Orange Almond Chocolate Bundt Cake

When I was college in Bozeman Mt., I worked at a restaurant on Main Street, starting out as a fry cook, I also had to plate up the dessert menu. It quickly became obvious I could make better desserts than what they offered. I was given the opportunity to transform the menu of an “Italian ricotta cake” and three choices of ice cream into a full dessert menu. I still make many of those desserts today and will be sharing them in the coming months. But, the “Italian Ricotta cake” remained on the menu and the flavors have stayed with me all those years. It was filled with creamy ricotta, toasted almonds, chocolate and some orange liquor. In this cake, I’ve found a way to simplify all those favors without a messy filling and getting a tasty slice of cake.

This cake is not very sweet and definitely an adult version. You can use chocolate chips in the batter, but I think chopping up a good quality bittersweet chocolate gives a better flavor and texture to this cake. I wanted this to be more about the orange and almonds, and the chocolate is just in the background. The smell of toasted almonds and orange rind has taken over my kitchen, and it’s intoxicating in a very good way.

The batter is easy and can be mixed up and in the oven in about 30 minutes. I tried to make this using ricotta, and the texture just wouldn’t come out right. Switching to sour cream did the trick. It is super moist, has a tender crumb, and tastes even better the next day.

Orange Almond Chocolate Bundt cake

The Batter

3 cup sifted cake flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs
2 tablespoons orange zest
½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon Cointreau
1 cup lightly toasted slivered almonds, coarsely chopped
1 cup (4 oz) chopped bittersweet chocolate

For the glaze:

1 ½ cups powdered sugar
3- 4 tablespoons Cointreau or milk or orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla

Garnish

½ toasted sliced or slivered almonds, toasted

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Thoroughly grease and flour (or use floured cooking spray) a 12 cup bundt pan to ensure nothing sticks into the pan after baking.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and soda. In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter for a minute to lighten. Add in the sugar and beat until very light and creamy, (about 4-5 minutes) scraping down the bowl frequently.

Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides and ensuring the batter is combined before the next addition. On low speed stir in ½ of the sifted flour mixture, add in the orange juice, zest, sour cream and vanilla. Stir briefly to combine.

Stir in the remaining dry ingredients on low speed. Do not over mix. By hand, stir in the almonds and the chopped chocolate. Spread the batter in the prepared bundt pan. From about 3 inches above the counter, drop the filled pan once to release any large air pockets. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 50 minutes until it is golden brown and it springs back when lightly pressed. You can use a cake tester inserted that comes out clean, knowing that there is melted chocolate and it may have coated the tester.

Let it cool for 15 minutes before unmolding. Let the cake cool completely, about an hour more.

Finishing it off

Prepare the glaze by mixing all the ingredients, reserving one tablespoon of the Cointreau. Add in the reserved tablespoon if glaze is too thick. The glaze should be just pourable, it speads as it sits on the cake. Pour or spoon over the cake. Sprinkle the toasted sliced almonds over the still wet glaze. Here is a trick I've learned: if the glaze has already dried it can be moistened with a very light spray of water before sprinkling the almonds.