Zesty Fiesta Chocolate Fridge Cake

Citrus Fiesta Fridge Cake

When my friend Marysol of Memories In the Baking commented on my Cheese and Yogurt Cake with Lemon Zest quoting David Lebovitz : “there are two kinds of people in this world, the lemon people and the chocolate people ” I was about to jump with joy because I had made something that had both the chocolate and lemon a few days earlier. What a coincidence) Marysol, I am dedicating this recipe to you since as you say you are “an active member of the both” kinds:) and of course, to all the chocolate and citrus lovers in the world!

This is my entry to the Beauty & the Beast Challenge the most talented Diva of Sugar Bar created. If you haven’t submitted your recipe yet, please do so, or else I will grab the first prize for which I am shooting with my zesty creation:)

Let me tell you a little bit about the contest. What we have to do is pick up a beauty product that has either a name that is food-related or has food-related ingredients. Then create a dish inspired by the product. Isn’t it a fun challenge! It didn’t take me too long to find the right product since there are not too many beauty related items in my possession. I quickly ran my eyes over whatever I had searching for some interesting ingredients that would scream at me until this hand lotion reading Lemon – Lime – Orange caugt my attention. That was it! It was amost a recipe by itself! There were so many ways I could use the three ingredients.

Soon all sorts of ideas came flowing to my mind and my brain faced a difficult task of sorting them out, crossing out the ones not quite appealing, and picking the winning idea which was combining chocolate with citrus! I made chocolate fridge cake with zesty and nutty filling. Sadly, fridge cake is not my invention. The general technique of making it is not mine either. But fridge cake with lemon-lime-orange-nuts-dried fruits filling is mine:) And I came up with a fancy name for it too:)

Below is the creation I whipped up to share with you. I loved the result – nuts added a nice crunchy feel, dried fruits chewiness and citrus zest a tangy taste. It is a pretty easy dessert to fix. Plus you can experiment with different kinds of nuts and dried fruits. Note that this is a not a light dessert – it is pretty rich, so be careful not to give in to the temptation to finish the whole thing in one bite! I won’t blame you if you do – this cake is sinfully delicious! Enjoy!

POST NOTE: Ok, I just won the 1st Prize I was shooting for:)) Congratulations to all the winners and those who didn’t win because all the dishes submitted are lovely looking! Check them out! Diva, thank you for the challenge!

ZESTY FIESTA CHOCOLATE FRIDGE CAKE

Serves a party of 8-12

INGREDIENTS

20 crackers (about 150g / 5 oz) (NOTE: You can use any crackers/cookies of any flavor as long as they are hard. Some ideas: graham crackers, amaretti cookies, Arrowhead Biscuits etc.
1/2 cup almonds, halved
6 large prunes, quartered or coarsely chopped
6 dried apricots, quartered or coarsely chopped
grated zest of 1 medium lemon
grated zest of 1 small lime
grated zest of 1 medium orange
12 oz (340 g) bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup

1. Prepare a container which will be the mold for your cake. I used a 9 (23 cm) X 5 inch (13 cm) loaf pan. Line it with plastic wrap, making sure there is extra to fold over the edges and cover the chocolate before it goes in the fridge. Using plastic wrap will make it easier to remove the hardened cake from the container.

2. Break the cookies/biscuits into small pieces in a medium mixing bowl. Add almonds, prunes, apricots, and grated zest of lemon, lime and orange. Mix well.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the chocolate, butter and maple syrup. To melt the mixture use either of the following methods (I used method 1). Method 1: Microwave the mixture until it melts. Stir several times during the process. Method 2: In a medium pot boil some water. Place the bowl with chocolate over the pot with water and reduce the heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter have melted and the ingredients are well blended.

4. Add the melted chocolate into the bowl with cookie mixture and mix well. Pour the batter into the
prepared container. Pack down and cover with plastic wrap.

5. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours or until firm. Refrigerating will also allow the flavors to develop. To serve, remove the cake from the refrigerator at least 20 minutes ahead of time (this will make the cake softer and it is how it should be eaten) and unmold onto a serving plate. Cut into chunky slices. You can store the cake in an airtight container in the fridge to serve later.

