Chocolate Snacking Cake With Tangerine Glaze

By Melissa Clark

Chocolate Snacking Cake With Tangerine Glaze
Con Poulos for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Christine Albano.
Total Time
1 hour, plus cooling
Rating
4(409)
Comments
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This moist, darkly bittersweet snacking cake is easily mixed with a whisk. Using a neutral oil rather than butter allows the chocolate flavor to shine, and gives the crumb an especially velvety texture under a sweet-tart glaze. You can use any kind of orange for the topping. Tangerines and mandarins (including clementines) are bright and spicy, but regular navel or juice oranges work just as well. Or if you can find blood oranges, the glaze will take on a pinkish hue and a sweeter, richer flavor.

Featured in: Three Snacking Cakes to Change Your Afternoons

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Ingredients

Yield:12 servings

    For the Cake

    • ⅓cup/80 milliliters neutral oil, such as grapeseed or canola, plus more for pan
    • ¾cup/95 grams all-purpose flour
    • ½cup/50 grams Dutch-processed cocoa powder
    • ½teaspoon baking soda
    • ¼teaspoon baking powder
    • ¼teaspoon fine sea salt
    • 2ounces/60 grams chopped dark chocolate (about ⅓ cup)
    • ½cup/120 milliliters hot coffee
    • ¾cup/155 grams light brown sugar
    • ⅓cup/80 milliliters sour cream
    • 2large eggs
    • 1teaspoon vanilla extract

    For the Glaze

    • ½tablespoon finely grated tangerine zest
    • 1tablespoon tangerine juice
    • 1teaspoon fresh lemon juice
    • 1cup/115 grams confectioners’ sugar
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)

236 calories; 11 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 34 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 24 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 128 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-9-inch pan and line with parchment paper, letting the two long edges hang over the sides by at least 2 inches.

  2. Step 2

    In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

  3. Step 3

    In a heatproof bowl, melt chocolate in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between. Or you can melt the chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water on the stove, stirring well. Whisk in hot coffee.

  4. Step 4

    Whisk together flour mixture, coffee-chocolate mixture, brown sugar, sour cream, oil, eggs and vanilla. Scrape into baking pan and smooth the top. Bake until the top is springy and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool completely before glazing.

  5. Step 5

    When cake is cool, make the glaze: Whisk together tangerine zest, tangerine juice and lemon juice, then whisk in confectioners’ sugar. Taste, and if it’s too sweet, add another drop or two of lemon juice. Pour glaze onto cooled cake, and spread to the edges. Let glaze set for at least 30 minutes before serving.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
409 user ratings
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Comments

Margaret

In case this saves anyone else time with the Google ... I couldn't tell if my cocoa powder was Dutch processed or not. 365 brand organic cocoa powder is Dutch processed (treated with alkalai), but Ghirardelli 100 cocoa powder is natural or non-Dutch processed. General consensus is that you can use the natural in cake recipes calling for Dutch-processed cocoa powder, but you'll get a darker, finer cake with Dutch-processed powder.

Stephanie

The photo of the cake looks like it has glaze or frosting in the center, yet I do not see instructions for that/

Susan Margaret

Quick, easy, delicious little cake. Used whole milk yogurt instead of sour cream, bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolate (it’s what I had on hand) and used a 9-inch springform pan. Made a thinner, sheer glaze with the orange zest, scant 3/4 cup powdered sugar, a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice and about 2 1/2 tablespoons orange juice.

trasheed215

35min was too long for baking. Start checking at 25min. Fast tasty cake

MSB

I've made this a few times by now, while trying a LOT of NYT chocolate cake recipes, and it's still one of the best. The deep flavor, moist texture and tasty glaze make a winner that is easy to throw together. Did it exactly as written (with 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips) except I found the glaze too dry and sweet, so added roughly another 2-3 tsp of liquid--clementine and lemon juice. Clementines work really well, and I used a 9-in. round pan.

Janet

Where can I find the recipe for devil's food snacking cake?

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