Dark Chocolate and Orange Gateaux

Dark chocolate and orange gateux recipes vary from cake recipes to tarts and mousses, but they all have in common the luscious taste of chocolate offset by the zing of orange citrus flavor.

Gateux or Gateau

Gateux is the plural of gateau, or cake in French. When referring to dark chocolate and orange gateaux recipes, however, the term is used somewhat loosely, and you can find recipes for cakes, tartes, pies and other desserts with these words in the title.

European Flair

The combination of a rich dark chocolate with a light citrus flavor is a very European flavor, and many gourmet desserts are made that mix a rich chocolate with fruit flavors such as raspberry and orange. In the dark chocolate and orange gateux recipes, candied orange peels are typically used to infuse a sweet orange flavor. Orange flavoring may also be added to a basic icing or whipped cream to create the chocolate and orange combination. The sweet offsets the slight bitterness in the rich dark chocolate used.

Choosing Ingredients

Making the dark chocolate and orange gateux cake is fairly straightforward, but the secret to success with the recipe is to choose the very best dark chocolate or cocoa you can afford.

Another trick to making a wonderful dark chocolate and orange gateux is to use sweet, unsalted butter in the recipe. Try not to substitute margarine. The taste is indeed different in the finished baked goods and noticeable to the discerning palate.

Recipes for Dark Chocolate and Orange Gateux

Whether you'd like to make a delicious cake or try one of the more orange-flavored tarte recipes, the following list of recipes are well worth trying. Most use ingredients and baking techniques that the average cook understands. You may need special ingredients, such as chocolate shavings or candied orange peel. You can make your own chocolate shavings, and candied orange peels are usually available in the baking aisle at the grocery store. Some mail order gourmet and baking supply catalogs also sell candied fruit.

Try the following recipes:

• Pure Chocolate Deserts by Zach provides the quintessential dark chocolate and orange combination in this exquisite cake for the chocoholic. Be sure to refrigerate the cake and any leftovers – if there are leftovers!
• Passionate About Baking provides a chocolate and orange "cloud" cake filled with almonds, whipped cream, and just about every goody the baker can include. It makes you want to take out a fork and dig right in.
• Chocolate Sauce provides a traditional chocolate and orange gateau recipe. The measurements and temperature instructions may need to be converted to the American measuring system.
• So Feminine also provides a wonderful variation of this recipe.
• Recipe Mobile provides a sweet orange gateau recipe that uses a sponge cake base and an orange-infused icing. While you can make a yellow sponge cake base, substituting a chocolate cake mix instead creates a simple chocolate and orange cake.

Quick Baking Tricks

Want to make your own dark chocolate and orange gateux, but don't have time for a fancy recipe? Start with a basic dark chocolate cake mix and bake the cake. Take a vanilla icing and drop in a few drops of orange flavoring to taste. Mix up the icing, and ice the cake. Use a few chocolate shavings on top and candied orange peel to decorate and voila – instant dark chocolate and orange cake! It might not be as fancy as the recipes above, but you can enjoy the rich mixture of chocolate and orange.

It's also fun to decorate such a cake with orange food colored icing in time for Halloween, and add cake decorations to turn the cake into a pumpkin face. Using different decorations, you can transform the cake into a birthday cake or a cake for any special occasion.

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