Chocolate Orange Cake

Hello,

I hope everyone is doing okay and keeping safe. It is a really strange time just now and with the extension of the lockdown, I decided to make a big chocolate cake to lift my family's and my spirits!

There has been a common theme between this post and the last, and that's the overindulgence in chocolate! But with everything going on right now, I don't think there should be any feelings of guilt if you end up indulging in too much cake! Especially if it is this chocolate orange cake...

This cake definitely lifted the spirits within my household...maybe a little too much...2 slices of a creamy, rich chocolate cake a day is quite ridiculous, but honestly, if you try this recipe you will not be disappointed. I found the original recipe on the BBC Good Food website, but I made a few changes!

❤Prep Time: 30 minutes
❤Cooking Time: 25 - 30 minutes
❤Easiness: Medium

Ingredients:

• 75g cocoa powder 
• 6 tbsp just-boiled water
• 2 oranges
• 225g softened, unsalted butter
• 200g caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 225 self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 200ml cream 
• 200g dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 tbsp marmalade

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C and line two cake tins with greaseproof paper. 
2. In a mug, mix the cocoa powder, boiling water, and 2 tbsp of orange juice squeezed from the oranges. Mix until this turns to a thick paste. Leave to cool.
3. In a bowl, place the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, orange zest, baking powder and, cocoa paste (once cooled). Mix using a spoon or electric mixer until the mixture is smooth. 
4. Spoon even amounts of the mixture into the prepared cake tins and place in the oven to cook for 25-30 minutes. 
5. Remove from oven and leave to stand for 5 minutes before removing the sponge from the cake tin and leaving to cool completely. 
6. To make the chocolate ganache, heat the cream in a pan until hot (NOT bubbling!) stirring occasionally. Pour the cream over the chocolate pieces in a separate bowl. Stir once and leave to stand for 5 minutes. 
7. Stir the melting chocolate into the cream, just enough until combined. 
8. Once the sponge has cooled, spread the marmalade on one cake surface and then place the second half of the sponge on top. 
9. Using a palette knife or spatula, spread the chocolate ganache on the top of the cake and around the sides. Some people like to leave this layer to cool and then add the next layer...I just put a thick layer on once and left to cool. 
10. I then used two orange segments and placed them on the top for decoration!

And just like that, your cake is ready! 

This is not a cake you will regret making - it is literally just like a giant jaffa cake! I added the marmalade to the recipe myself, which really enhanced the orangey flavour! So, if you have any marmalade around your house make sure to use it. If not, some extra ganache as a middle layer would not go amiss either!

These times are tough, but I find there is such a relief in baking. Hopefully posting these recipes and providing people with baking ideas can help reduce other people's stress and anxiety too. Please do let me know if you try this recipe and whether you like it or not :) 

Mum modelling the cake!