Eat’n Up ~ Marmalade Cake with Chocolate Glaze

During the winter months, we have more time to entertain and enjoy great food with friends and last night was no exception.  We had a few close friends over for some homemade pizza, home-baked breads, and the creme de resistance…Marmalade Cake with Chocolate Glaze. 

All of our meals contain preserves we’ve put up throughout the year and we think it can make the simplest foods taste great…it’s like you can taste the love in every bite.  Last night, to get warmed up we put out some of our kosher dills, baby gherkins, and dilled beans, plus a sampling of Matt’s homemade breads (he put our sauerkraut in the Rye Bread…it made my mouth sing!).  And, while we were enjoying these simple but oh so tasty snacks Matt made pizzas using fermented dough topped with our canned tomato sauce.  It was delicious.   

But, the  orange-cranberry marmalade cake with chocolate glaze stole the show (in my book).  It didn’t last long and before we had a chance to get a photo…it was nearly all gone. 

RECIPE FOR MARMALADE CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE GLAZE:

Cake Mix:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups (500mL) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup ground pecans
• 1 tbsp ground candied orange peel
• 1 tsp (5 mL) salt
• 1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda
• 1 cup  (250mL) plain yogurt
• 1 250mL jar of orange-cranberry marmalade (equivalent to one 1/2 pint jar)

Chocolate Glaze:

• 6 ounces (175g) bitter or semi-sweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp chestnut honey

Garnish:

• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped candied orange peel 

1. Preheat the oven to 325F.  Grease and sugar an 8-10″ springform pan.
2. Grind or finely chop the candied peel and nuts.
3. In a large bowl cream the sugar and butter.  Blend in the eggs.
4. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, salt and baking soda.  Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture along with the yogurt and ground peel/nut mix.  Continue folding until smooth.
5. Spoon the batter into the springform pan and bake for 1 hour or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
6. While your cake is baking you can make the glaze.  Place the chocolate, butter and honey in a saucepan and melt over low heat.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.
7. Allow the cake to cool for at least 45 mins.  Remove the springform pan (you may need to run a knife around the edge to loosen the cake).  Next cut the cake in half, creating two thinner circles.  Spoon on your marmalade, smoothing out to cover the bottom cake layer.  Replace the top layer.
8. Glaze the cake using a spatula.  If the glaze is too thin allow it to cool a little longer.  Garnish the cake with coarsely chopped candied peel while the glaze is still slighty warm.  Allow the cake to cool completely for the glaze to set. 

This is a great recipe to use with some of your home preserved marmalades.  The bitterness of the marmalade enhances the sweetness of any chocolate dessert.