14 oz bittersweet chocolate – chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter
7 large eggs at room temperature
1 Tbsp Heavenly Traditional balsamic
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
Powdered sugar
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries (or raspberries, blackberries, or your choice)
1 1/2 cups Heavenly Raspberry balsamic

Reduce Raspberry balsamic in saucepan over low/medium heat until volume is reduced by half.
Set aside (This can be done days in advance for convenience)

Preheat oven to 375.
Coat inside of springform pan with olive oil (Heavenly Butter olive oil or a premium extra virgin olive oil such as Picual, Koroneiki, etc.)
Melt chocolate and butter in double boiler, stirring gently until smooth.
Set aside (can still be warm when added into batter later)
Separate eggs
Whip egg whites with Traditional balsamic until foamy, then add the 2 Tbsp sugar.
Whip until they hold a soft peak. Set aside.
Whip yolks with the 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla, and salt on high speed until they hold a ribbon when beaters are lifted (around 3 minutes)
Fold in the chocolate and half the egg white mix
Fold gently to combine then add rest of egg white mix and combine
Pour batter into pan and bake 30-35 minutes until it loses shine.
(The torte may shuffle on you and then collapse as it cools – this is normal. It may even crack as it cools. Also normal.)
Cool in pan on a rack at least 2 hours before serving.
To serve, run a knife around edge of pan to release torte.
Undo springform pan, then slide torte onto platter.
Dust with powdered sugar and slice to serve.
Top each slice with berries and drizzle with balsamic reduction.
Whipped cream optional
Torte is best served just lightly chilled.
It can be made up to 2 days in advance and held in refrigerator.
Remove from refrigerator 1-2 hours before serving to bring out full flavor.