Mandarin Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces, rm. temp.
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons orange peel, grated fine
• 4 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup almonds, toasted and chopped
• 3/4 cup crystallized ginger, minced

Method

• Glaze:
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons Grand Marnier
• 11 ounces semisweet chocolate
• Preheat oven to 350F. Butter 10" cake pan. Line with parchment and butter paper. Dust with flour.
• Melt chocolate in top of double boiler over simmering water.
• When melted, remove from top of double boiler and add butter, 1 tablespoon at at time, mixing until melted and smooth.
• Mix in sugar and grated orange peel. Mix in eggs 1 at a time. Stir in egg yolk. Add cake flour and ground ginger. Then add copped toasted almonds and crystallized ginger and stir to combine. Transfer to prepared pan.
• Bake just until springy to touch ~ 1 hour and 5 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack for 15 minutes. Turn out on rack, remove paper and cool.
• Glaze: Scald whipping cream with Grand Marnier in small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add semisweet chocolate and mix until smooth. Cool glaze until thick enough to spread.
• Place cake right side up on rack which is positioned on parchment paper on a sheet pan. Spread glaze evenly over top and sides of cake. Refrigerate until glaze is firm. Transfer cake to serving platter.

Notes

• SERVINGS: 12
• SOURCE: Adapted from Bon Appetit 1992