Nush Olsun! Bon Appetit! Enjoy!

And here’s the product that inspired me. Hand Lotion with Lemon, Lime and Orange.

Diva, thank you for such a unique challenge! I had a lot of fun!

50 Comments

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  1. These look decadent dark, Farida. I don’t know if I’m more chocolate or more citrus…both are fine when put in front of me.

  2. Oh my my! These hurt to look at.

  3. These look really tempting! I’ve never tried a fridge cake before; I love how simple it sounds.

  4. I love fridge cakes and this one looks delightful 🙂

    I bet the maple syrup really draws out the lovely fruity flavours, delicious.

  5. What an interesting cake! I don’t think I have ever had a fridge cake.

  6. I am also one of those people who look citrus and chocolate! This fridge cake of yours looks so rich and delectable!

  7. Wow Farida…This looks so good! I really like the combination of all the flavors. Our version of this recipe is just chocolate and biscuits. I will definitely try this one, thanks a lot 🙂

  8. Farida — this is the most unique and inspired recipe! You’re so inventive. I have to admit that I’ve never seen these flavors combined before, but I think I might just have to give this a go. Bravo!

  9. Wow this is really creative. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anything quite like it before, but it looks delicious!

  10. Love this idea of a fridge cake. And I’m definitely a chocolate person but not a citrus person. I like the flavour of citrus but not the tang.

  11. great entry! love how all that chocolatey greatness has coated that fork in the first picture 🙂 love it!
    thanks for participating in the challenge…i’m quite certain you’ve clinched the first prize since i’m an absolutely sucker for chocolate and citrus..sometimes not together but this looks too good to be true!

    x

  12. wow! what a cool cake! I love the way you were inspired by a handcream 😀 Wish you luck with winning the challenge.

  13. Amazing! I hope you win!

  14. I’m a citrus-chocolate lover equally. Put them together and I’m over the moon! This looks insanely good!

  15. Wow! That looks really D-lish! You don’t see this combo too often. When I was in high school I worked at Neuhaus Chocolates & they had chocolate covered orange rinds that were so great to nibble on…. thank goodness my career as a chocolatier didn’t work out.

    Great recipe! Thank you for sharing & best of luck with the contest. Diva is great for putting this together!

    xoxox Amy

  16. That is incredible. I LOVE citrus and chocolate together!!!!

  17. You are walking away with the first prize already Farida. I love these…& orange with chocolate are easily a winning combination! Fabulous!

  18. This is absolutely killing me! I’m ready to bite one bar from the screen!

  19. I’m one of those lemon people, I just love lemon! However, chocolate comes in very close. So, to have both is a must try recipe. Yum!!!

  20. This looks wonderful,loved it.Would love to see u on my blog and get ur feedback.

  21. This recipe looks absolutely illegal!!!! I have to make something for my bookclub next week and this will definately impress and drive everyone wild. Thanks for the great recipe. I LOVE chocolate and citrus together and hope to convert some of the club members too.

  22. Oh Farida, you’re a bad influence, and I mean that in the nicest possible way.

    My heart skipped a few beats just looking at the pictures. And I’m so darned tickled to see that you’re also an official member of both, the lemon and chocolate clubs.

    I have everything –except prunes– to make your sinful cake. But I will make this and I will abuse as directed. Thank you!

  23. What an interesting inspiration for a dessert, but I have to say it looks fantastic!

  24. A wonderful cake! Very flavorful and delicious!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  25. I could definitely be a lover of both citrus and chocolate, especially if they’re together!

  26. Just wanted to say that this is very popular old Russian desert, but we use coco powder instead of chocolate and 1 can of condensed milk instead of maple syrup.LOVE IT! WILL BE MAKING SOME TODAY FOR MY SPANISH-AMERICAN FRIENDS!!! DELICIOUS!!!!!!!! EVERY ONE SHOULD TRY THIS!!!

