For the Cake
30g unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for buttering cake pan
50g unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for dusting cake pan
20g Dutch-process cocoa
Pinch of salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
100g superfine sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the rack in the center of the oven. Butter and flour a 8-inch cake pan that is 3 inches deep such as a springform mold.
Sift the flour, the cocoa, and the salt together onto a sheet of parchment paper and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla at high speed until the mixture has tripled in volume and is very thick, about 8 minutes. When the whisk is lifted, the batter will form a thick ribbon as it falls back into the bowl.
Lower the speed to stir and carefully tap the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. As soon as all the flour has been added to the eggs, stop the machine. Pour in the melted butter, making sure to leave the white, milky solids behind. With a large rubber spatula, using as few strokes as possible, finish folding the flour mixture and butter into the batter until evenly mixed.
Immediately scrape the batter into the prepared pan, place the pan on a baking sheet, and bake until the cake feels just firm to the touch, about 40 minutes. Transfer the cake to a rack and let it cool for about 5 minutes. Then turn the cake upside down onto a rack to cool. This will flatten the slightly domed top.
For the Orange Syrup
50g granulated sugar
50g brown sugar
80mL water
20mL Cointreau
1tsp orange zest
1tsp orange extract
Put the orange zest, sugars and water in a pan and bring slowly to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer for about 15 mins until syrupy. Remove from the heat and stir in the Cointreau and extract. Alternatively if using orange preserves, dilute orange preserve syrup in low heat with 20mL Cointreau until it is pourable (and won't tear the genoise).
For the Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
450g Cream Cheese
220g butter
260g powdered sugar
2tsp grated orange peel
2tsp orange extract
Pinch of salt
Place butter in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add cream cheese and beat until well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes more. Add sugar, orange zest, and salt and beat for 5 minutes.
For the Chocolate Ganache
200g bittersweet chocolate, chopped (use chips if available)
200mL heavy cream
Heat heavy cream over medium heat. Remove from heat as it starts to shimmer. Add chocolate and let it rest for at least 5 minutes. Slowly fold with a spatula until chocolate fully dissolved.
Assembly
Cut cake into four even layers. Set base layer on cake stand and brush liberally with orange syrup. Cover in one fourth of the orange cream cheese frosting. If desired, add chopped orange preserves. Repeat for three layers and top with final layer. Brush with remaining syrup, then cover cake evenly with remaining cream cheese frosting, smoothing with a cake scrapper/spatula. Cover and let rest and set in the fridge for at least four hours. Prepare the ganache and pour over cold cake, smoothing as needed with cake spatula until fully covered. Let ganache set and decorate with more orange preserves.
Made it several months ago for a birthday and still dreaming of it. Doesn't look great, my ganache was not as smooth as I'd like (didn't have chips so it was just coarsely chopped chocolate and I don't have the patience for smoothing it perfectly). I added a bit of yellow food coloring in the frosting.
Have you seen those instant ramen "hacks" on youtube? The ones where you mix the seasoning packet with mayo or peanut butter (or some other condiment), and it's supposed to mimic the thicker broths that you could get in restaurants? Those are surprisingly good. I can't link the videos because I haven't posted enough and the platform blocks those features for new/inactive users, so you'll have to look it up if you're interested. Sorry! They're delicious though and super easy to do. (:
Last edited by GamingStudy; 2023-04-24 at 07:01 PM.
Reason: poor grammar