The Story

It’s the Big Game Weekend, and everyone is eating chips and dip, nachos, and wings. Your appetizer/dinner menu is pretty standard across the board, and it’s never going to change. Maybe one year someone will bring over guacamole, or maybe this year you’ll put some pulled pork in the oven for sliders.

But what do you eat for dessert?

Football and dessert never really went together, and I wanted to change that. So I made these nachos. With ‘homemade’ tortilla chips, and the trifecta of chocolate, peanut butter, and caramel, these are bound to please the most manly of men and the pickiest of kids.

Plus if you make them with gluten free white corn tortillas, you’re goooood.

My only regret is that I ate too many, and now I don’t want to move……..

Ingredients

Chips

10 Small white corn tortillas  (Gluten Free)*

Olive Oil

Course Sea Salt

*Let’s make this clear that you can use the yellow corn tortillas if you want to add more color to your nachos or flour tortillas if you fancy. I thought that the corn ones crisped up better than their flour counter parts, and I found the white ones easier to see when they were done in the oven instead of the yellow. Pay attention to labels and ingredients on this item if you want it Gluten Free.

Chocolate Drizzle

1/3 cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Vegetable Shortening for thinning, if preferred

Peanut Butter Filling

1 cup peanut butter (smooth)

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Caramel

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon salted butter

1/8 cup heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

YIELD: I made a small batch of these because you can’t eat too many. But double, triple, or quadruple the recipe depending on the size of your party.

The Detailed Guide

The Chips

Take your tortillas and cut them into 6 pieces. Lightly brush them with olive oil. I did both sides for some, and then got lazy and only did one side for others. The difference was so minuscule. Sprinkle them with a pinch of course sea salt.

Bake these in the oven at 350° for about 15 minutes. Be careful not to burn them! And be careful to not add too many to the pan at once, or they won’t crisp up.

Let them cool on the pan briefly before transferring them off and cooking more.

Ready for cutting

I found 6 slices to be the best size, but you can cut however many you like.

Just a touch of Extra Virgin Olive Oil will do.

Brush brush brush and salt these babies.

Ready for the oven

Just so you know, you can use any size tortilla.

Peanut Butter Filling

While on the tale end of your tortilla batches, start making the peanut butter filling. Pour the heavy cream into a small sauce pan and then add the peanut butter and sugar. Adding the heavy cream first helps the peanut butter not stick to your sauce pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently.

Depending on your stove, this may take 4-8 minutes. You’re done when everything is melted, it has thickened, and the mixture is much glossier than expected. The longer you cook it, the thicker it will become, so beware of over cooking.

Transfer to a separate bowl to make sure this doesn’t continue to cook while you make the caramel.

I love you too, peanut butter!

Glossy, cream, and warm peanut butter filling. Try not to eat it all before we are done!

Caramel Drizzle

This is a faux-caramel since we technically aren’t caramelizing anything. But it’s quick. And it’s almost fool-proof to make.

Pour the heavy cream in a small sauce pan, and add in the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla. Cook over medium low heat, whisking occasionally, for about 5-7 minutes. Your caramel will get thicker. Once it begins to bubble, let it for 1 minute before removing from the heat. If your mixture was way too thin, keep it bubbling for a few minutes longer. Transfer to a separate bowl to help it cool and thicken even more.

Just 4 ingredients. Caramel made easy. 

This baby is ready for cooling. 

Assembling the Nachos

Now that your sauces are ready, it’s time to assemble these bad boys. Start by melting chocolate (microwave works best for this), thinning it as necessary for drizzling, and keep it handy.

Put your tortilla chips on your serving tray and glob on half of your peanut butter filling. Then, throw on some more tortilla chips.

Drizzle on half of your melted chocolate on top before dropping on the rest of the peanut butter filling.

Then, add the rest of your tortilla chips. Drizzle with the remainder of your chocolate, and then drizzle with your caramel.

I didn’t use all of my caramel, so don’t feel the need to add more than you’d like. This caramel goes great with apples or any other fruit, so just refrigerate the remainder. Be careful when dividing the batch though for cooking the caramel drizzle. If you make the recipe too small, you won’t find a small enough sauce pan, so you’ll use one that’s too big and then you’ll burn it. 

Finish it with a sprinkle of sea salt and serve this up to the hungry fans. No need for fancy plating, just plenty of wet naps!

