Gluten-free Non-Dairy Chocolate Orange Cake

Most readers know that I try (and fail miserably) to follow a gluten-free diet, but have I mentioned that what I really need to stay away from is dairy? As of May 2022, I am lactose intolerant. One day I could put half and half in my coffee, and the next day I couldn't. It's hard to avoid dairy, since many commercially manufactured foods contain milk in some form (WHY?), and restaurants love to use tons of butter in everything. The best and most obvious way to keep lactose out of my body is to cook everything from scratch, which is fine, if I was into that sort of thing. Instead, I have invested in large jars of Lactaid pills, which need to be taken every 30-45 minutes if I'm eating something that might contain dairy. And as I said, it seems to be everywhere. 

I was dreaming about cake the other night (literally) and when I woke up, I decided it was time to bake one. Specifically, Nigella Lawson's clementine cake. We had a big bag of clementines, plenty of eggs, and a new bag of almond flour. It's an oddball cake in that the clementines are first boiled, then cooled, and finally plopped into a food processor for a spin. Peels, flesh, all of it. This makes for an extremely moist cake with a ton of orange-y flavor.

I've made this baby a number of times over the years, and this time I thought I'd make it a little differently. I wanted a chocolate orange cake, one that might taste like those Droste or Terry's chocolate oranges. If you've never had one, they're balls of orange-flavored chocolate made up of orange-wedge-shaped pieces, all wrapped in foil to resemble--you guessed it--an orange. I already had the orange portion of the program under control, but needed to incorporate chocolate. I did this by subbing out 1/3 cup of the almond flour for cocoa powder, and I made a non-dairy chocolate ganache for the top. Can't have too much chocolate! And to make it pretty, I decorated the cake with candied orange slices from TJ's. If you don't have those, leave the cake as is. It will be delicious no matter what.

This cake is not super sweet, so if you like 'em sugary, you might want to try a different recipe.

Chocolate Orange Cake

For the cake:

4 to 5 clementines (about 1 lb total)

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

6 large eggs

2 cups ground almonds

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 heaping teaspoon baking powder

For the ganache:

1/4 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk

1/4 cup sugar (optional)

1/2 cup non-dairy chocolate chips (I like Ghirardelli 100% Cacao Unsweetened Chocolate Chips. If you use sweetened chips, omit the sugar.)

1 teaspoon non-dairy butter substitute (I like Earth Balance original)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

Candied orange peel or candied orange slices from Trader Joe's

To make the cake:

Put clementines in a pot with enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Turn temperature down so the water is at a hearty simmer and cook for 2 hours, adding more water if the pot looks like it's running dry. Drain and allow fruit to cool. Once the fruit is cool, tear them open, remove the stem bit from the end and any seeds.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Place the clementines--skin, pith, and all--into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade. Add the sugar and puree. Add the eggs and pulse to combine. Add the almonds, cocoa, and baking powder and pulse until completely incorporated.

Line an 8-inch springform pan with a circle of parchment and coat bottom and sides of pan with butter or release spray. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake for 1 hour then check doneness with a toothpick. If the pick comes out with moist crumbs, it's done. If it comes out with batter on it, add more time. At this point, the cake might start to burn, so cover the top with a piece of foil for any remaining time in the oven.

Remove the pan from the oven and cool completely on a rack before loosening the pan sides. Move the cake to a cake plate by putting a plate on top of the cake and inverting it. Remove the pan bottom and carefully peel off the parchment. 

To make the ganache:

Put the non-dairy milk and sugar (if using) in a microwave-safe bowl. (A 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup is perfect for this.) Cook on high for 2 minutes, then stir. If the mixture hasn't yet boiled, put it back in the microwave for another 30 seconds or so. Watch so it doesn't boil over! Remove the cup from the microwave and add the chocolate chips. Stir to melt chocolate. Once the chocolate is nearly all melted, add the butter substitute and the vanilla bean paste. Stir until smooth. 

Ganache will thicken as it cools. When it reaches a consistency that is thick but still pourable, pour over the top of the cooled cake. Use an offset spatula to smooth out the top. Decorate with candied orange peel or slices.

