down. Milano reports that in Marina Piccola in the 1950s, a cake that was not creamy and contained less moisture was made so that it would be easy to eat while sea bathing in summer. Today\u2019s moist center is not the only form of the cake that has been described on the island.<\/p>\n

The way it is eaten also changes. Eugenio Manari, a pastry chef whom Milano interviewed in 2022, makes the cake on a stick, like an ice pop. It is not frozen ice cream but a slice that can be held while walking through the lanes or heading to the sea. There is a black version made with dark chocolate and a white version made with lemon, and beyond being served on a plate, it has also become a sweet to eat while walking around the island.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Capri<\/strong>: An island in southern Italy off the Bay of Naples. The origin of the name caprese.<\/p>

Anacapri<\/strong>: A town in the western part of Capri.<\/p>

Campania<\/strong>: The region that includes Capri, Naples, the Amalfi Coast and other areas.<\/p>

Faraglioni<\/strong>: A group of sea stacks off Capri. A feature of the island\u2019s scenery that is also depicted on stencils for the cake.<\/p>

Claudio Novelli<\/strong>: An author who wrote about Capri\u2019s cuisine and memories.<\/p>

Capocchiella<\/strong>: The stand-in cook who appears in the tale of a mistake at Fontelina.<\/p>

Maria Carolina<\/strong>: Queen of Naples, who lived from 1752 to 1814.<\/p>

Fontelina<\/strong>: A seaside establishment on Capri.<\/p>

Potato starch<\/strong>: Starch extracted from potatoes. Distinct from wheat flour.<\/p>

Whole-egg method<\/strong>: Here, a method in which the eggs are mixed into the batter without separating the yolks and whites.<\/p>

Sal De Riso<\/strong>: A pastry artisan based in Campania who makes sweets using citrus and locally grown nuts.<\/p>

Carmine Di Fiore<\/strong>: The artisan who appears in the legend of the origin of caprese. Whether he invented this cake is not clear.<\/p>

Marco Milano<\/strong>: A journalist who covers food and local events on Capri.<\/p>

Antonio<\/strong>: A retired cook and pastry maker who explains the ingredients of the sbagliata in Milano\u2019s article. His surname is not given in the article.<\/p>

Sbagliata<\/strong>: The feminine form of an Italian word meaning \u201cmistaken.\u201d Here, the name for a cake made with substituted ingredients.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n

  1. \u30fbCucchiaio d\u2019Argento, \u201cTorta caprese\u201d<\/a> \u2014 A whole-egg, almond-flour recipe; the center and the thin outer crust; the 1920 tradition, presented with qualifications. The order slip and the original recipe from that day have not been verified, so this is not treated as an established record of the invention.\n\u30fbSal De Riso \/ Crispo, \u201cTorta Caprese\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Shaved chocolate and the combining of two foams; the specific use of hazelnuts, starch and leavening agent.\n\u30fbSal De Riso, \u201cCaprese\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The company\u2019s own product with roasted almonds; serving with ice cream and sauce.\n\u30fbSal De Riso, \u201cCaprese al limone della Costiera\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The version with lemon and olive oil.\n\u30fbBar Grotta Azzurra Capri, \u201cTorta Caprese: recipe\u201d<\/a> \u2014 An island artisan\u2019s recipe with whole eggs, melted chocolate and rum; almonds and chocolate at 500 to 250; a moist center achieved by avoiding overbaking; accompaniments.\n\u30fbMarco Milano, \u201cTorta caprese 2.0\u201d<\/a> \u2014 A 2021 article based on interviews with island artisans that presents side by side the differing origin theories of the forgotten flour and the chocolate of postwar American soldiers.\n\u30fbMarco Milano, \u201cLa torta caprese sbagliata\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The version with white chocolate and skin-on almonds as explained by the local artisan Antonio; its difference from the anacaprese; the name.<\/p><\/li>

