Chocolate And Orange Cake With Hot Chocolate Sauce

This week’s recipe is a gooey delight of chocolate and orange which is a marriage made in heaven! What’s more, it is an ideal dessert for family and friends which is both simple to make and easy on the purse. And did I mention that it is delicious as well ?

Ingredients (cake)

400 g dark chocolate

175g butter

7 eggs, separated

1 cup sugar

¾ cup flour

2 medium oranges

3 tbsp orange juice

¼ tsp salt

Ingredients (sauce)

150g dark chocolate chopped

½ cup whipping cream

¼ cup sugar

2 ½ tbsp golden syrup

1 ½ tbsp orange juice

1 tbsp butter

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch spring form pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the parchment and dust off excess flour. Set aside.

2. Zest the 2 oranges. Use a serrated knife to remove the remaining peel and white membrane from the fruit. Coarsely chop and set aside.

3. To make the cake, stir together the chocolate and butter in a saucepan over a low heat until smooth. Remove from heat.

4. Beat egg yolks and ¾ cup sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until thick and pale. Add melted chocolate mixture beating until blended. Add flour, beating until blended. Stir in the zest, chopped oranges and orange juice.

5. Beat egg whites in a separate bowl with an electric mixer until stiff. Add salt and remaining ¼ cup sugar, a little at a time. Beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture. Pour mixture into prepared tin.

6. Bake for 45 – 50 minutes or until firm to the touch. Do not worry if cracks appear on the top of the cake at this stage. Cool in the pan. Loosen edges and invert it onto a cake platter. Remove parchment and bottom of the tin. Serve warm with hot chocolate sauce.

7. To make the sauce, simply stir all sauce ingredients together in a heavy saucepan over a low heat for 5 minutes or until sauce is smooth.