Chocolate Orange Gateau

It was on Friday late-afternoon that hubby called me up and told me that we were having a get-together on Saturday night at a friends’ house to celebrate his wife’s birthday.Along with some dishes,I was requested to bake the Birthday Cake:)!!Though my heart did a leap at the prospect of a new baking experiment,it started pressing the panic button too soon at the thought of serving the cake to the guests-which btw included hubby’s boss and wife!!

When in doubt-twitter..I know that mantra works all the time.The thought of having a helping hand a tweet away is a pleasure we tweeters enjoy.”Tweet tweet”,I got Ria as my Guru.Poor thing,she kept giving me ideas after ideas,but I was too scared to try out something new and something elaborate.She then suggested Deeba’s Chocolate Orange gateau,which she had tried out recently and got rave reviews from friends and family.Though that sounded quite a tough task to achieve for a limited baker like me,I calmed down and went through the recipe slowly.It wasn’t too hard after all..:)

I baked the cake immediately,lest I change my mind later.Then one by one I went about making the filling and the frosting.Since the birthday was a day later,I had lots of time to re-do if at all things went wrong[which,Thank God was not required].

The cake was a breeze to make.[Now I can say this..but while making it I was jumping up and down the floor in tension].Whipping the cream was a tough task,but I was very patient[for a change]and got the required results.Making the ganache was the easiest step-I really don’t know why I kept shying away from ganache all this while.Ganache frosted cakes..here I come..:).

Transporting the cake was another hiccup.I placed it on my lap and the AC was on full blast lest the frosting decide to do a melting game.But nothing like that happened and I was able to present the cake to the birthday girl-lady in its proper avatar.The cake was ♥ed by all,chilled to perfection and the flavours gelled with each other,one of my best cakes so far-lookswise and tastewise.

Changes I made-
I cut the cake into two[was too chicken to attempt 3-4 layers].
Skipped the almond paste in the whipped cream.
Mixed some leftover ganache with the whipped cream and went crazy piping swirls and designs and what not.

Take my word for it and bake it for your friends family or why,even for yourself.If I can make it look like this,believe me,anyone can!!

Thanks to Deeba for the wonderful recipe and Ria for the required push..:).♥ ya peeps:).

Chocolate Orange Cloud Gateau
Recipe adapted from Mandarin Orange Cloud Gateau by Sue Ross, pg 17;Re-adapted from Deeba.

Ingredients

Plain flour - 150gms (1/2 cup + 1/8 cup)

Cornflour - 25gms (1/8 cup)

Baking powder - 2 tsps

Pinch of salt

Icing Sugar - 150gms ( 1/2 cup + 1/8 cup)

Oil - 5 tbsps (I used sunflower oil)

Water - 5 tbsps

Eggs - 3 / separated

Zest of 1 orange

Orange juice - 1 tbsp

Filling

Whipping Cream - 200ml
Almonds - 3 tbsp (ground)-I did not add this
Castor sugar - 2-3 tbsps

Ganache

Cream - 150 ml (15% fat)
Dark chocolate - 150gms / broken into pieces
Some extra chocolate for garnishing (grated, scrolls etc)
Silver dragees, orange slices, powdered sugar etc for garnishing.

Method

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Line an 8" springform tin. (the original recipe uses 2 8" sandwich tins)-I used a normal 8' cake tin.
Sift the cornflour + flour + baking powder + salt + icing sugar (yes, it's correct) into a mixing bowl.
Beat the egg whites till they stand in soft peaks & keep aside.
Lightly beat the oil + water + yolks together & stir into the dry ingredients.
Beat until smooth, & stir in the juice & zest.
Fold the whites gently into the yolk mixture.
Turn into lined tin & bake for about 45 minutes till well risen & golden brown. Check if it is done with a wooden pick.( Slide a sheet of foil lightly over the top if it begins to brown too fast).
Leave in tin for 10 minutes, & then cool completely on rack.
Once cool, cut into 2 or 3 layers.

Filling

Whip the cream + sugar till firm. Whisk in the ground almonds.
Reserve a little cream for the topping, & sandwich the layers with the rest.

Ganache

Put the cream & dark chocolate into a pan heat over low heat till all the chocolate has melted, stirring constantly. Stir well, & leave to cool.
Frost the sides & top of the cake with the ganache.
Decorate the top with grated chocolate curls & pipe a design with the reserved almond cream.
Top with a few slices of orange, chocolate shavings & silver dragees etc.
Dust with some powdered sugar.

Chill well & serve right out of the fridge! This gateau doesn't need to sit at room temperature for a while; it's great! -Believe me,it truly is!!

[Am off to Kerala for a while,so will be MIA for a couple of days.Till then,all of you take care and have fun..Happy blogging;)]