Choco Loco

Can’t decide between chocolate cheesecake and chocolate mousse? Chocolate truffle and a chocolate bar? Have your cake and eat all the other chocolaty treats too with this over-the-top torte at Rick’s Dessert Diner

“It’s like a symphony in your mouth.” That is how Ahmed Eita, head pastry chef and owner of Rick’s Dessert Diner, describes his Chocolate Indulgence Torte, which has been on the midtown dessert destination’s menu since 2005. Indeed, each bite is a medley of textures, with five distinct layers of chocolate—Eita typically uses Guittard or Ghirardelli—each contributing a different part to the harmony, beginning with the crumbly cocoa crust base offering up deep, bittersweet bass notes. Then here comes the chocolate cheesecake like a tangy, jazzy trumpet, followed by layers of truffle (silky saxophone tones) and ganache (lush as a languid cello). A whipped Kahlúa mousse layer, featherlight as a flute’s airy flutter, tops the torte before it is left to set overnight. Another layer of Kahlúa mousse coats the exterior, and then the cake is topped with ganache, handmade chocolate truffles coated in chocolate sprinkles and thin, swooping chocolate “bars.” Eita says his original aim with the creation was to “put all the good chocolate in one cake,” making this masterpiece music to our taste buds. $6.95 per slice; $52.95 whole. Available for pickup and outdoor dining. 2401 J St. 916-444-0969. ricksdessertdiner.com —J.R.