Orange chocolate truffle cake is super dense and decadent and naturally gluten free. It's a fancy dessert only containing a few ingredients. It's also really easy to make variations. A great dessert recipe to have on hand.
2Tablespoonsinstant coffee(you can use instant espresso, but you may have to cut back on the amount)
1Tablespoonorange liqueur
5large eggs
Instructions
Chop the chocolate fairly finely (you can also use "buttons" or high quality chocolate chips). Place it in the mixer bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
Place the butter in a small saucepan and zest an orange into the pan. Melt the butter over medium heat until almost completely melted. Swirl the pan to melt the butter completely.
Pour the warm butter onto the chocolate in the bowl. Add the salt and put the mixer on low speed.
Stir the sugar and water together in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan until the sugar is evenly wet. Bring the sugar and water to a boil over medium heat. Slap the lid on and let boil for a minute or two to wash the sugar crystals off the sides of the pan.
Remove the lid and let the sugar cook until it reaches 248F. You can use a candy thermometer that stays in the pan or use your Thermapen to frequently check the temperature.
When the sugar has reached temperature, immediately pour it into your mixer bowl (still on low speed). Mix for a few seconds then add the instant coffee and orange liqueur.
Mix another couple of minutes and then add the eggs all at once. Mix until well combined, smooth and glossy, scraping the bowl as necessary.
Mix until the mixture has cooled to room temperature.
At this point, you can put it in a container in the fridge to bake sometime over the next week or so. You can also just keep right on going.
To Bake
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line the bottom and sides of a 9" spring form pan with non-stick foil (you can use parchment, but do spray it with pan spray.
Pour all the batter into the pan and bake in the center of the oven until the entire cake is just slightly puffed. The puffing will start around the edges, and the center will be somewhat sunken looking. Keep baking until the center rises to the same height as the edges, about 40-50 minutes, depending on your oven and if you're baking from refrigerated or from room temperature (It will take somewhat longer if you're starting with refrigerated batter.)
Remove the cake to a rack to cool to warm.
Remove the sides of the spring form pan. Carefully work a large spatula under the foil on the bottom and slide the cake off the base of the pan and just onto the rack.
Serve slightly warm topped with the garnishes of your choice.
Refrigerate leftover cake and let come to room temperature before serving. You can also warm it up slightly in the microwave or in a low oven. The texture of this cake is lovely either way, but it is particularly dreamy when room temperature or warmer.
Notes
Feel free to vary the flavors here. Swirl in 1/2 cup of raspberry jam instead of using orange zest and liqueur. Or add actual raspberries to the batter and sub Chambord for the orange liqueur.Batter keeps in the fridge for a good 2 weeks.You can also bake these as individual cakes in small cake rings. See equipment recommendations. Line each ring with a strip of parchment (or spray them well with pan spray, place them on a parchment-lined sheet pan, and fill each ring almost to the top with batter. Bake until nicely risen with light cracks all over, about 30 minutes.