Serves 8.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

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Blood Orange Chicken

As we've already established, northern Baltimore County isn't exactly the best place for Chinese food. Area restaurants are pretty mediocre, so when we have a craving for kung pao and aren't prepared to drive across town (or to another county), we make it at home.

The cookbooks of Fuchsia Dunlop are a real inspiration and we can't recommend them enough. Not only are the recipes great, particularly in Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking, but the backstory for every recipe is fascinating. After reading all of her books, we sort of have an idea of what Chinese ingredients to keep on hand at all times. Two of those are Chinkiang black vinegar and doubanjian, which I employed in this tangy and sweet orange sauce for chicken. You could use it on pork or beef as well.

If you like your sauce a bit sweeter, use more brown sugar. If you like it hotter, use more doubanjiang. You can, of course, use plain rice vinegar in place of the Chinkiang, but you'll be missing out on the lovely caramelized flavor that black vinegar provides. The same for the doubanjian--sriracha will work, but it doesn't have the same mellow heat. It's also more acid-y than the broad bean paste, so you may want to cut back on the lemon juice or vinegar. A good rule of thumb to use when cooking: taste everything at every stage.

Blood Orange Sauce
This makes enough sauce for 3-4 boneless, skinless thighs or 2 boneless breasts. You can also use it as a glaze for chicken wings. In that case, omit the cornstarch and, depending on the number of wings you make, you may wish to also double the recipe. (Minxeats baked wings recipe here.)

2 shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
Vegetable oil
Salt
Juice of half a lemon
Zest and juice of 1 blood orange (can use regular orange)
3 teaspoons black vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon spicy broad bean paste (doubanjiang)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
Cornstarch

Saute the shallots and onion in a few teaspoons of oil and a pinch of salt until softened, 2-3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Cook chicken to your liking - baked, poached, stir-fried, etc. If they're not already in one, put chicken pieces in a saute pan. Pour over the orange sauce and bring to a boil. If sauce needs thickening, make a slurry with a few teaspoons of cornstarch and twice as much water in a small bowl. Drizzle some of the slurry into the sauce and stir. If not thick enough, add more. Toss the chicken pieces in the sauce to completely coat them, regulating the heat so the sauce doesn't boil away in the process.

Serve with rice and a green veg like sugar snap peas, snow peas, or broccoli.



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Mielbio Organic Italian Honey Lavender Loaf Cake

Honey is one of my favorite sweeteners; about the only thing I won't use it in is tea. I know, tea + honey (especially with lemon) is a classic combination, but it's not a favorite. When I was a kid, I was sick a lot, and among my mother's favorite remedies was big pots of Lipton tea with tons of honey and lemon. So it reminds me of having a bad cold. (She also loved Ben Gay, therefore, I have also developed a deep-rooted dislike for wintergreen in any form. Even root beer can be an iffy proposition.) But I do like honey on its own. And it's great for adding a bit of sweetness to a savory dish, or spread on a piece of buttered toast or a biscuit. And as an ingredient in baking.

When we received a jar of MielBio organic honey in their limited edition Mandarin flavor from Rigoni di Asiago, I knew I had to use it as a flavoring element for a cake. The cloudy raw honey syrup, from Calabria, is made by bees who sip the sweet nectar from clementine trees and has a distinct orange-y flavor. I didn't want to add more orange to the cake, thinking it would detract from the honey flavor, so instead I added a small bit of lavender flowers. They lend a herbal touch to the cake that marries perfectly with the sweet citrussy honey.

The cake gets a nice brown crust while baking; the crumb is light and airy with a delicate orange flavor. It's terrific toasted, with butter (and honey!) or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Honey Lavender Loaf Cake

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup MielBio mandarin honey (or other light, flavored honey)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
3/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon food-grade lavender buds (We get ours from the Spice House)
2 cups AP flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the honey, and then the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the vanilla and sour cream.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl. Beat it into the butter mixture just until combined.

Scrape into a greased 8" or 9" loaf pan. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 40-50 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes before unmolding cake. Cool on rack until at least room temperature before slicing.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



Posted on Minxeats.com.