Chocolate, Orange, Almond Cake

Gluten free?  Low sugar?  Want an easy recipe? Just want some chocolate cake?  This recipe suits just about everyone...  Thanks to Heather for sharing it with me!

Ingredients:

• 2 unwaxed oranges (or just get normal ones and wash them well)
• 200g ground almonds
• 125g white sugar (the original calls for 250g but this is plenty)
• 50g cocoa powder
• 6 med eggs (I used 5 large ones)
• 1 heaped tsp baking powder (super-precise, right?)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Method:

Pre-steps:

The only trick to this recipe is that it requires some pre-planning.  You're supposed to prepare the oranges the day before.  Throw the whole oranges into a pot and fill with cold water.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer gently for 2 hours.  Drain and cool (stick them in the fridge until you're ready to use them).  Go do this part right now and you can have cake tomorrow!

The actual recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F) - the rest won't take long, so get this started.
2. Cut oranges in half and get rid of the little stem thingy and any obvious pips.  Don't peel them!  Everything except obvious pips and the stem bit goes straight into the cake.  Yes, really.
3. Grease and line a 9" springform pan or some other vessel in which to bake your cake.
4a. If you have a food processor, just toss everything in there and "whiz" it until it is smoothish (but a little bit grainy/lumpy is fine).
4b. If you don't have a food processor, throw the oranges in a blender and pulverize them.  If your blender is super awesome, you can just throw everything else in there but that was a bit of a disaster when I tried it, so I'd recommend taking the blenderized oranges and throwing them in a bowl with everything else then using a hand mixer or arm power or whatever you happen to have to mix everything together.  Again, no need to go too crazy here - this is a moist, dense cake so you don't need to be too concerned about beating it perfectly.
5. Pour the mixture into the pan and bake in your preheated oven for about 50 minutes.  Don't overbake it - you don't want blackened sides.

That's it!  Top as desired.  It's yummy with a side of raspberry sorbet too.

But....
If you want to make this super decadent and delicious, then I'd highly recommend topping it off with some chocolate-cream cheese frosting like I did the last time I made it.

Frosting Ingredients:

• about a third of a block of cream cheese
• roughly a couple of tablespoons worth of butter (softened)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• roughly a couple of heaping tablespoons worth of cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• about 1/4tsp of vanilla

Frosting method:

Start by beating together the butter and cream cheese to soften them.  Then put the rest in and beat it until it's smooth and creamy and wonderful.  

Peanut Dressing for Salad, Spring Rolls, etc

A few days ago I decided I wanted to eat a salad with some kind of peanuty dressing.  I don't even know where the idea came from, but a quick google search found numerous recipes.  I went with one of the first ones and I've been pretty enamored with it ever since.  I've had it on salads and also used it as a dipping sauce for some vietnamese spring rolls that came on a hike a couple of days ago.  Delish!

The recipe comes from here: http://www.onceuponachef.com/2013/07/thai-crunch-salad-with-peanut-dressing.html

I basically follow the dressing recipe as is and put whatever I want in the salad itself, but here's a summarized version with my minor variations:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons honey 
• 1 tablespoon sugar (double this if you want it sweeter)
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1-inch square piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves

Method:

Throw everything except the cilantro into the blender.  Blend until smooth.  Add in the cilantro and pulse/mix on low just enough for it to get chopped up and mixed in nicely (not so much that the whole thing turns green).