Nigella Lawson Flourless Chocolate Orange Cake Food

CHOCOLATE CLOUD CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of the cake pan with baking parchment.
• Melt the chocolate either in a double boiler or a microwave, add the butter and let melt in the warm chocolate.
• Beat the 2 whole eggs and 4 egg yolks with 1/3 cup of the sugar, then gently add the chocolate mixture, the orange-flavored liqueur and the orange zest.
• In another bowl, whisk the 4 egg whites until foamy, then gradually add the remaining sugar and whisk until the whites hold their shape but are not too stiff. Lighten the chocolate mixture with a dollop of egg whites, and then fold in the rest of the whites. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the cake is risen and cracked and the center is no long wobbly. Cool the cake in its pan on a wire rack; the middle will sink as it cools.
• When you are ready to eat, place the still pan-bound cake on a cake stand or plate for serving and carefully remove the sides of the pan from the cake. Don't worry about cracks or rough edges, it's the crater look we're going for here. Whip the cream until it's soft and then add the vanilla and orange-flavored liqueur and continue whisking until the cream is firm but not stiff. Fill the crater of the cake with the whipped cream, easing it out gently towards the edges of the cake, and dust the top lightly with cocoa powder pushed through a tea-strainer.

NIGELLA LAWSON FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE ORANGE CAKE

Steps:

• Put the whole orange or oranges in a pan with some cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 2 hours or until soft.
• Drain, and when cool, cut the oranges in half and remove any big pips.
• Then pulp everything - pith, peel and all - in a food processor.
• Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C Butter and line a 20cm springform tin.
• Add the eggs, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, almonds, sugar and cocoa to the orange in the food processor. Run the motor until you have a cohesive cake mixture, but slightly knobbly with the flecks of puréed orange.
• Pour and scrape into the cake tin and bake for an hour, by which time a cake tester should come out pretty well clean. Check after 45 minutes because you may have to cover with foil to prevent the cake burning before it is cooked through, or indeed it may need a little less than an hour; it all depends on your oven.
• Leave the cake to get cool in the tin, on a cooling rack. When the cake is cold you can take it out of the tin. Decorate with strips of orange peel or coarsely grated zest if you so wish, but it is darkly beautiful in its plain, unadorned state.

OLD-FASHIONED CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Take everything out of the refrigerator so that all ingredients can come room temperature.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Put all the cake ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, cocoa, butter, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream into a food processor and process until you have a smooth, thick batter. If you want to go the long way around, just mix the flour, sugar and leavening agents in a large bowl and beat in the soft butter until you have a combined and creamy mixture. Now whisk together the cocoa, sour cream, vanilla, and eggs and beat this into your bowl of mixture.
• Divide this batter, using a rubber spatula to help you scrape and spread, into the prepared tins and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, which should be about 35 minutes, but it is wise to start checking at 25 minutes. Also, it might make sense to switch the 2 cakes around in the oven halfway through cooking time. Remove the cakes, in their tins, to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before turning out of their tins. Don't worry about any cracks as they will easily be covered by the frosting later.
• To make this icing, melt the chocolate and butter in a good-sized bowl either in the microwave or suspended over a pan of simmering water. Go slowly either way: you don't want any burning or seizing.
• While the chocolate and butter is cooling a little, sieve the confectioners' sugar into another bowl. Or, easier still, put the icing sugar into the food processor and blitz to remove lumps.
• Add the corn syrup to the cooled chocolate mixture, followed by the sour cream and vanilla and then when all this is combined whisk in the sieved confectioners' sugar. Or just pour this mixture down the funnel of the food processor onto the powdered sugar, with the motor running.
• You may need to add a little boiling water, say a teaspoon or so, or indeed some more confectioners' sugar, depending on whether you need the frosting to be thiner or thicker. It should be liquid enough to coat easily, but thick enough not to drip off.
• Choose your cake stand or plate and cut 4 strips of baking parchment to form a square and sit 1 of the cakes, uppermost (i.e. slightly domed) side down.
• Spoon about 1/3 of the frosting onto the center of the cake-half and spread with a knife or spatula until you cover the top of it evenly. Sit the other cake on top, normal way up, pressing gently to sandwich the 2 together.
• Spoon another 1/3 of the frosting onto the top of the cake and spread it in a swirly, textured way (though you can go for a smooth finish if you prefer, and have the patience). Spread the sides of the cake with icing and leave a few minutes until set, then carefully pull away the paper strips.
• I love to dot the top of this with sugar pansies, and you must admit, they do look enchanting, but there really is no need to make a shopping expedition out of it. Anything, or indeed nothing, will do.

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE ORANGE CAKE

Steps:

• Place the oranges in a medium sauce pan and cover with water. Bring the pot to a boil then cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until oranges are soft, about 2 hours.
• Once the oranges are cool enough to handle, slice them in half and remove any large seeds.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Place the oranges in a blender and pulse until smooth. You should end up with about 1 1/2 cups of puree. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the powdered sugar, to the blender. Pulse a few times, stir, and then pulse, repeating until the mixture is well combined.
• Grease an 8 inch round spring form pan. Pour the cake batter into the pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Allow the cake to cool, then sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Or frost with your favorite frosting.

NIGELLA LAWSON'S CHOCOLATE ORANGE CAKE

Steps:

• Note: You can leave out the baking powder and bicarb if dietary requirements make that desirable, but in that case, I'd use a 23cm tin instead and expect it to need slightly less cooking time. Put the whole orange or oranges in a pan with some cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 2 hours or until soft. Drain and, when cool, cut the oranges in half and remove any big pips. Then pulp everything - pith, peel and all - in a food processor, or see below if you're proceeding by hand. Once the fruit is cold, or near cold (though actually I most often cook the oranges the day before I make the cake), preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C. Butter and line a 20cm springform tin. Add the eggs, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, almonds, sugar and cocoa to the orange in the food processor. Run the motor until you have a cohesive cake mix­ture, but still slightly knobbly with the flecks of puréed orange. Or you could chop the fruit finely by hand, and with a wooden spoon beat the eggs one by one into the sugar, alter­nating with spoons of mixed ground almonds and cocoa, then the oranges, though I have to say I've only ever made this the lazy way. Pour and scrape into the cake tin and bake for an hour, by which time a cake tester should come out pretty well clean. Check after 45 minutes because you may have to cover with foil to prevent the cake burning before it is cooked through, or indeed it may need a little less than an hour; it all depends on your oven. Leave the cake to get cool in the tin, on a cooling rack. When the cake is cold you can take it out of the tin. Decorate with strips of orange peel or coarsely grated zest if you so wish, but it is darkly beautiful in its plain, unadorned state.

CHOCOLATE ORANGE CAKE

Steps:

• preheat oven to 350 F.
• combine first 6 dry ingredients in large bowl.
• add eggs,milk,oil and vanilla. beat at medium speed for 2 min or until smooth.
• stir in boiling water. mix well. pour batter in 2 8" or 9" round cake pans evenly.
• bake at 350 F for 35-40 min or until toothpick comes out clean. cool 10 min, then remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.
• use orange frosting to frost.