Step 1) Put peanut butter filling on chips

Step 2) Put more chips on top

Step 3) Drizzle in chocolate. (See how the corn chips have so much of a better color than the flour ones?)

Step 4) More peanut butter, you say? Yessssss!!

Step 5) Use up the rest of your chips

Step 6) Drizzle in more chocolate because you can!

Drizzle caramel and then sprinkle with sea salt. 

I’m practicing my hand modeling. And my self control to not just eat this. 

Pure Dessert Win. 

Shut up and just GIVE ME THE RECIPE!!

Ingredients

Chips

10 Small white corn tortillas  (Gluten Free)*

Olive Oil

Course Sea Salt

*Pay attention to labels and ingredients on this item if you want it Gluten Free.

Chocolate Drizzle

1/3 cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Vegetable Shortening for thinning, if preferred

Peanut Butter Filling

1 cup peanut butter (smooth)

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Caramel

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon salted butter

1/8 cup heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

YIELD: I made a small batch of these because you can’t eat too many. But double, triple, or quadruple the recipe depending on the size of your party.

Make It

The Chips

Take your tortillas and cut them into 6 pieces. Lightly brush them with olive oil. Sprinkle them with a pinch of course sea salt. Bake these in the oven at 350° for about 15 minutes. Be careful not to burn them! Let them cool on the pan briefly before transferring them off and cooking more.

Peanut Butter Filling

Pour the heavy cream into a small sauce pan and then add the peanut butter and sugar. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Depending on your stove, this may take 4-8 minutes. It should have thickened, and the mixture should be much glossier than expected. The longer you cook it, the thicker it will become, so beware of over cooking. Transfer to a separate bowl.

Caramel Drizzle

Pour the heavy cream in a small sauce pan, and add in the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla. Cook over medium low heat, whisking occasionally, for about 5-7 minutes. Your caramel will get thicker. Once it begins to bubble, let it for 1 minute before removing from the heat. If your mixture was way too thin, keep it bubbling for a few minutes longer. Transfer to a separate bowl to help it cool and thicken even more.

Assembling the Nachos

Start by melting chocolate (microwave works best for this), thinning it as necessary for drizzling, and keep it handy. Put your tortilla chips on your serving tray and glob on half of your peanut butter filling. Then, throw on some more tortilla chips.

Drizzle on half of your melted chocolate on top before dropping on the rest of the peanut butter filling.

Then, add the rest of your tortilla chips. Drizzle with the remainder of your chocolate, and then drizzle with your caramel (as much as you like. You’ll have extra).

Finish it with a sprinkle of sea salt and serve this up to the hungry fans. No need for fancy plating, just plenty of wet naps!

The Story

Everyone knows someone who is Gluten Free. It’s not a fad or the new cool/hip thing to do, it’s a way of life for many. But sadly, a lot of dessert isn’t Gluten Free, since most desserts need several cups of flour.

That’s the beauty of the torte.

Tortes are one layer, very dense cakes. And typically, they have very little flour to begin with. This makes them relatively easy to substitute out the flour for something like almond meal. Plus, they are absolutely delicious and stunning to serve.

It should come as no surprise that I’ve made this several times for dinner with friends. Let me know how often you make it for your friends. And if you’re Gluten Free, and craving dessert, indulge.

Ingredients

The Torte

½ cup whole hazelnuts (plus 12 for decoration)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 6 oz)

½ cup salted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup, plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

5 eggs, separated

¼ cup almond meal/flour

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

The Glaze

1 ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 9 oz)

¾ cup salted butter, room temperature

1 ½ tablespoons light corn syrup

The Detailed Guide

Start by heating the hazelnuts in the oven at 350° for about 5 minutes. They should be fragrant. If they aren’t, put them in for another 2 minutes. While still warm, place them in a kitchen towel and remove the skins. It’s not necessary to remove 100% of the skins, just do your best. Take the nicest looking 12 and set them apart for decorating.

Then, melt the butter and chocolate chips together.

I used the stove (melting the butter first and then adding the chocolate chips), but the microwave works just fine.

Meanwhile, using a food processor, finely chop the hazelnuts. Add in the 2/3 cups sugar once the hazelnuts are in tiny pieces and give it a couple more pulses to combine. Add this to your warm and melted chocolate and give it a good stir. Let it cool (a few minutes) by transferring it to a larger bowl (you’ll be adding more ingredients later anyway, and you’ll need the space).

