Flourless Chocolate Orange Almond Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Put the whole orange or oranges in a pan with some cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 2 hours or until soft.
• Drain, and when cool, cut the oranges in half and remove any big pips.
• Then pulp everything - pith, peel and all - in a food processor.
• Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C Butter and line a 20cm springform tin.
• Add the eggs, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, almonds, sugar and cocoa to the orange in the food processor. Run the motor until you have a cohesive cake mixture, but slightly knobbly with the flecks of puréed orange.
• Pour and scrape into the cake tin and bake for an hour, by which time a cake tester should come out pretty well clean. Check after 45 minutes because you may have to cover with foil to prevent the cake burning before it is cooked through, or indeed it may need a little less than an hour; it all depends on your oven.
• Leave the cake to get cool in the tin, on a cooling rack. When the cake is cold you can take it out of the tin. Decorate with strips of orange peel or coarsely grated zest if you so wish, but it is darkly beautiful in its plain, unadorned state.

Steps:

• Whipped Creme Fraiche: Whisk cream with vanilla and salt until thickened and silky but not yet forming peaks. Add sugar and creme fraiche; whisk to soft peaks, 1 to 2 minutes more. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate in an airtight container up to 8 hours; stir before using.
• Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter with 3/4 cup granulated sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time. Beat in chocolate and vanilla. Add almond flour and salt; beat to combine. In a separate bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low until frothy. Increase speed to medium-high and beat to soft peaks, about 1 minute. Gradually add remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar, beating until stiff but not dry peaks form, about 1 minute more. Stir one-third of egg-white mixture into batter until no streaks remain. Gently fold in remaining egg-white mixture just to combine (do not overmix). Transfer to prepared pan; gently smooth top with an offset spatula.
• Bake until puffed slightly and set along edges but still slightly wobbly in center, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely, about 2 hours. Remove sides of pan. Using a spatula, gently lift cake from pan; slide onto a cake plate. Lightly dust with confectioners' sugar. Cut into wedges; serve with creme fraiche and raspberries.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4 and line the base of a 20cm springform tin with baking parchment. Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of just-simmering water, or in the microwave in 20-second bursts. Stir, then leave to cool slightly.
• Meanwhile, tip the eggs and sugar into a second bowl and beat with an electric whisk for 4-5 mins, or until thick and creamy. Add the mascarpone or soft cheese and vanilla, and continue to beat until everything is combined. Lightly fold in the cooled melted chocolate mixture until everything is one even colour, then fold in the almonds. Sift over the cocoa powder and a small pinch of salt, and fold in to combine.
• Scrape the cake batter into the prepared tin. Put the tin on a baking tray and bake for 35-40 mins until the cake is puffed up and has cracked on top. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 30-40 mins - it will deflate as it cools. Serve warm as a chocolate pudding, or leave to cool completely and enjoy as a fudgy brownie cake. Dust with extra cocoa powder before serving.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brush bottom of 10-inch springform pan generously with butter or margarine.
• Blend almonds and 1/4 cup sugar in food processor until almonds are finely ground. Add chocolate; blend until chocolate is finely ground.
• Whisk cocoa, orange juice and orange peel in small bowl until smooth.
• In another bowl, combine egg yolks and 1/2 cup + 2 Tbs. sugar. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean.
• Using an electric mixer, beat until yolk mixture is very thick, about 4 minutes.
• Beat in cocoa mixture. Fold in ground-almond mixture.
• Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites and salt in another large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add 2 Tbs. sugar, beating until whites are stiff but not dry.
• Fold whites into chocolate batter in 3 additions. Transfer to prepared pan.
• Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
• Cool cake completely in pan on rack. If making a day ahead of time, cover with foil and store at room temperature.