For Christmas every year growing up, I would always get a chocolate orange from Santa in my stocking.  Did you ever get those? You know the kind where you can crack it open and get nice slices of chocolate oranges? They are so good and one of my favorite parts of Christmas.  I just love the combination of orange and chocolate! I decided to try and make a cake with this delicious flavor combination! It turned into an entremet with delicate chocolate mousse, chocolate Italian sponge cake, and orange jelly filling. I brought this cake to Christmas Eve dinner at my Aunt Teresa’s house!  Merry Christmas! 

 

 

 

 

This is what the entremets looks like on the inside.  The orange and chocolate sphere on the top of the cake is made out of candy melts.   

 

• 120 grams (1/2 cup+1½ tablespoon) granulated sugar
• 4 extra large eggs, at room temperature
• 100 grams (1 cup minus 1 tablespoon) cake flour, sifted (if you use all-purpose flour 100 grams = 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons)
• 20 grams (3 tablespoons) unsweetened cocoa powder
• YOU WILL HAVE A LOT OF BATTER LEFT OVER

 Directions 

1. Take the eggs out from the fridge ahead of time or soak them for a few minutes in a bowl of warm water.
2. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C (338 degrees F).
3. Butter and flour (or spray with baking spray) a 20 cm (8 inch) pan.
4. Put the eggs and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer.
5. Beat the eggs until very fluffy and pale yellow (about 15 minutes on medium/high speed). To test that it has been beaten enough, let some of the mixture fall into the bowl, if it remains “sitting” on top it means that it’s ready.
6. Sift the flour and cocoa powder on top of the egg mixture, a little at a time, and fold it gently with a wooden spoon, from bottom to top.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Don’t smooth the top or bang the pan on the counter, leave it as it is!
8. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (Don’t open the oven for the first 20 minutes!)
9. Turn off the oven but leave the chocolate Italian sponge cake inside (put a wooden spoon to keep the oven door slightly open) for at least 10 minutes so it can cool down slowly. After that, remove it from the oven, let it cool 10 more minutes, loosen around the edges with a knife, then flip the cake on a wire rack upside down (without the pan) to cool completely.

 

 Orange Jelly Insert

Ingredients

• 50 – 100 g sugar
• 1 cup orange juice from oranges (I used 5 oranges)
• 1 envelope unflavored powdered gelatin

 Directions 

• Mix juice with sugar and warm on stove to dissolve the sugar.
• Add pre-soaked gelatin
• pour into a mold and put in the freezer until complete solidification (I froze mine overnight)

 

•  8 oz. good-quality chocolate, chopped fine
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 envelope unflavored powdered gelatin
• 2 1/2 cups heavy cream

Directions

1. Put the chocolate in a metal bowl (1 qt. or larger) that will fit snugly over a saucepan. (You also can use a double boiler.)
2. Fill the saucepan with 1 in. of water and heat it until it’s on the verge of simmering.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and set the bowl of chocolate on top of the saucepan.
4. Stir the chocolate with a rubber spatula to encourage melting; however, don’t be concerned if the chocolate doesn’t melt entirely.
5. Pour 1/4 cup water in another saucepan and sprinkle in the gelatin.
6. Let the gelatin soak for 5 min., and then set the saucepan over medium heat and stir until the gelatin dissolves.
7. Pour 1/2 cup of the cream in another small saucepan and bring it to a boil.
8. Remove the saucepan from the heat immediately.
9. Add the gelatin to the hot cream and stir until well mixed.
10. Add this mixture to the melted chocolate and stir well with a spatula until the mixture is very smooth.
11. Remove the bowl from the pan and allow the chocolate mixture to cool until it’s just warm.
12. Use an electric mixer to whip 2 cups cream until it just holds stiff peaks.
13. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold half of the whipped cream into the slightly warm chocolate mixture.
14. Add the remaining whipped cream and fold gently until smooth.
15. Don’t over fold the mixture; it should still have a few distinct streaks of chocolate and whipped cream.

 

Mirror Glaze Recipe

Ingredients

• 20 g gelatin powder
• 120 g water
• 300 g light corn syrup
• 300 g sugar
• 150 g water
• 200 g sweetened condensed milk
• 300 g white chocolate good quality chopped fine
• food coloring

Directions

1. Bloom 20 g gelatin in 120 g water
2. boil 300 g corn syrup, 300 g sugar, and 150 g water
3. remove from heat and add gelatin
4. add condensed milk
5. pour over chocolate and mix until chocolate is melted completely (make sure you chop the chocolate really small before hand)
6. stir and make sure glaze reaches 95 degrees F
7. separate into multiple bowls if you want multiple colors
8. add food color
9. Let it cool for many hours until the glaze reaches 89.6 degrees F and is semi thick.
10. Pour glaze over cake

 

 

Ingredients

Makes glaze for a dozen 10-inch cakes.

• 700 grams chocolate (white or dark)
• 400 grams water
• 600 grams sugar
• 400 grams condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 38 grams powdered gelatin (yes, it’s quite a large amount)

If making a dark chocolate mirror glaze, you may wish to add about 100 grams of cocoa powder, which will give a darker color and richer chocolate flavor.

Method

 

Once poured over frozen entremets, the glaze will cool quickly. It will take about 15 minutes until it is fully cooled and solidified. It should be more like a soft ganache-like gel than a hard shell.

Adapted from Chefiso

This recipe can also be used to make White Chocolate Mirror Glaze.

 

Enjoy!