Chocolate Orange Icebox Cake
I recently found an old book of dessert recipes, filled with handwritten preparation tips in the margins. I don't have any idea where this book came from or how it ended up on my shelf, but I decided to take one of the entrants out for a spin. The end product wasn't the prettiest thing I've ever made, but the flavor was a big hit with my small group. Before I get into the recipe note this has to chill overnight, so it's NOT a candidate for a last-minute dessert. It also requires a springform pan. So proceed accordingly.
This is what you need:
- 1 large box Vanilla wafers
- 2-3 boxes chocolate snap wafers (see picture)
- 6 eggs
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 1 Tablespoon butter, melted
- 2 cups milk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 orange (grate the rind and then juice the orange)
- 1 container whipped cream (it missed the picture!)
Begin by separating the eggs. I find the easiest way to do so is to move the white and yolk between the egg shell halves and allowing the white to drip out naturally.Put the yolks in a saucepan and the whites into a mixing bowl.Beat the yolks, add flour and butter and beat well. Add sugar, vanilla, and milk. Mix together and put on stove over medium heat; cook until thick and creamy.Remove from the heat and set aside. Meanwhile, in the mixing bowl beat egg whites until stiff and the peaks hold.Add orange grind and juice into the whites.Gently fold the whites into the cream mixture. Put a little of this mixture in the bottom of a springform pan just to wet the bottom.Build a layer of vanilla cookies.Put a layer of the cream mixture.Then put a layer of chocolate snaps.Top the snaps with cream then repeat the process until ultimately there are two layers of vanilla and two layers of chocolate. The final layer will be cream. Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight. After the cake has chilled, remove from the springform pan and turn out onto a serving plate. Use a very thin blade to separate the cake from the bottom of the pan.Cover with whipped cream.If you aren't serving right away, return to the fridge. I wish I had had strawberries or cherries handy for some decorations, but all I had were chocolate sprinkles.I don't think the sprinkles added much. In hindsight I wish I had left it plain, but the taste was a fabulously rich blend of orange and chocolate. With flavors like these, no one needs to win the beauty contest!