THE LAST HURRAH - 2013 - Ibarra Chocolate Cake w/ Chocolate Glaze

THE LAST HURRAH - 2013

Ibarra Chocolate Cake w/ Chocolate Glaze

Selling our house in Studio City and moving to Ojai to start a new life adventure has been a whirlwind.  But we finally settled into our new home just in time to food binge through the holidays.

I don't know about you, but clear broth was beginning to sound appetizing after weeks of turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casseroles - prime rib, popovers, mashed potatoes, spinach souffles - lobster tails w/ clarified butter and an assortment of steaks and roasts and aged cheeses an pates all accompanied w/ single malt, cosmos, martinis, white and red wines.  I think I need to check into a clinic to dry out from holiday over-indulgence syndrome.

But before I hit the clear broth and bottled water, there was one more holiday to celebrate in 2013.  New Year's Eve.  Richard and I had planned to stay in and watch Kathy Griffith embarrass Anderson Cooper again this year as the ball fell in Manhattan, but we were invited to a pot luck dinner party at the beautiful home of new Ojaian (not to be confused w/ Ohioan) friends.  

Our choice of course:  Dessert.  To say goodbye to the 2013 food year we chose the most delicious, richest, chocolate dessert we could make as our last food hurrah... Mark Miller's Ibarra chocolate cake w/ chocolate glaze from his Coyote Cafe cookbook.

How rich is it?  Your head says stop after one bite, your stomach says "more!"   

Our stomachs won, and we all clamored for seconds... not bites, but whole slices.

Bring on the broth.

Mark Miller's Ibarra Chocolate Cake w/ Chocolate Glaze

Coyote Cookbook (page 130)

"Even though there's no  Ibarra chocolate in it, this cake contains everything that Mexican Ibarra chocolate contains --- chocolate, almonds, cinnamon and sugar.  Hence the name.  The glaze for this torte-like dessert has twice as much chocolate as the cake, making this concoction a choco-holics delight."

Yield: One 8 or 9 inch cake

Ingredients (cake):

1 T. cinnamon

zest of 2 oranges

4 T (2 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, grated

1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) unblanched almonds, toasted and ground

4 eggs, separated

1/2 cup sugar

2 T fresh orange juice

2 T Grand Marnier (we used Triple Sec)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease, flour, and paper an 8 or 9 inch cake pan.  

Combine cinnamon, orange zest, grated chocolate, and ground almonds in a mixing bowl and set aside.  

Beat egg yolks w/ 1/4 cup sugar; stir in orange juice, and set aside.

In another bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks while gradually adding 1/4 cup sugar.

Stir egg yolks and orange juice into the chocolate-almond mixture, then fold in half the beaten egg whites.  Blend well, and gently fold in remaining egg whites.

Spread mixture evenly in prepared cake pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until cake pulls away from sides of pan.  Let cool for 10 minutes and invert onto cake rack.  (Note from Richard:  watch!  He removed it from oven after 28 minutes.)

When cool, paint w/ Grand Marnier (Triple Sec), then cover w/ Chocolate Glaze (we pour the glaze over the cake from a gravy boat).

Ingredients (chocolate glaze):

10 T (5 ozs) bittersweet chocolate

1 T (1/2 oz) unsweetened chocolate

3/4 cup softened butter

1 T corn syrup

1 T water

1/4 cup chopped candied orange peel (optional)

Directions:

Place both chocolates, 1/2 cup of the soft butter, corn syrup, and water in a double boiler over simmering (not rapidly boiling) water.
 

Stir gently until just melted  Remove from heat and stir in remaining 1/4 cup soft butter.

The glaze is ready to pour when it reaches the consistency of maple syrup (between 86 and 96 degrees).

Place cake rack over pan or wax paper, and pour glaze over cake, tilting to coat evenly (we never do the tilt thing because the gravy boat allows us to control the pour so that it's evenly distributed).

Decorate w/ candied orange peel, if desired.  (We decorated the cake w/ raspberries and a sprig of mint.)

Bon Appetit!!!

And a very happy 2014!!!!