Flourless Chocolate Orange Torte
Why I Love This Recipe
Some friends of ours had a Christmas party and hired a professional chef to prepare the food. It was incredible. This was one of the desserts he made. He is the head pastry chef in a restaurant on "The Plaza" in Kansas City, a VERY nice place. This is the best dessert I've ever had and to top it all off, it is easy! It is so rich and chocolatey and really does melt in your mouth. I was so excited he gave us the recipe. If you want to wow your family and friends this Christmas, you'll want to make this.
Ingredients You'll Need
1 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1 cup water
2 pounds butter (no wonder it melts in your mouth)
5 cups dark chocolate chopped (I used the Nestle' Chocolatier dark chocolate bars)
2 cups sugar
14 eggs
Directions
You'll need:
2 Breakaway pans (springform pans)
Parchment paper
Tear off a piece of parchment paper about the size of the springform pan, including the sides. Place it in the pan, pushing it down and up the sides. Cut off any that is sticking up too far over the top.
Melt orange juice, butter and water.
Melt chocolate carefully in double boiler (or pyrex bowl over very hot water). Stir into o.j. mixture.
Whisk together sugar and eggs in separate bowl until slightly foamy. Add a small amount of chocolate mixture to the egg mixture to temper the eggs, stir well. Add all together and stir well.
Pour into pans and firmly hit down on cabinet to release any air bubbles. (The chef then used a torch and went over the top to break any remaining bubbles. I don't have a torch so I left this step out and it turned out fine.)
Bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes or until it jiggles like jello instead of a liquid when you gently shake it.
Refrigerate after cooling slightly.
Before serving remove from pan and remove parchment paper. Cut into 12 - 16 pieces.
Top with freshly whipped cream to which a little orange extract and sugar has been added. I didn't have orange extract but used orange zest instead. (Don't skimp and use non dairy whipped topping, it does make a difference.) I garnished it with an orange slice twisted to look pretty and placed in the center of the torte and served on a pretty platter.
