Nigella’s Flourless Chocolate Orange Cake
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This Flourless Chocolate Orange Cake is a stunning, 7 ingredient dessert made entirely in your blender.
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You know the feeling you get when you meet someone and instantly connect? It might be the way they talk, a certain word they use, or the books stacked on their shelves, but something clicks, and you know this is one of your people. The other day, I went to a friend’s house and noticed her movie collection included all the seasons of 24, the Anne of Green Gables trilogy, and all the seasons of Gilmore Girls. I immediately knew she was a kindred spirit.
The crazy thing is, I often have this feeling about people I’ve never even met. Or (nerd alert), people who don’t even exist. If Anne of Green Gables were real, we would for sure be BFFs or, as she would say, bosom friends. I feel the same way about Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Jess from New Girl. I just feel like we’d get each other, ya know?
I’d never really been into cooking shows until I saw one of Nigella Lawson’s shows. That woman gets me. I simply love her approach to cooking and baking. It’s elegant without being fussy, which really describes her as a person as well.
This is a woman who licks the spatula, eats leftovers straight out of the fridge, and doesn’t bother if a few lemon seeds happen to slip into her cake. She doesn’t spend hours obsessing over the way her food looks, yet she makes some of the most irresistible looking dishes I’ve ever seen. When something turns out a bit lopsided or cracked, she doesn’t fret, she simply says “that’s how they’ll know it’s homemade!” She’s my kind of baker.
This Flourless Chocolate Orange Cake comes from the great Nigella, and it’s the epitome of what her baking is like. It’s incredibly simple-only 7 ingredients!-and it all comes together in a blender. That’s right. There’s no creaming, no mixing wet ingredients in one bowl and dry in the next. It’s all done with just a few pulses on your blender. See why I love her so much?
So, what is flourless chocolate orange cake made of?
This chocolate orange cake begins by boiling oranges for 2 hours until they’re soft and tender. Don’t worry, no hands on work is required during this time. All you do is toss them in a pot, cover, and let them go. This happens to be a great way to make your house smell amazing.
Once the oranges are soft they get pureed, whole, with all of the other ingredients, which include eggs, cocoa, cinnamon, and hazelnut flour or finely ground hazelnuts. I used Bob’s Red Mill Hazelnut Meal/Flour, but you can also grind up your own hazelnuts or sub finely ground almonds/almond meal.
After the mixture is pureed into a batter, it’s poured into a cake pan, baked, and VOILA. Gorgeous chocolatey orange cake is served!
I’ll be honest, I was REALLY skeptical about this cake. I wasn’t sure if I would like the combination of chocolate and orange, and I was certain that grinding up whole oranges (peel and all!) would result in a bitter cake.
But Nigella was dead on with this one. This cake is dense and chocolatey with a punchy orange flavor. It’s not bitter but rather earthy; the citrus tones are mellowed but still quite pronounced.
Is Flourless Chocolate Cake Gluten Free?
Not all flourless cakes are gluten free, but this one is! It also happens to be dairy free, butter free, and oil free, which makes it great for a variety of dietary restrictions.
One word of warning: this cake does not have the texture you would expect from a traditional flour cake. It’s not fluffy or light, but instead substantial and rich with a very moist, nutty crumb.
What Frosting Goes with Flourless Chocolate Cake?
There are a million different ways you could dress this cake up. Ganache would be a lovely, decadent addition (my friend has a wonderful microwave chocolate ganache), and a whipped cream cheese frosting would also work well (the one I use with this Easy Strawberry Cake is my personal favorite).
But if you want to stay true to the spirit of Nigella and go the classy, no frills route, a light dusting of powdered sugar is all you need.
This cake is classic, elegant, and fitting for a fancy dinner party or just a quiet evening at home. Feel free to add a few curled orange peels to the top, or simply leave it bare. This cake is sure to turn heads, whether you accessorize it or not.
If you love this cake but need a quick gluten free chocolate cake fix, try this Paleo Chocolate Mug Cake for one! You may also enjoy my rich and chewy Almond Joy Cookies.
Flourless Chocolate Orange Cake
Ingredients
- 2 oranges
- 6 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon heaping baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups finely ground hazelnuts (or store bought hazelnut meal (can substitute almond meal as well))
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
- Pinch salt
- Powdered sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Place the oranges in a medium sauce pan and cover with water. Bring the pot to a boil then cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until oranges are soft, about 2 hours.
- Once the oranges are cool enough to handle, slice them in half and remove any large seeds.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Place the oranges in a blender and pulse until smooth. You should end up with about 1 1/2 cups of puree. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the powdered sugar, to the blender. Pulse a few times, stir, and then pulse, repeating until the mixture is well combined.
- Grease an 8 inch round spring form pan. Pour the cake batter into the pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool, then sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Or frost with your favorite frosting.
Notes
- The hazelnut meal can be substituted with almond meal.
Nutrition
Chocolate Orange Cake
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How does one keep the oranges covered with the water while cooking. They float uncovered. Does it matter? Can this recipe be pulsed in a cuisinart food processor ?
It shouldn’t matter if the oranges aren’t completely covered. You can give them a flip halfway through to ensure all sides are cooked well. And I think you could pulse this in a food processor instead of the blender without an issue.
Can you cook the oranges a day before and if so, do you keep it in the fridge overnight?
I have not tested this myself, but I think it would work. I would keep them in the fridge overnight.
Making this cake right now for a birthday! But my husband asked a good question.. “should the hazelnuts be roasted?” Ack! I’m not sure… I bought raw hazelnuts and grinded them up already, would this still work or should they be roasted beforehand? I have almond flour that I can substitute instead but I was really excited about the hazelnut flavor!
I realise it’s a flourless cake, but could I use regular cake flour for this cake instead of the nut flour?
Its not nut flour , but ground nuts , so no it cant be substituted unfortunately
Can I skip the oranges?
Unfortunately not. They are a key component to the structure and flavor of the cake. If you are looking for a plain chocolate cake, we highly recommend our chocolate bundt cake. https://neighborfoodblog.com/best-chocolate-bundt-cake-of-your-life/
No it’s orange cake for goodness sake!
I’m trying to boil the oranges and find they float! I can’t get them covered. Any suggestions? Will this be an issue?