Concord resident Julie Sager recently requested the recipe for the chocolate orange tart that used to be on the menu at the long-closed Gertie's Chesapeake Bay Cafe in Berkeley. She said it was about an inch thick, had a chocolate-cracker crust filled with orange curd, and was topped with chocolate ganache.

When I called her to talk about the recipe, she thought the dessert might have been called Lori's Torte. Or Lori's Tart.

Torte? Tart?

Tortes are usually dense cakes made with little or no flour, and lots of eggs. Queen of Sheba Torte is the first thing that comes to mind for me.

Tarts, on the other hand, are typically up to an inch thick, often filled with custard and/or fruit, and baked in a pan with a removable bottom.

Carolyn Kernkamp of Berkeley e-mailed to say that she used to eat at Gertie's regularly, and often ordered that same dessert. She sent in a recipe for Chocolate Orange Tart. "I don't remember where I got this recipe," she writes, "but it is very close to the one served at Gertie's. It's one of our favorites."

  • Marie Harp of Walnut Creek wonders if anyone has a recipe for Five Eggs Cake. Her friend's mother used to make it, and she has tried to duplicate it for years without success. It contained egg yolks and was baked in an angel food cake pan. When it was done, she says it had "a marvelous deep golden crust," and was dusted with powdered sugar. Does anyone
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    have this recipe?

    Please send your recipe requests to Second Helpings, 2640 Shadelands Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 or e-mail jodie@chase-ink.com. Please include your name, daytime phone number and city of residence.