Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake


Cocoa orange cake1


Chocolate and orange are a classic flavor combination and this cake is one of my favorites. I make a couple of different versions with minor variations depending on the ingredients I have at the time. It only takes about 10 minutes to make the batter for this cake and it can also be baked as cupcakes or loaf cakes (with the baking time adjusted accordingly) depending on your preference.


Cocoa orange cake3



Dry ingredients:

  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • A pinch of salt


Wet ingredients:

  • 8 Tbsp butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • Zest of 2 oranges (reserve a bit for the glaze)
  • ½- ¾ cup of freshly squeezed orange juice



Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a cake pan. I used my bundt pan.


Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs, orange zest and orange juice and mix well.  The mixture may look curdled at this point, but it comes together well once the rest of the ingredients are in. Stir in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix together the wet and dry ingredients and transfer the batter to the pan.


Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.


While the cake was cooling I made a simple glaze. I just melted some chocolate, mixed in some orange zest and a splash of milk and poured it all over the top of the cake.
                                                                                  

Cocoa orange cake2