Some orange cake recipes call for a squirt of orange juice in the ingredients and think it’s good enough. Others get their orange claim to fame by including a bit of orange zest in the batter. All of those recipes are fakes – imposters, if you will. This orange cake uses the whole orange! It’s unbelievably moist and so fragrant. And it doesn’t hurt that it’s slathered with a generous layer of dark chocolate hazelnutty goodness. I originally came upon this recipe here, and have adjusted it slightly for this cake. There’s just something about the combination of orange and chocolate that makes everything ok…
Quick facts: Hazelnuts are rich in vitamin E and a good source of copper and manganese. Dark chocolate is rich in polyphenols and flavanols, which are anti-inflammatory and have antioxidant properties. And all this smothering a protein-rich cake made with almond flour!
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Place oranges in a saucepan and cover with water. Boil oranges for 1-2 hours or until extremely soft.
- Once boiled, place whole oranges (with peel) in food processor and puree.
- Add eggs, honey, almond flour, salt and baking soda and blend until completely smooth.
- Pour batter into a silicone (or greased) round cake pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- While cake is baking, toast hazelnuts in a dry skillet.
- Place toasted hazelnuts onto a sheet of paper towel and cover with a second sheet of paper towel. Rub the hazelnuts until most of the skins flake off.
- Transfer (mostly) peeled hazelnuts to the (washed) food processor bowl. Add coconut oil, cocoa powder and maple syrup. Blend until a thick paste forms. Add in water one tbsp at a time, until the mixture reaches a frosting-like consistency.
- Once cake has cooled, flip out onto a serving plate. Spread frosting evenly over top of cake.
- Refrigerate for as long as tolerable (the flavour of this cake really blooms the next day, so feel free to make it a day ahead and refrigerate overnight).
This cake is rich, moist and not too sweet. It combines bright, citrusy orange with dark chocolate and hazelnut to create a dessert that is sophreakin’ good!
Ingredients
For the orange cake:
- 2 oranges, washed well
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 cups almond flour
- small pinch of Himalayan pink salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
For the chocolate hazelnut creme:
- 1 cup hazelnuts
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 3 tbsp pure cocoa powder
- 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 3-4 tbsp water
