Soft Chocolate Cake with Orange Crème Anglaise

You’re probably thinking: “Seriously? Another chocolate dessert?”

But every time I see a picture of a fabulous looking dessert, I can’t help myself. And this next is a fabulous dessert. Seriously. And serious chocolate.

I got it from the Martha Stewart Living magazine, February 2012. So it’s a little late for Valentine’s Day but not too late to just try it.

The cake itself is extremely easy to make. The Crème Anglaise takes a bit more time so it can cool. If you don’t want to make the Crème Anglaise, just substitute whipped cream or crème fraiche. The Crème Anglaise was nice, but the cake is the star.

Soft Chocolate Cake with Orange Crème Anglaise – about 5 servings

Orange Crème Anglaise
1 c. whole milk or half and half
3 tbs. sugar
1 tbs. finely grated orange zest
Coarse salt
3 large egg yolks

Bring the milk, sugar, orange zest

and a pinch of salt to a simmer in a medium saucepan.

Stir, and remove from heat. Cover, and let stand 1 hour or so. At this point, it simply smells wonderful. All that orange zest.

Reheat milk mixture and whisk into egg yolks in a bowl;

return to pan.

Cook over medium high heat, stirring, until just before mixture begins to simmer, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, cook, stirring until mixture is thick and coats the back of a wooden spoon, about 4 minutes. Pour mixture through a sieve into a bowl;

refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours or up to 3 days.

Soft Chocolate Cake – make this about 20 minutes before serving
Cooking spray
1 stick unsalted butter
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Coarse salt
2 large eggs, plus 2 large egg yolks
¼ c. sugar
2 tsp. flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 6-cup baking or gratin dish with cooking spray. Mostly melt the chocolate in the microwave or a double boiler. Add the butter and ½ tsp. salt, and melt till nearly all is melted.

Whisk to combine.

Beat eggs, egg yolks, and sugar

with a mixer on medium speed until light, frothy and thick, about 6-8 minutes.

Add chocolate mixture, beating to combine.

Add flour, beating to combine.

Pour into baking dish;

bake until set around the edge but still soft in center, 10-12 minutes. Let cool for 3 minutes.

Serve warm with crème anglaise.

This is definitely a keeper – it’s easy, quick, and chocolate.