Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Chocolate Orange Marble Cake
A new book has been added to my baking arsenal: Gormet's Best Desserts. 575 pages of glorious desserts to keep me busy over the coming fall and winter months. I learned about this book from my sister who had bought me a copy at a used book store but decided to keep it for herself. I hopped online and quickly found a nice used copy at Amazon. A few dollars and a few days later my copy arrived. Here's the first of many I hope to try out of this wonderful collection.
Chocolate Orange Marble Cake
From Gormet's Best Desserts
First you make the "plain" batter which follows the steps of many a cake recipe. In this case, you alternately add the flour mixture with sour cream. I used light sour cream which I'm sure didn't hurt a bit. Once completed, I divided it into two as best I could--I eyed it. Into one division I mixed in the grated orange rind and into the other I mixed in the melted chocolate (a very decadent 99% cacao from Scharffen Berger). Make sure to use unsweetened chocolate since the batter is already sweetened.
In yet another bowl I beat the egg whites to stiff peaks (I didn't bother with the cream of tartar) and again split the result in two by eye and folded the portions into the two batters. I followed the directions carefully and poured the chocolate into the orange and swirled it together with a spatula.
The pan that this recipe calls for is a "deep 1 1/2 quart baking pan." I'm guessing this refers to the volume of the pan, the actual shape being up to you. I used a 10-inch spring form pan to accomplish this. A 9 x 13 inch pan would probably work but you need to adjust your cooking time. I knew 1 hour and 10 minutes would be too much. I recommend starting out with 25 or 30 minutes and checking with a toothpick from there.
The result: The final judgment will have to wait until tomorrow. I can tell you the the batters were delicious uncooked. The cake itself has just come out of the oven. As it sits on the counter to cool the sharp notes of orange mingle with rich and mellow chocolate making it very difficult to ignore.
* * *
The first thing you notice when you take a bite of this cake is the moistness and the soft texture. The chocolate flavor hits your palette first and just a moment later you get a sharp taste which takes another moment to recognize as orange. The sweetness is just right. Overall I am very pleased with the way this turned out. The marbling gives it a very complicated look that is bound to impress. Oddly, my only complaint is that I find the texture to be too soft, I feel that it needs something to balance it out. I'm not sure if chopped nuts are the answer but it probably couldn't hurt.
Chocolate Orange Marble Cake
From Gormet's Best Desserts
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, separated plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup sour cream
- grated rind of 1 orange
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
- pinch of cream of tartar
- Butter a baking pan and line it with buttered wax paper.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until light.
- Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each.
- In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the sour cream and beat until smooth.
- Divide the cake batter between 2 bowls and into one stir the grated orange ride and into the other stir the melted chocolate.
- Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until they hold stiff peaks.
- Fold 1/2 the whites into the orange batter and 1/2 into the chocolate.
- Transfer the chocolate batter to the bowl with the orange batter and lightly swirl with a spatula through the batters to marbleize the mixture.
- Pour into the baking pan and bake in the middle of the oven for
1 hour and 10 minutes40 minutes.
First you make the "plain" batter which follows the steps of many a cake recipe. In this case, you alternately add the flour mixture with sour cream. I used light sour cream which I'm sure didn't hurt a bit. Once completed, I divided it into two as best I could--I eyed it. Into one division I mixed in the grated orange rind and into the other I mixed in the melted chocolate (a very decadent 99% cacao from Scharffen Berger). Make sure to use unsweetened chocolate since the batter is already sweetened.
In yet another bowl I beat the egg whites to stiff peaks (I didn't bother with the cream of tartar) and again split the result in two by eye and folded the portions into the two batters. I followed the directions carefully and poured the chocolate into the orange and swirled it together with a spatula.
The pan that this recipe calls for is a "deep 1 1/2 quart baking pan." I'm guessing this refers to the volume of the pan, the actual shape being up to you. I used a 10-inch spring form pan to accomplish this. A 9 x 13 inch pan would probably work but you need to adjust your cooking time. I knew 1 hour and 10 minutes would be too much. I recommend starting out with 25 or 30 minutes and checking with a toothpick from there.
The result: The final judgment will have to wait until tomorrow. I can tell you the the batters were delicious uncooked. The cake itself has just come out of the oven. As it sits on the counter to cool the sharp notes of orange mingle with rich and mellow chocolate making it very difficult to ignore.
* * *
The first thing you notice when you take a bite of this cake is the moistness and the soft texture. The chocolate flavor hits your palette first and just a moment later you get a sharp taste which takes another moment to recognize as orange. The sweetness is just right. Overall I am very pleased with the way this turned out. The marbling gives it a very complicated look that is bound to impress. Oddly, my only complaint is that I find the texture to be too soft, I feel that it needs something to balance it out. I'm not sure if chopped nuts are the answer but it probably couldn't hurt.
# posted by Baking Fool @ 10:15 PM 
