From the Cake Laboratory: Orange-Almond-Chocolate Cake for Julia

Of course you remember the few things I did lately for #CookForJulia from Julia Child's cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. After all it was only a few days ago. How could you possibly have forgotten the flaming Crêpes? 

I had even a few inquiries to get some of those or to be invited to dinner by me. Well, I would love to, but ... you know how cruel reality is at times ... well, very often. However, who knows what the future will bring, what opportunities there will come up.

Until then I had to face the question on what to do with the leftover orange-almond butter I didn't use up for the crêpes. I guess I had been to stingy with spreading the butter on them. So here I am with quite some orange almond butter and have to come up with an idea to use it up without doing more crêpes.

What follows is the solution ... an Orange-Almond-Chocolate cake.

What I used (if I got it right):

250 g orange-almond butter (about 150 g butter, 70 g pulverized almonds, 2 tbs orange liqueur, zest and juice of one orange, 30 g sugar)

200 ml cream (I had a strange mixture of cream, milk and condensed milk - wanted to get rid of those)

2 eggs

2 extra egg whites (they were somehow lingering in the fridge, you could use 4 eggs instead, I guess)

100 g sugar

200 g flour

2 tsp baking powder

100 g dark chocolate

Zest of one orange

Some slivered almonds

How I did it (must have been like that):

Well then, I got my favourite cake form, the round one ready, properly greased and ready to go.

The orange-almond butter went to a hot pool of water in it's bowl, because I had stored it in the fridge. In solid form the butter would be of no use in the process.

First of all, the egg yolks (how many ever you may have) are creamed with the sugar. Then you add the flour (sift it, if you want) and the baking powder.

The butter has softened and can go in as well. Time to mix everything through, properly.

The egg whites are whisked as well until they look like they should ... you know, not going anyway when you tilt the bowl by 180°. Then you fold in the egg whites and let it all flow into the cake tin.

The oven is heated up at 180° or, if not, you have to wait until it is, of course.

Bake the cake for approximately 50 minutes. Check whether it is done. Remove the cake from the oven should that be the case and let it cool down a bit.

That gives you the opportunity to melt the chocolate and grate in some orange zest.

When you are ready and the cake as well, the chocolate goes onto the cake.

Throw some slivered almonds on top and grate over some more orange zest and ready we are.

If you would ask me, that looks quite gorgeous and delicious and ... but it would not be fair to ask me, I reckon, since it was my idea in the first place.

So let me know, what you think instead? Just leave a comment!