Recipe: {Flourless} Chocolate Orange Cake

{Flourless} Chocolate Orange Cake

Yield: 9 inch cake

Adapted from Nigella Lawson, Feast

Note: In order to make this cake, you will need a kitchen scale. I have this one, and love it. Baking by weight is so much easier and precise!

Ingredients

1 large or 2 small, thin-skinned oranges (350 g/12.3 oz total weight)

6 eggs

1 heaping tsp baking powder

.5 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

50 g/1.7 oz cocoa

200 g/7 oz almond meal (or very finely ground almonds)

250 g/ 8.8 oz sugar

Instructions

Put the whole orange(s) in a pan with cold water, bring to a boil and cook on a low simmer for 2 hours, or until soft. Drain.

When cool, halve the orange(s) and remove any visible seeds.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C

Puree the entire fruit (peel, pith and pulp) in a food processor. Add the eggs, baking powder, baking soda, salt, almond meal and cocoa to the orange in the processor. Run the machine until you have a cohesive batter.

Pour into a 9 inch butter springform pan.  Bake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

This cake is perfect for Passover, and is also gluten free.

Recipe: Coconut Macaroons

Coconut Macaroons

Adopted from Bakers Royale and Alice Medrich

Yield: Approximaely 2 dozen cookies, depending on size

Ingredients

4 large egg whites

3 c sweetened shredded coconut

2/3 c sugar

2 t vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat over to 350F

Place all ingredients in a heat proof bowl and stir well to combine.  Place the bowl over a sauce pan which contains 2 inches of barely simmering water.  Cook the mixture, stirring frequently with a silicone spatula, until the mixture is very hot to the touch and the egg white have thickened slightly, about 15 minutes*.  (The egg whites will turn from translucent to opaque.)

Set the batter aside for 30 minutes to let the coconut absorb more of the egg white mixture.  Mixture is ready when a scoop of the dough can hold it's shape without a puddle of syrup forming around it.

Place the batter, by rounded tablespoon, onto a parchment lined cookie sheet -- spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies for approximately 13-15 minutes, or until the edges and coconut tips are lightly browned.  Cool cookies completely before removing them from the parchment paper.

The cookies are best if eaten the same day, but can also be stored in a airtight tin for several days.

*If you are using a stainless steel bowl; the mixuture will take longer to cook if using a glass bowl.