Sunday, April 1, 2018

Almond Orange Easter Cake with Chocolate Cointreau Ganache

I'm trying to think of something elegant to say about this beautiful cake. Words are failing me when the pictures speak so clearly for themselves. This is truly a cake that is as beautiful as it is delicious. It is also gluten-free! I have made this cake in it's lemon form on a regular basis for several years now. I usually make a carrot cake for Easter but someone was already bringing one for Easter dinner today so, over several nights of Instagramming cake inspirations, I came up with this chocolate orange version of a cake I have loved so dearly. My husband prefers the original, plainer lemon version, but me... oh I could eat this cake for days and never tire of it. Happy Easter. Happy Spring. Eat chocolate and be happy!




Almond Orange Cake with Marmalade Glaze and Chocolate Cointreau Ganache 
loosely adapted from Nigella's great cookbook Kitchen 

for cake:
200 grams unsalted butter, softened
200 grams sugar
200 grams ground almonds
100 grams cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 large eggs
zest of 2 oranges

for marmalade glaze:
1/2 cup marmalade
1 tablespoon amaretto or cointreau

for ganache:
170 grams bittersweet chocolate chips, or coarsely chopped bars
190 grams heavy cream (a scant cup)

for topping:
unwrapped chocolate easter eggs and small Lindt bunny
colorful malted chocolate easter eggs
slivered almonds
slices of orange peel, peeled with a vegetable peeler into thin strips and coarsely chopped


Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy - either by hand in a bowl with a wooden spoon, or using a freestanding mixer or handheld mixer.

Whisk together the ground almond, cornmeal, baking powder and orange zest in a medium bowl. Add 1/4 of this to the butter-sugar mixture and mix until incorporated. Then beat in 1 of the eggs until incorporated. Add in the rest of the almond and cornmeal mixture and the eggs in two more batches, ending with the almond and cornmeal mixture.

Generously butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Pour the mixture into your pan. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. You can tell when the cake is done when the sides of the cake begin to shrink away from the sides of the tin. A tester will come out with moist crumbs.

While the cake is baking make the chocolate ganache. Put the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate into a medium bowl (preferably metal in case you need to reheat the ganache). Put the cream in a pot on the stove and heat until scalding hot but NOT boiling. (Watch it.) Pour the scalding cream over the chocolate and whisk until all the chocolate is melted. Stir in the liquer. Set aside.

Next make the marmalade glaze. Bring the marmalade and liquer to a boil in a small saucepan. Set aside on the stove top until cake is out of the oven.

Once the cake is out of the oven, prick the top of it all over with a toothpick, then pour the warm syrup over it, and leave to cool completely on a wire rack before taking it out of the pan.

Ease the cake out of the pan gently and place on your serving platter or cake stand. If the cake looks like it might crumble then just place the cake with the metal bottom still attached on the platter and adhere the platter to the stand with tape or butter. (It won't show until serving and at that point no one will care - trust me.) Pour the chocolate ganache over the top. If the ganache has stiffened you can either spread it over like a frosting (this will dramatically change the look of the cake as seen in my pictures, but I think it would still look great and it will taste delicious!) or gently rewarm it over a pot of gently boiling water (only if the bowl is metal.) 

Sprinkle the top of the cake with the slivered almonds then arrange the chocolate Easter eggs, bunny and malt balls on top. Sprinkle the orange slivers artfully on top. Bring to party, and enjoy. Happy Easter!

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