Orange-Almond Sour Cream Cake with Chocolate Chips
Submitted by chali
Orange-almond sour cream cake with chocolate chips, orange flower water, and a Grand Marnier orange syrup soaked into the warm crumb. A dense, fragrant Bundt cake that keeps for days and freezes for months.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
45 minCOOK
45 minREADY
120 minThis is a cake that gets better with time. Ground toasted almonds and sour cream make the crumb dense and moist, while orange flower water (distilled from orange blossoms) perfumes the batter with a floral intensity that plain extract can’t match. Mini chocolate chips tossed in flour and orange liqueur are folded in last so they stay suspended throughout instead of sinking to the bottom.
The orange syrup is what takes this from good to extraordinary. While the cake is still hot and pricked all over with a toothpick, a warm syrup of sugar, orange juice, and Grand Marnier gets brushed across the surface. It soaks deep into the crumb, leaving the cake impossibly moist with a boozy citrus sweetness.
This cake keeps three days at room temperature, a week in the fridge, or two months frozen. It actually tastes better on day two once the syrup has fully penetrated.
Kitchen Tips
- Toss the chocolate chips in flour before folding into the batter. Without the flour coating, they sink straight to the bottom during baking.
- Prick the cake generously with a toothpick before brushing with syrup. More holes mean more absorption.
- Beat the batter at medium speed for a full 90 seconds to build structure. Undermixing results in a crumbly, fragile cake.
- Orange flower water is potent. One teaspoon is enough. More will make the cake taste soapy.
Variations
- Use vanilla extract if you can’t find orange flower water, though the flavor profile will be more familiar and less exotic.
- Swap chocolate chips for dried cranberries for a fruitier, holiday-appropriate version.
- Dust with powdered sugar or drizzle with a thin orange glaze instead of the syrup for a less boozy finish.
Ingredients
Directions
- NOTE: The orange flower -water, which is used to flavor the batter, is distilled from orange blossoms and can be purchased at liquor stores, pharmacies and Middle Eastern or Indian food narkets.
For the cake: Grease and flour a 6-cup fluted tube pan and set aside.
Mix the chocolate chips and liqueur in a small bowl.
Add 1 tablespoon of flour and toss to coat the chips.
Set aside.
Beat the eggs, 3 tablespoons of the sour cream, and the orange flower water in a medium bowl; set aside.
Mix the next six ingredients plus the remaining 1 ⅔ cups of flour in a large bowl at very low speed.
Add the butter and remaining sour cream; beat at low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened.
Beat a teaspoon medium speed for 1½ minutes to aerate and develop the cake’s structure.
Gradually beat in the egg mixture, one-third at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as it becomes necessary.
Stir in the chocolate chip mixture.
Adjust the oven rack to middle position and heat the oven to 350℉ (180℃).
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a spatula.
Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean and the center springs back when touched, 40 to 45 minutes.
Transfer the cake in its pan to a wire rack.
Prick the entire cake top with a toothpick.
For the syrup: Put the sugar, orange juice, and orange-flavored liqueur in a small saucepan.
Bring to a boil and simmer until the sugar dissolves, about 1 minute.
Brush the top of the cake with half the syrup. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes.
Remove the cake from the pan and place, rounded side up, on a cake plate.
Brush cake surface with the remaining syrup; cool completely.
(Can wrap and store at room temperature up to 3 days, refrigerate up to 7 days, or freeze up to 2 months).
To serve: (Bring the cake to room temperature). Cut cake in slices and serve.
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