Flourless Chocolate Orange Cake

This cake is reminiscent of those chocolate oranges you used to (maybe still do) get for Christmas, but a little more elevated. It’s rich and decadent but also light because it’s flourless. The cake should puff up and rise while baking, and the edges will pull away from the pan; it will then fall and crack a bit - don’t worry that’s part of it’s charm! This is the perfect dessert for the GF person in your life.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1” pieces, at room temperature, plus more for pan
1 cup dark chocolate (I chopped up Lindt 70% dark chocolate bars)
4 eggs, 3 of which will be separated into separate bowls
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cup granulated sugar + 1 tbsp for egg whites
Zest of medium 1 orange
Juice of 1/2 medium orange
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a cake pan with some butter.

In a double boiler (place a heat safe bowl in a pot with 1-2 inches of water and bring to a boil) melt the chocolate and butter until completely smooth. Remove the bowl from the pot and set aside. 

Separate 3 of the eggs into two medium mixing bowls. Using the remaining whole egg, crack it into the bowl with the egg yolks, then add the cocoa, sugar, orange zest and juice, vanilla and salt. Slowly stir the melted chocolate into the egg yolk mixture.

Whip the egg whites until the mixture begins to foam and stiff peaks begin to form, add 1 tbsp of sugar. In two batches, fold the chocolate into the egg whites. Make sure that no white ribbons can be seen.

Pour the chocolate batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake at 350°F for 35-40 minutes. It is normal for the cake to have some cracks. Remove from the oven and allow to completely cool before serving. 

Topping: using an electric mixer, whip ½ cup heavy cream, ½ cup Greek yogurt and 2 tbsp powdered sugar. Serve the cake with the whipped cream on top.