Earl Gray Chocolate Cake

With Fall coming on and the holiday season nearing, Marcia and I decided to post a wonderful recipe for a great but unusual chocolate cake. This cake is served at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City and is absolutely delicious. I have always liked Earl Grey tea with chocolate and now I know why.
The recipe calls for bittersweet chocolate. You may use semi-sweet chocolate instead but do not use unsweetened chocolate. Keep in mind that bittersweet chocolate is a sweetened chocolate. There is a wide variety of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolates to choose from.including those by Ghirardelli, Bakers, Barton, Lindt, Nestle, and Tobler.

The Cake

Position your rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 10 inch diameter angel food cake pan. Plate the tea bags in a measuring cup. Pour 2/3 cup bioling water over the teabags. Let stand 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags from the water, squeezing any liquid into the measuring cup. Discard the tea bags and let the tea cool to room temperature

Puree the marmalade in a food processor until smooth. Set aside.

Mix the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Melt the 8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler (or microwave if you know how) and stir until smooth. Cool the chocolate to room temperature.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the melted chocolate, marmalade, walnuts, and vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture and the tea alternately into the chocolate mixture in 2 additions each. Do Not Overbeat.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out with some moist crumbs attached (about 1 hour and 10 minutes). Transfer the cake pan to a rack and cool for 10 minutes.Using a sharp knife, cut around the cake to loosen it. Turn out the cake onto the rack to cool.

The Glaze

Bring 1/2 cup whipping cream to a boil in a small sauce pan. remove from heat. Add the 6 ounces of finely chopped bittersweet chocolate and let stand for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Cool slightly.

Place cake on a platter. Spoon the glaze over the cake, allowing the glaze to drip down the sides.

The cake can be made one day ahead. Cover it with a cake dome and store it at room temperature.


Ingredients
2 Earl Grey Tea bags	2/3 cup boiling water	8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup orange marmalade	2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature	1 cup sugar
6 large eggs	1/3 cup chopped walnuts	1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour	1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder	1/2 cup whipping cream
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped