l'orange

I have been making this torte since I bought the book in 2005. It was the first recipe I tried from this fantastic book- since it said it was recommended for beginners since there are no eggs to separate and very little that can go wrong. I agree- it is one of the easiest cakes I've ever made. There are so few ingredients, nothing to sift, no beating the eggs to any kind of soft peak or stiff peak. Straightforward chocolate, almond and orange flavours. This pairs well with sherry, and pedro-ximenez style dessert wines. It is not too sweet to overpower a wine paired with it. After making it at a hotel, a restaurant, and at home, it's still my first choice for an easy cake to put together even on a weeknight.

One note, however: the pairing of chocolate and orange is one that people either love or hate. Many men have commented that they liked it, but that the orange was just a little too intense for them. No women have made this comment. If you like chocolate and orange, you will like this cake. If you don't like the combination, then avoid this recipe or leave out the orange zest. I've experimented with lemon zest in place of the orange zest and it works very well.

Also- when adding the orange (or lemon) zest: please note that you will extract the maximum flavour from the citrus zest if you follow Dorie Greenspan's tip of rubbing the zest into the sugar with your fingers before proceeding with the recipe. It's a great tip that I use in any recipe I make that uses citrus zest.

Cafe Fernando (blog) also reviewed this recipe on their website with an alternative glaze by Rose Beranbaum (excellent).