Chocolate Ancho Chili Cake

A beautiful bundt cake with ancho chilis, chocolate and orange.   

 

The finished cake is slather with an orange Grand Mariner glaze, then drizzle with a rich chocolate syrup. 

Get those chilis out, you'll love this cake. 

 

First you need to make an ancho chili puree, an orange glaze and a chocolate syrup. 

For the ancho chili puree you'll need

four ancho chilis. 

Cover them with boiling water and let sit for at least two hours.

You'll need to place something on top of the chilis to keep them submerged in the water.

 

 

Drain the chilis and reserve one half cup of the soaking liquid. 

Remove the stems and seeds from the chilis and place in a blender with the reserved liquid. Puree until smooth. Set aside. 

The recipe doesn't call for straining the pureed chilis but I do, it makes for a smoother puree. 

 

 

Now make the glaze by adding orange juice and Grand Mariner to powdered sugar. 

Stir, stir, stir. Set aside. 

As you can see I don't have Grand Mariner so I used Cointreau. 

 

 

Use semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolate, butter, water and honey to make a chocolate syrup. 

Melt all the ingredients together in a saucepan over medium heat and stir, stir, stir, until smooth. 

Set aside. 

 

Now for the cake. 

 

Gather your yummy ingredients. 

 

Beat the butter and gradually beat in the sugar.

 

 

Add the eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition. 

Slowly beat in the flour and salt. 

I always crack the eggs individually into a small bowl before adding to any recipe. One little piece of misplaced eggshell can ruin the whole batter. 

Divide the batter in half. 

 

 

To one half of the batter add orange juice, orange zest and baking soda. 

Place into a well buttered bundt pan, and I do mean "well buttered." 

 

To the other half of the batter...

 

Add the chocolate syrup, vanilla, baking soda, and the chili puree. 

Stir, stir, stir. 

 

 

Spread over the orange batter and bake.

The beautiful moist, delicious cake hot out of the oven. 

Cool the cake, unmold then brush with the orange glaze. 

 

Here's the wonderful recipe I used. 

 

@@@@@ Now You're Cooking! Export Format

Chocolate Ancho Chile Cake

cakes

1 c. unsalted butter at room temp.

1 1/2 cups sugar

5  eggs, room temp.

1 3/4 c. sifted all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt  grated zest of

2 oranges

2 tablespoons o.j.

1 tsp baking soda

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 tbls ancho chile puree

1/2 cup chocolate syrup     

----ANCHO CHILE PUREE----

4  ancho chiles  boiling water to cover     

----ORANGE GLAZE-----

  juice of 1 orange

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon Grand Marnier 

yields about 3/4 cup     

----CHOCOLATE SYRUP----

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup Butter

2 tablespoons honey

8 ounces semisweet chocolate

1 ounce unsweetened chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 10 in. bundt pan.
Beat the butter, gradually beat in sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each. Slowly beat in flour & salt.

Divide the batter in half. To half of the batter, add orange zest, orange juiceand 1/2 tsp of baking soda. Spoon batter into the prepared pan.
To remaining batter, add 1/2 cup chocolate syrup, ancho puree, vanilla and the remaining 1/2 tsp baking soda. Spread over the orange batter.

Bake 45-50 mins, or until cake tester inserted in middle comes outclean. Cool the cake in its pan on a rack for 10 min., then unmold onto a plate. Brush with the orange glaze.
You may drizzle an additional 1/4 cup chocolate syrup over the cake just before serving, if desired.

Serves 10

CHOCOLATE SYRUP

combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Heat gently, stirring, until syrup is silky and smooth.  

Yields about 1 1/2 cups.

ANCHO CHILE PUREE

4 ancho chiles (found in Mexican or Southwestern grocery stores)

Boiling water to cover

Rinse chiles. Place in a bowl & cover with boiling water; let soak forat least 2 hours. Remove seeds and stems from the chiles. Place chiles& 1/2 c. of soaking water in a blender. (If soaking liquid tastes bitter, use fresh water instead). Puree on high speed until smooth.

May be refrigerated up to one week, or frozen.

Yields 3/4 c. puree

ORANGE GLAZE

Juice of 1 orange

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 Tablespoon Grand Marnier

combine - yields about 3/4 cup.

Notes:Really butter that pan!!!

The orange batter floats up through the chocolate while baking,creating a marbleized effect. Spooning carefully doesn't stop it from doing this. O well.This recipe leaves you with 3/4 cup of leftover chocolate ganache and 1/2 cup leftover ancho chile puree.

The recipe is by Jacqueline McMahan and was published in the SanFrancisco Chronicle Cookbook.
Notes:  Leila on rfc
Yield: 10 servings

 ** Exported from Now You're Cooking! v5.87 **

And that's that

 

Comments

[Serene]

Looks *beautiful* even though it's designed to repel Serenes. :-)

[Shawn]

Serene repellant? It's OK, I'll eat her slice.