  27. That is luxuriously rich chocolate cake. Oh, if only I could have a bite.

  28. Lemon, lime, orange, chocolate…!!! Yummy! What a great entry; I must check out that contest! 😉

  29. That looks so good! It looks really fudge like. I like the sound of a fridge cake and I like the citrus theme in this one. I like chocolate and I like citrus but I do not often combine them in the same dish! Great idea!

  30. BIG THANK YOU TO YOU, MY FRIENDS, FOR YOUR NICE COMMENTS (it rhymes:)

    Peter, Chef Erik, Ovenhaven, George, Gretchen, Mandy, Mag, Julia, Norecipes, Aparna, Diva, Vonsachen, Marija, Elle, Familiabencomo, Deeba, Joy, Chuck, Marysol, Rosa, Brilynn, Susan from Food Blogga, Medena, Kevin – Than you!

    Judy: Welcome to my blog! Glad you like the recipe!

    Hetal: Thank you for stopping by. Off to check your blog:)

    Colleen: Thank you for visiting! Glad you like the cake! I hope your club members will convert at the sight of the cake, before they get to eat it:)

    My Sweet & Saucy: Thank you for visiting my blog. Glad you like the recipe! Please visit again. And I see you are in Long Beach, CA – what a coincidence!

    Aloha: Welcome! Thank you for telling me about the Russian version of it. I don’t have the exact recipe for it, but I think I’ll just experiment with condensed milk, which I love a lot, and see what happens:)`

  31. Decadent is the PERFECT word to describe this. Whoa… I can almost taste the batter on my fingers after I lick the bowl clean! So interesting using the 3 different types of citrus.

  32. Oh my cake expert! that looks lovely 🙂
    Had to check all your posts that I missed when I was away,, still problems with net.. so can’t reach all blogs..
    hope u r doing well..

  33. Really lovely photos and a wonderful recipe. I’ll just have to drool over it for now,

  34. Farida this look amazing and so yummy!!!! mmmmGloria

  35. Thank you!!! – Jonathan, Kitchen Goddess, Seena, Pixie, Gloria!

  36. Mmmm….very interseting cake, thanks! Sounds good.

  37. Glad Jenn featured your blog on FFF! It’s a treat to visit, and this cake looks like heaven!

  38. This is great. Congrats on your award. A look at the cakes and I was already drooling 🙂

  39. Congratulations, Farida! I love citrus with chocolate…this sounds scrumptious!

  40. Congratulations Farida! I’ve never had a fridge cake, but that’s going to change very, very soon. Thanks for the amazing recipe 🙂

  41. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR LOVELY COMMENTS!

    CONGRATS TO ALL THE PARTICIPANTS!

  42. Oh my! What an interesting no-bake cake that is! No wonder you won the first prize! 😀

  43. for a minute i thought u said fudge and not fridge 🙂 nice recipe. glad i chanced upon ur blog 🙂

  44. Hi All, where I can get maple syrup? Do we have it in Baku supermarkets?

  45. Nihad, I don’t know if it is available in Baku. Maybe it is in big supermarkets. Can’t check since I am not there:)

  46. yum yum

  47. I can’t help but admire all the recipes that you have posted! God bless you well to post more beautiful ideas of yours!! Really unique recipes! 🙂

  48. this looks delicious, here is a similar one with a different twist,
    fridge cake is so easy and simple to make and it tasted so yummy afterwards!!

    here it is:
    – melt some chocolate in a bowl, (you can add single cream if you like it creamy)
    – crush some plain digestive biscuits, as many as you want, more if you want your fridge cake to be crunchy, less if you want it to be more smooth and chocolatey (buy the cheap ones because they taste the same)
    – add some chopped glacé cherries, raisins, sultanas, dried apricots, or whatever else you want in your fridge cake
    – pour mixture into cooking tray
    – put in fridge until completely set and chop/break into small pieces or slices (slices look neater and more professional for special occasions, small bite-sized chunks go great with an after dinner coffee)

    Enjoy!!

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