Chocolate & Orange Cake Roll topped with Caramelized Nuts

A festive dessert for all chocolate lovers. Perfect to enjoy with a glass of sparkling wine!

Keep the holiday spirit going strong and bake this scrumptious chocolate orange cake roll topped with crispy caramelized nuts!

This recipe is actually a traditional French Christmas dessert, dubbed “bûche de Noël”. You can find many different flavors, depending on your taste, like for instance the Chocolate Mango Yule Log that I baked last year.

This year, I spent Christmas in Chicago with my boyfriend for the very first time, far far away from our respective families, and because of the distance we especially wanted to enjoy some French delicacies for our Christmas dinner to remind us of the motherland.

As my boyfriend moved to Chicago not so long ago, the kitchen is still relatively under-equipped, but nothing can stop me when it comes to baking sweets and it didn’t take me long to figure out how I would bake my Christmas dessert.

Being a huge fan of the classic chocolate-orange combo, I opted for it and thought of adding a nice crispy topping consisting of cinnamon caramelized nuts. I got the lovely idea of this topping through my Swedish colleague Cecilia (Hi there!), who used it rececntly in another recipe of hers. Brilliant idea, it definitely takes this cake roll up to the next level!

The holiday season is not over yet, and this chocolate orange cake roll will also be a perfect dessert for New Year’s Eve. Enjoy it with a glass of champagne or Vouvray, my personal favorite sparkling wine!

Chocolate Orange Cake Roll topped with Caramelized Nuts

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Delphine Fortin
• Prep Time: 40 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 8-10 servings 1x
• Category: Cakes and Pies
• Cuisine: French recipes

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Description

A festive dessert for all chocolate lovers. Perfect to enjoy with a glass of sparkling wine!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the biscuit:

• 4 large eggs
• 2/3 cup (125g) granulated sugar
• 1 orange (zests)
• 1 cup (125g) flour

For the filling and the glaze:

• 5.5 oz (150g) chocolate of very good quality
• 1/2 cup (120g) softened butter
• 1 1/4 cup (120g) icing sugar
• 1/2 orange (zests)

For the caranelized nuts:

• 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup (40g) almonds, chopped
• 1/2 cup (40g) hazelnuts, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon caster sugar
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1/2 orange peel
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

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Instructions

1. For the biscuit: preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Whisk together the yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add in the orange zests and sift in the flour over the mixture. Whisk until incorporated.
2. Beat the whites with a pinch of salt then incorporate to the mixture with the help of a rubber spatula.
3. Spread the dough over a large square form lined with parchment paper, about 20×60 cm and 1 cm thick. Bake for 20 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven and transfer the biscuit with the parchment paper beneath it to a cool surface, covering with a humid cloth.
5. For the filling + glaze: melt the chocolate with the butter. Remove from heat, cool for a couple of minutes, and incorporate the icing sugar. Blend gently with a wooden spatula. Cool for 10 more minutes.
6. Remove the humid cloth from the biscuit, then spread half of the filling over the surface.
7. Roll carefully the ciscuit lengthwise, removing the parchment paper from under.
8. Transfer to a clean dish, then cover with the other half of the chocolate filling/glaze.
9. For the caramelized nuts: melt some unsalted butter in a small frying pan. Add in the chopped nuts (hazelnuts and almonds), then toast them together with sugar and honey, about 1-2 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the orange peels in the end, sprinkle some cinnamon and stir well.
10. Top the cake roll with the crispy caramelized nuts and cool in the refrigerator for about 1 hour. Remove 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

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