  2. \u30fbFoodessa \/ Claudia, \u201cIsle of LOVE n TORTA CAPRESE cake\u201d (2011)<\/a> \u2014 The author\u2019s own report on reading Novelli\u2019s work at a library: the account of Capocchiella, Fontelina, the mix-up of flour and cocoa, dozing off and the naming, together with the author\u2019s own doubts. The Novelli story covered in the main text comes via this reading report and is not based on a rereading of Novelli\u2019s original work. The author\u2019s opinion questioning a mix-up of powders of different colors is left out of the main text.<\/p><\/li>

  3. \u30fbMarco Milano, \u201cLa torta caprese sullo stecco ma non e\u2019 un gelato\u201d (2022)<\/a> \u2014 Coverage of the cake on a stick made in Manari\u2019s own workshop; its use for eating while walking; the two types, black and white.<\/p><\/li>

  4. \u30fbEmmanuele Cuomo, \u201cTorta caprese, il dolce unico al mondo\u201d (2022)<\/a> \u2014 The legend, introduced by the culinary expert himself, of the queen\u2019s request and the re-creation by a cook who did not know the ingredients.<\/p><\/li>

  5. \u30fbReggia di Caserta, \u201cI libri di Maria Carolina\u201d (2021)<\/a> \u2014 The years of birth and death of Queen Maria Carolina d\u2019Asburgo, 1752\u20131814.<\/p><\/li>

  6. \u30fbYacht Capri Magazine, July 2010 issue, p.82, \u201cTorta Caprese\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The magazine\u2019s account that two women at the Strandpension Weber devised the cake in the early 1930s, with an explanation linking the heirs of the painter Weber to Mediterranean and northern flavors. The real names of the two women and the menus of the time are not given.<\/p><\/li>

  7. \u30fbMarco Milano, \u201cIl derby della torta caprese\u201d (2019)<\/a> \u2014 The entire main text was reread. Differences between shops and homes; the shift from almond to chocolate; the spread of the lemon version. These are the observations of a local journalist, not a quantitative survey.\n\u30fbMarco Milano, \u201cLa torta caprese sullo stecco ma non e\u2019 un gelato\u201d (separate publication)<\/a> \u2014 The part describing the dry version from 1950s Marina Piccola. The main text published on CapriPress was also reread. This is a later account of the history, not a contemporary source from the 1950s.\n\u30fbMarco Milano, \u201cNasce la Mascherina della torta caprese\u201d (2022)<\/a> \u2014 Stencils with lettering, the sea stacks and the moon, and powdered sugar. The images in the article were not viewed for this page; the description in the text is used.\n\u30fbOBR Campania: Sal De Riso training evaluation report<\/a> \u2014 A quotation from an interview with the artisan on May 12, 2023. The practice of sending customers a stencil of the sea stacks together with powdered sugar. The relevant interview quotation was read directly; the full report was not read in its entirety.<\/p><\/li>

  8. NHK Educational \/ Tsuji Culinary Institute, \u201cTorta Caprese,\u201d February 12, 2018<\/a> \u2014 The ingredients, all 15 steps and the notes were read directly. Almond flour and toasted walnuts; a batter made without separating the eggs; the pairing of lemon jam with unsweetened cream.<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Torta caprese is an almond and chocolate cake that bears the name of the island of Capri. It is baked in a low, round shape, and white powdered sugar is scattered on top. The surface is thin and dry, while a moist crumb remains in the center. Although it is a deep chocolate color, its texture differs from that of a sponge leavened with wheat flour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7264,"menu_order":112,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Torta caprese","subtitle":"A Capri chocolate cake that holds almonds in place of flour","topics":"Almonds as the batter itself, rather than pieces in it\uff0fThe legend of the artisan who forgot the flour\uff0fKeeping the center moist through the bake","country":"Capri, Italy","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["chocolate","nuts","butter","egg"],"texture":["moist"],"occasion":[],"method":["baked"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[154],"class_list":["post-8341","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"auto","sweetlore_related_articles":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t