Try It

My list of recipes to try seems to grow longer by the day, and no matter how many things I cross off, it never seems to get any shorter. It’s kind of like my ‘to do’ list that way. Today’s recipe is something that caught my eye on the Gourmet Traveller website some time ago, but that I am only now getting around to actually making. I’m so glad I did, it feels good to cross things off lists.

The chocolate mandarin mudcake is a delightful twist on the chocolate-orange combination. I know it’s one that not everyone likes but it’s one of my favourites. Mandarins are bountifully in season at the moment and I can’t get enough of them. My dad especially loves them. He sometimes even puts the peel into his coffee for flavour – don’t knock it til you try it, it’s actually not bad. This cake is for him. It was his birthday last week and I wanted to make something nice that he would enjoy.

These mini mudcakes, baked in small ramekins are very rich but surprisingly light in texture. In the oven they rose up tall like soufflés but deflated slightly as they cooled. The addition of Cointreau is pure genius, it is subtle but most definitely present and really turns this cake into something special. The original recipe also had a chocolate mandarin ice cream which I didn’t try this time but would love to in the future. I served mine with chocolate ice cream and mandarins in syrup. If you really want to take this dessert to another level you could make a chocolate-mandarin ganache and ice the cakes, or even candy some mandarin peel like an orangette!

Chocolate Mudcake with Mandarins in Syrup
Recipe adapted from Gourmet Traveller
Serves 6

Mudcake
• ¾ cup + 4 tablespoons caster sugar
• 100g dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 60ml Cointreau or other orange liqueur
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon mandarin zest, finely grated
• 60g Dutch-process cocoa
• 40g plain flour
• 4 eggwhites

Mandarins
• ¾ cup caster sugar
• ½ cup water
• 30ml Cointreau or other orange liqueur
• 2 mandarins, peeled and segmented

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F). Combine sugar, chocolate, liqueur and ¼ cup water in a heatproof bowl placed over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from the heat, add egg yolks and zest and mix to combine, then fold in cocoa and flour
2. Whisk eggwhites and an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add 4 tablespoons of caster sugar and whisk to combine. Fold through chocolate mixture. Place 6 buttered ring moulds or ramekins on a baking tray and divide the mixture among them.
3. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until risen and firm to the touch, remove from the oven and cool in rings.
4. Meanwhile combine ¾ cup caster sugar with orange liqueur and water in a saucepan and stir over low-medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add mandarin segments and simmer for 20 minutes until segments are translucent. Cool in syrup.
5. To serve, unmould cakes and serve with mandarin segments and icecream.