Orange Cake with Easy Chocolate Truffle Frosting

Orange Cake

Sift together and set aside:

• 2 3/4 cups cake flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Cream together until fluffy:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar

Add, one at a time, beating well after every addition;

• 4 eggs at room temperature 

Mix in :

• zest of two medium size oranges, very finely chopped

Beat in:

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Gently fold in the dry ingredients in three equal portions, alternately with

• 1 cup undiluted evaporated milk

When adding dry and wet ingredients alternately in any baking recipe, always begin and end with the dry ingredients.

Pour batter evenly into 2 well greased and floured 8 or 9 inch cake pans. Bake in a 325 degree F oven for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Watch it carefully, you will not want to overbake this cake, as soon as the toothpick comes out clean, remove the cake from the oven and let it rest in the pans for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Truffle Frosting

• 4 cups dark chocolate chips
• 1 cup whipping cream

Stir constantly over a gentle simmer in the double boiler, just until melted and smooth throughout. You do not want this mixture to get hot, it should be just at the melting point and only lukewarm to the touch.

In a separate bowl, whip to firm peaks:

• 3 cups whipping cream

Add the whipped cream to the chocolate mixture in four portions, folding gently after each addition until the whipped cream is completely incorporated into the chocolate. 

At this point you will probably have to chill this frosting for a half hour or so in the fridge if it is too soft to work with. Just give it a quick fold with a rubber spatula every 10 minutes so that it cools evenly in the fridge.

Fill and frost the cake layers with the frosting and garnish with orange slices if desired. Chill the cake for a couple of hours before serving.

Original link can be found here.

I made this cake for Peter's birthday this year.  It is DIVINE!  It tasted kind of like one of those chocolate oranges that we used to get in our stockings at Christmas.  Enjoy!

Kristi's Hawaiian Pork

Kristi's Hawaiian Pork

Place a 7-9 lb pork roast in a crock pot
Add 3 cups water, 1 1/2 tsp liquid smoke and 1/4 to 1/3 cup coarse salt

Let cook all day.  Don't lift the lid!

Shred and serve on buns.

Delicious!

(Kristi likes this instead of BBQ pork.  Because, you know, this doesn't have any tomato in it!)

Ollie's Shortbread Cookies

Ollies Shortbread Cookies

1 lb butter softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
3 cups flour
dash of salt

Whip butter and add rest of ingredients.  Roll into balls (or use small cookie scoop).  Put on greased cookie sheet and flatten with the bottom of a glass or fork.  Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.  Edges will be lightly browned.  Makes 3 1/2 dozen

After cooled, I like to dip half in melted chocolate.

Artisan Bread

No-Knead Bread
Jim Lahey,  Sullivan St. Bakery NYC
Yields one 1 1/2 pound loaf

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.
1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

You can do the second rise in a regular loaf pan and after the 2 hours, bake it at about 375 for 30 to 40 minutes.  The crust isn’t “crusty”, but it is still delicious!