Blood Orange Chocolate Truffle Torte
Starting with a pecan graham cracker crust, this blood orange chocolate truffle torte is decadent and fudgy with hints of citrus.
Are you ever in vogue? I am always behind trends and times. I get hooked on things way after they were cool or popular. Despite my monthly subscription to Vogue, I still can’t help it. I finally got into colored skinny jeans this past fall and I’m sure people are thinking that’s so last year.
The same goes for food trends. Meyer lemons, kale chips, macarons, you name it. I am discovering and playing with them way after they were cool. For example, blood oranges have been all over Pinterest and blogland for a few months now. Heck I’ve even read articles about preserving them for when they are not in season but I didn’t grab my first samples until last weekend while grocery shopping.
And now I don’t know why I waited so long because they are freaking delightful. If you have never tried one, you are missing out. They are a unique cross between oranges and tangerines, but much more vibrant and beautiful than those two alone. Of course the first thing I did after tasting a few was to play around with some flavor ideas.
I settled on chocolate of course because what doesn’t go well with chocolate? This blood orange chocolate truffle torte is amaze balls. Simply put. And here is why. Apart from all that gooey fudgy chocolate filling I know you chocolate lovers are glued on, it has my new favorite way to make crust; adding nuts to graham cracker crumbs. This torte has toasted pecans in it’s starting layer giving it a crunchy beginning. And the crust is filled with a truffle chocolate brownie-like cake that is infused with the zest and juice of blood oranges.
If you are a chocolate lover (who isn’t?), then you will love this decadent, fudgy torte with hints of sweet citrus. Make it soon and be in vogue.
Blood Orange Chocolate Truffle
Starting with a pecan graham cracker crust, this blood orange chocolate truffle torte is decadent and fudgy with hints of citrus.
Ingredients
- 1 cup pecans, toasted
- 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 16 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped finely 1 cup heavy cream 6 large eggs, beaten ¾ cup granulated sugar ⅓ cup all-purpose flour zest of one blood orange 2 teaspoons blood orange juice Whipped cream, optional for topping
- 16 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped finely
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 6 large eggs, beaten
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- zest of one blood orange
- 2 teaspoons blood orange juice
- Whipped cream, optional for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan.
- To make the crust, combine pecans, graham cracker crumbs and sugar in the bowl of the food processor. Process for a minute until fine. Drizzle melted butter over crumbles and process for another minute. Press the crumbs onto bottom and about an inch up the sides of the prepared springform pan.
- In a medium saucepan, combine chocolate and heavy cream and cook over low heat until chocolate melts, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a medium bowl and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whip together the eggs, sugar and flour until thick and pale lemon colored, about 10 minutes. Whisk in zest and blood orange juice. Fold in a fourth of the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining mixture until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared crust.
- Bake torte until puffed around the edge and halfway to the center but the center is slightly soft, about 40- 45 minutes (Do not over bake as the edges will crack while cooling). Let torte cool in pan for 20 minutes. Remove the sides of the pan and let cool on wire rack for 4 hours. Serve with whipped cream. Store in refrigerator.
This is such a good February recipe! I love citrus and chocolate together. Also, the more crust the better, so I love the look of this even more!
Thanks Shikha!! I am loving chocolate and citrus lately and so glad I gave it a try. See that’s what I say…the more the better. This crust is delicious!
Zainab, this looks amazing! Love the flavours and you must have known chocolate orange is my favourite thing ever! I love the pretty swirls of cream as well! 🙂
Thanks Jess!! I think I may be reading your mind 😉
I made a pie last year with a pecan graham cracker crust! Isn’t it life changing! I never want to eat regular crust again! And I am so in the dark ages about style or anything like that because I am so OLD! 😉
I have not tried it in a pie yet but I am so obsessed with nuts in my crust that I have done peanuts, macadamia nuts and now pecans!! So life changing 🙂
Great pictures, I guess my husband deserve a cake like this! He is a chocolate lover. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Hhahaha he does deserve a cake!! Hope you make it for him 🙂
So funny you mentioned being behind on trends as I was just thinking about this last night as I was mixing up my next recipe. Story of my life –if was cool three years ago I am for some reason just discovering it now.
I don’t think chocolate + orange will ever go out of style though so you are in the clear. I love blood oranges simply because they are so beautiful on the inside. This torte looks amazing (totally love you said amaze balls 🙂 )
Your photography here is a serious thing of beauty! Gorgeous girl. I want this torte!
I am with you. I bought my first pair of colored jeans last fall, too, and honestly? Haven’t bought a single blood orange this year. I need to change that soon, though, because I have to have this torte in my life!
This torte is GORGEOUS, Zainab!! Seriously, so stunning. I am also way behind on the blood oranges trend. I think it’s because I don’t really care for regular oranges, but they sure are pretty! And plus, like you said, what doesn’t go with chocolate?? I’ll have to give them a try. 🙂
My grandmother introduced me to blood oranges so long ago and they remind me of her. Maybe that’s why I love them so much! I’m always behind on food trends, too. 🙂 This torte looks AMAZING from that graham cracker pecan crust all the way up to that chocolatey blood orange goodness — well done! 🙂
Zainab, I’m totally that person who didn’t think iPods would catch on. Or Twitter. Case in point: I’m always behind, too 🙂 This torte is absolutely gorgeous, especially with the blood oranges. I’ve never cooked with blood oranges, but I LOVE eating them!
Zainab, this is absolutely gorgeous! Really stunning! And I’m sure that it tastes just as amazing as it looks. I love anything citrus and the addition of the chocolate makes it that much better. Have a great week!
Hi please could you let me know what the English version of grahams crackers are, as they don’t sell them here and would love to make this cake and lots of other things but don’t know what to use instead.
Cheers – love you page 🙂
Hi Sue! I am sorry you guys don’t have graham crackers there. You can substitute the graham crackers in this recipe with any cookies you like- vanilla wafer cookies, shortbread cookies, chocolate wafers or even Oreos will be great!
PS: The Lotus cookies will work too!
Digestives are the most similar
Thanks Paola! I’ve never heard of those but just looked them up and they look the most similar indeed. Thank you 🙂
I got interrupted when I was writing that and meant to say that I am going to bake this one soon! It sounds and looks so good – and the last blood oranges of the season are in the shops now! One reason I love them is that they are available for such a short period… but the main reason is that my grandparents had one blood orange tree among the few tegular ones in their garden ant it was always a treat!
Glad to be of help!
I got interrupted when I was writing that and meant to say that I am going to bake this one soon! It sounds and looks so good – and the last blood oranges of the season are in the shops now! One reason I love them is that they are available for such a short period… but the main reason is that my grandparents had one blood orange tree among the few tegular ones in their garden ant it was always a treat!
I know I have seen a recipe on Facebook for homemade grahm crackers maybe you could find it on internet hope this helps!
I know this is coming very late, but I want to second the use of digestive biscuits as a substitute…just pop several of them in the food processor until you make fine crumbs! I went to graduate school in the UK and used them when I needed to make a graham cracker crust for cheesecakes. I would also throw in a pinch or two of cinnamon and about a tablespoon of sugar, but you don’t need to do that for this recipe.