13 Feb 2013

sweet tooth

I had a sweet tooth dilemma going one during summer school and I couldn't afford to use my time baking when I had x pages of readings to do each night. Store bought sweets and pastries didn't exactly hit the spot, until I ate a handful of sweet things after dinner one night... 

Since I didn't get to bake, this is basically all sorts of my favourite things rolled into one. A rich, gooey chocolate cake, spiced biscuits (blitzed into crumbs), orange curd and whipped cream, check. 

So um, Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Go bake something and knock your (and someone's) socks off!

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Flourless chocolate and orange cake     makes 1 x 14cm cake
adapted from Billy's flourless chocolate cake in Masterchef Series 3 Cookbook

65g unsalted butter, at room temperature
100g caster sugar
150g Lindt Orange Intense dark chocolate, chopped
50ml thickened cream
10g dutch cocoa powder, sifted
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
30ml Grand Marnier (optional)
rind of 1 orange

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease and line a 14cm round cake tin with baking paper.

Melt butter and sugar in a saucepan over low heat. Allow to cool. Meanwhile, melt chocolate and cream over a double boiler, stirring occasionally. Pour the melted chocolate into the butter and stir until smooth. Lastly, add the cocoa powder, eggs, Grand Marnier and orange rind and stir until smooth.

Pour batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 35 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature before chilling in the fridge. The center will be soft and gooey-like.