I'm glad to not be alone in a universe of self-imposed arbitrary rules. I hardly ever make anything I don't have at least the majority of ingredients for. This is true especially for baking. It's such a high maintenance task already - who wants to leave the house on a rainy afternoon for something as ultimately useless as whole jar of instant coffee granules of which you are going to use only ONE freaking teaspoon just for a chocolate ganache?
These are the kind of injustices that haunt me late at night. By the way, "granule" is a word that bothers me, though I'm not sure why. I don't think I can shun it entirely, but it makes me think of having sand in my mouth, and that's gross.
Ganache, on the other hand, is a word I love. It instantly makes me think of creamy, glossy chocolate rippling over some baked good. My love of this glorious concept compelled me to make Ina Garten's Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake to accompany the huge trays of my mother's delicious Bengali food (left over from her recent visit) I served at the party Friday night.
I chose this recipe, in part, to get rid of a lot of foodstuffs that were about to bite it: almost-mushy navel oranges, buttermilk on its last leg, the remaining few eggs in the carton. I almost always have semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate on hand (dangerous, but sometimes necessary in emergencies), and heavy whipping cream as well.
The combination of citrus and chocolate, I thought, might complement the spiciness of the main course. I served slices of it warm with a scoop of tangerine sorbet. Judging by the look on AC's face and the empty cake plate left at the end of the night, I think it was a success:
1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1/4 cup grated orange zest (from 4 large oranges)
3 cups all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3/4 cup buttermilk at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups good semisweet chocolate chunks
Syrup:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
Ganache:
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules (which I did not use, obviously, and I don't think it mattered)
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.
2. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, then the orange zest.
3. Sift together 3 cups flour, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine the orange juice, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately in thirds to the creamed butter, beginning and ending with the flour. Toss the chocolate chunks with 2 tablespoons flour and add to the batter. Pour into the pan, smooth the top, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make the syrup. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, cook the sugar with the orange juice until the sugar dissolves. Remove the cake from the pan, set it on a rack over a tray, and spoon the orange syrup over the cake. Allow the cake to cool completely.
5. For the ganache, melt the chocolate, heavy cream, and coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. Drizzle over the top of the cake.
How was y'all's weekend? I just used the last of the whipping cream to make that goat cheese sauce, by the way, which was perfect since I had leftover goat cheese from the eggplant pizza. I added some shrimp to it and baked it in the oven for our Sunday evening dinner. It ended up being kind of a creamy stew, and I had to stop myself from tipping my bowl back and drinking it. J loved it too - he sends his thanks and his love.Mine too,
TF
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