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La Belle Cuisine

Orange Brownie Cake
Piret's: The George and Piret Munger Cookbook
by George and Piret Munger, 1985, Houghton Mifflin Company

Makes 10 to 12 servings

"With apologies to the ubiquitous Reine de Saba, flourless chocolate
cakes are not our favorites. This one, however, is an exception - more
like a brownie than a fudgy torte. It's best made a day before serving."

Cake:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 cup slivered almonds
Zest of 1 orange
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier

Glaze:
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons Grand Marnier

For the cake:
1. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan. Line the pan with wax
paper or parchment paper, and butter the paper.
2. Cream together the butter and all but 2 tablespoons of the sugar until
light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, with an electric mixer
on high speed, beating the mixture well after each addition.
3. Combine the bread crumbs, almonds, orange zest, and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with
the steel blade and process to finely grind the nuts.
4. With the mixer on low speed, add the nut mixture to the egg mixture, along with the melted chocolate, to form a smooth batter. Fold in the
Grand Marnier.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Pour the batter into the prepared pan
and bake it for 25 to 30 minutes. (A toothpick test won't work with
this moist cake; instead, check after 25 minutes: it should have a dry,
cracking crust and the cake should feel a bit firm when you press it
with your finger.) Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in
the pan until it pulls away from the sides. Invert the cake onto a plate,
pull off the paper, and let the cake cool completely. It will sink down
to about 1/2-inch thickness.

For the glaze:
1. Combine all the glaze ingredients in a double boiler and cook over
low heat until the chocolate melts. Stir the glaze to blend it
thoroughly.
2. Place the cake on a rack over a pan to catch the drips. Brush any
crumbs from the cake.  Spoon the glaze over the cake, using a thin
spatula to evenly coat the sides, but working the glaze as little as
possible on top to keep the surface smooth. (Or place the cooled
cake on a plate with a rim, and pour the glaze over the cake; trans-
ferring the glazed cake from a rack to a plate can be tricky.)

Note: Slivered almonds are commonly sold in 2 1/2-ounce packages,
containing about 3/4 cup.  The remaining slivered almonds can be
used to garnish the cake: Grind them with a little sugar in the food
processor, and sprinkle them over the glaze. Or cool the cake on a
cardboard circle, and glaze as directed above. Holding the cake in
one hand, fill your other hand with ground almonds, and press them
into the sides of the cake.

Variations:
♦ Substitute hazelnuts or walnuts for the almonds.
♦Use Framboise (raspberry liqueur) instead of Grand Marnier
in the cake and glaze, and substitute strained, pureed
raspberries for the honey in the glaze.
♦Use half bittersweet and half semisweet chocolate for a
denser, less sweet cake.
  ♦Instead of glazing the cake, dust the top with confectioners'
sugar, and decorate with strips of candied orange zest.
 

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Orange-Soaked Bundt Cake

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