Torta tre monti recipe — traditional dish from San Marino

Name: Torta tre monti
Prep time: 72 min
Cook time: 143 min
Total time: 215 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: San Marino
Ingredients: 9 thin round wafers; 400 g chocolate hazelnut cream; 200 g dark chocolate; 100 g hazelnuts; 30 g butter; 1 tbsp cocoa powder

Nine thin crisp wafers glued together with chocolate-hazelnut cream and sealed under a chocolate coat, so every slice snaps instead of crumbling.

How to make Torta tre monti

Nothing here gets baked. The cake is built from cialde, the thin waffled wafer discs sold in packs; a sponge batter will never give the dry snap this cake is known for.

Toast 100 g hazelnuts in a dry pan for 5 minutes, rub off the skins and chop them. Stir half into 200 g chocolate hazelnut cream.

Lay a 20 cm wafer disc on a board and spread about 400 g of the cream over it in a thin even layer, right to the edge.

Stack 9 wafers this way, cream between each, and finish with a bare wafer on top. Press down gently and even the sides with a spatula.

Chill the stack for 2 hours so the cream firms and the layers stop sliding.

Melt 30 g dark chocolate with 30 g butter over a water bath and pour it over the top and sides, smoothing it into a thin even coat.

Scatter the remaining chopped hazelnuts over the top before the chocolate sets, and dust lightly with cocoa powder.

Chill 1 more hour, then slice cold with a knife warmed in hot water.

What is Torta tre monti?

Torta tre monti is a traditional dish from San Marino, baked in the oven, and takes about 3 hours and 35 minutes from start to finish. It is built around chocolate hazelnut cream, dark chocolate and hazelnuts. The recipe below uses 6 ingredients and is written out step by step.

How long does Torta tre monti take?

At 215 minutes it is slower than 74% of the 586 dishes in Copper's atlas. The method runs to 8 steps, the longest being 5 minutes.

Any tips for making Torta tre monti?

Chill the stacked wafers before pouring the chocolate so the cream firms and the layers stop sliding, then slice cold with a warmed knife.

How Torta tre monti compares

Hard to find elsewhere: thin round wafers (1), chocolate hazelnut cream (1) and hazelnuts (1).

Copper documents San Marino alongside 197 other countries. Every recipe is free to read, with the full ingredient list and every step.