Chocolate Shortcake with Blood Orange Sauce

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, chocolate is definitely on my mind.  I love flourless chocolate cake, but I have made so many of them over the years, that it seemed time for a change. 

This recipe is a twist on an American classic.  I am a huge fan of strawberry shortcake in the summer, but strawberry season is so far away.  It's hard to even imagine picking strawberries when there is snow on the ground.  Instead, I decided to try a winter adaptation of that fantastic combination of not-too-sweet shortcake, fruit, and cream.  This recipe brings the chocolate, fruit and cream into perfect balance.  Oranges are delicious with chocolate, and blood oranges are sweet without any acid or bitterness.  They are a fantastic color, too.  I used Moro blood oranges, which are an intense ruby red on the inside.

There is something about the messiness of the cake, with a bit of cream here (let me get that for you) and red orange sauce there (the color of the season), that is perfect for Valentine's Day.   I gave the children a slice to share so that they could let me know what they thought, and the cake was snarfed down before it got three thumbs up. 

I posted this recipe on food52.com, a site that holds a weekly contest for recipes.  Winning recipes will be compiled into a cookbook.  Check out the site to see lots of recipes, including many chocolate cake ones, and, if you like, comment on my recipe.

And from the archives, don't forget about:  Banana Chocolate Chip Snack Cakes.

Chocolate Shortcake with Blood Orange Sauce

Serves 8-10
30 minutes preparation time
30 minutes cooking time

for the shortcake:
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, cut into 8 to 10 pieces
1 1/3 cups milk

for the sauce:
8 blood oranges
2 tablespoons sugar

for the cream:
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and butter and flour two 8-inch round cake pans.

In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, and sugar.  With your fingers, mix the butter in until it ranges in size from small pebbles to grains of sand.  Add the milk and mix with a fork to incorporate.  The dough will look like a mess, shaggy and lumpy.  But don't worry; it will bake up just fine.

Pour half of the dough into each pan and use a spatula to spread it evenly to the edges of the pan. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 10 to 12 minutes.  Let the shortcakes cool in the pan for about 30 minutes. 

While the cakes are cooking and cooling, prepare the orange sauce.  Using a small sharp knife, slice the top and bottom off each orange.  Resting the orange on a cutting board on one of the cut ends, cut off the peel from top to bottom making sure to remove all of the pith.  Cut out each section of the orange by cutting between the white section dividers, which I just learned are called carpels.  Reserve the carpels and any pulp.  Repeat this for the remaining oranges. 

Using your hands, squeeze the juice from the pulp and carpels into a small bowl. At this point, your hands will be red with the juice of the oranges.  By the time you are finished washing up the dishes after making the cake, though, the color will have rinsed off and your hands will have returned to their usual hue.

Pour the juice and half of the orange sections into a small stockpot.  Add the 2 tablespoons of sugar.  Cook the sauce over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it thickens, about 15 minutes.  Set aside to cool.  When the sauce has cooled, stir in the remaining orange sections.

Whip the cream with a mixer until it holds soft peaks.  Add the sugar and vanilla and mix for a few more seconds.

After the cakes have cooled, remove them from their pans by running a knife around the sides of the pans and turning them out onto a serving plate.  Once assembled with the cream and sauce, the cake will need to be eaten immediately (such hardship!) so if you are not eating it all at one meal, cut slices of the cake first and assemble individual servings.  

Place the first layer on a serving plate.  Spoon a generous amount of the orange sauce over the bottom layer and top with a couple of tablespoons of whipped cream.  Don't skimp on the sauce.  It gives the whole concoction moisture and balances the flavor.  Add the top layer.  If you like, add another dollop of whipped cream, and drizzle a bit of sauce on top.

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Comments

[Nancye]

This sounds amazing. Will be making it as soon as I can get the oranges. I love chocolate and fruit together. Is there a reason for the complicated juicing of the oranges? can you just squeeze them with a juicer?

[mimi]

Chocolate cake...that oozes cream...with fresh citrus undertones? Sounds like a winner to me.

[Leticia]

Yum! I can't wait to try this recipe and hope you'll keep us posted on how it fares in Food52's weekly contest! Good luck!

[Margy]

Hi, Nancye, the reason for the 2-step juicing process is that you remove the sections of the oranges first and then squeeze what is left for the sauce. You could just juice the oranges, but I like having the chunks. Alternatively, you could just buy a couple of extra oranges for the juice, but I was trying to get the most out of my oranges.
Mimi and Leticia, thanks so much for the encouragement!