Caution: These babies smell JUST TOO GOOD!

Finely chop these. You don’t want any large chunks!

Add the sugar and pulse a few more times to combine and get rid of any large chunks.

Smooth and velvety chocolate. Go ahead and have a taste. You’ve earned it. 

This is the step that marries the hazelnut with the chocolate. 

Now that your chocolate is cooled (not hardened, but cooled), add in the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, combine the almond flour and cocoa with a fork (making sure that there are not any large clumps- almond flour can get a little clumpy). Add to the chocolate mixture thoroughly, making sure to scrap the sides. The mixture should be a thick batter- similar to brownie mix.

Almond meal can be made by you or just bought in the store. Store bought is just fine

It’s going to be very thick and very dense. Don’t worry. We’ll lighten it in a bit.

In a separate bowl, combine the egg whites and the cream of tartar and whisk (or blend with an electric mixture with a whisk attachment) until a weak soft peaks. Add the 2 tablespoons of sugar and whisk until stiff peaks.

Note that when you add the 2 tablespoons of sugar, try to sprinkle it on, rather than just drop it on. This will cause less breaking of our air bubbles that we just created. 

Once done, fold 1/4 of the stiff peaks into the chocolate mixture. Then, fold in the entire rest of the mixture.

Pour into a 9-inch rough springform cake pan that is lined with parchment paper and sided with baking spray. Put in the oven at 350° for 35-40 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test (almost clean). I’ve had problems with springform pans leaking on me in the past. So I always put an empty tray underneath my springform to catch any potential droppings.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack, then transfer just to a wire rack.

Stiff peaks by hand doesn’t take much longer, plus you’ll burn those extra calories for when you have another slice of your torte!

Our batter is much, MUCH lighter now right?

Don’t forget to flip this baby over before you coat it in chocolate!!

The glaze is a cinch. Melt the butter and chocolate together (in a pan or microwave). Then, add in the corn syrup. It’s the corn syrup that gives us a nice shiny glaze, so you can opt out for that if you want. Let it cool ever so slightly before flipping over the cake layer and pouring our chocolate over it. Make sure to get all the sides. Add those final hazelnuts for decorating and pop this baby in the refrigerator for cooling.

Enjoy with a large glass of cold milk. You’ll need it.

Smother this baby in chocolate. Cover the top. Cover the sides. USE. IT. ALL.

You can decorate as you see fit, but I went with a classic and simple look. 

It’s a solid cake, and so you’ll be able to pick it up and handle it quite easily. 

Gluten free people, welcome back to Dessert Land. 

Shut up and just GIVE ME THE RECIPE!!

Ingredients

The Torte

½ cup whole hazelnuts (plus 12 for decoration)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 6 oz)

½ cup salted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup, plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

5 eggs, separated

¼ cup almond meal/flour

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

The Glaze

1 ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 9 oz)

¾ cup salted butter, room temperature

1 ½ tablespoons light corn syrup

Make It

Start by heating the hazelnuts in the oven at 350° for about 5-7 minutes, until fragrant. Take the nicest looking 12 and set them apart for decorating. Then, melt the butter and chocolate chips together. Meanwhile, using a food processor, finely chop the hazelnuts. Add in the 2/3 cups sugar and give it a couple more pulses to combine. Add this to your warm and melted chocolate and give it a good stir. Transfer to a larger bowl and let it cool. Add in the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, combine the almond flour and cocoa. Add to the chocolate mixture. In a separate bowl, combine the egg whites and the cream of tartar and whisk until a weak soft peaks. Add the 2 tablespoons of sugar and whisk until stiff peaks. Once done, fold 1/4 of the stiff peaks into the chocolate mixture. Then, fold in the entire rest of the mixture.

Pour into a 9-inch rough springform cake pan that is lined with parchment paper and sided with baking spray. Put in the oven at 350° for 35-40 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test (almost clean). Cool in the pan on a wire rack, then transfer just to a wire rack.

Melt the butter and chocolate together. Add in the corn syrup. Let it cool ever so slightly before flipping over the cake layer and pouring your chocolate over it. Make sure to get all the sides. Add those final hazelnuts for decorating and pop this baby in the refrigerator for cooling.

Enjoy with a large glass of cold milk. You’ll need it.