Chocolate-Orange Cake

Whipped egg whites add air to the cake, which puffs high as it bakes, then falls as it cools. Pureed dates add a pleasing texture and exotic sweetness. The candied orange rind that garnishes this dessert would also work with other recipes--and it's a delicious sweet shade on its own.

Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 1 wedge)

Ingredients

• Cake:
• 2/3  cup  orange juice
• 1/3  cup  whole pitted dates
• 1/3  cup  unsweetened cocoa
• 2/3  cup  plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1  teaspoon  white vinegar
• 6  large egg whites
• 3  large egg yolks
• Cooking spray
• 
  Candied orange rind:
• 3/4  cup  water
• 1/2  cup  plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 3  tablespoons  thinly sliced orange rind strips (about 1 inch long)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cake, place juice and dates in a blender; process until smooth. Combine juice mixture, cocoa, and 2 tablespoons sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat; bring to a simmer. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, and place in a large bowl. (Mixture will be thick.)

Beat vinegar and egg whites with a mixer at high speed until soft peaks form. Add 2/3 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating until stiff peaks form.

Add egg yolks to cocoa mixture; stir until smooth. Gently stir one-fourth of egg white mixture into egg yolk mixture; gently fold in remaining egg white mixture.

Pour batter into a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until firm in center. (Cake will rise over rim of pan and collapse as it cools.)

To prepare candied orange rind, combine 3/4 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves. Add rind to pan. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Using a fork, remove rind from pan; dredge in remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Let rind stand 30 minutes or until dry. Garnish center of cake with candied rind.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

118 (11% from fat)

Fat:

1.5g (sat 0.6g,mono 0.6g,poly 0.2g)

Protein:

3.2g

Carbohydrate:

24.9g

Fiber:

1.4g

Cholesterol:

51mg

Iron:

0.6mg

Sodium:

31mg

Calcium:

16mg