Cracking Chocolate Orange Cake
Today marks the "World's Biggest Coffee Morning" in order to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support and for my contribution to this wonderful cause I made this delicious Chocolate Orange Cake!
This cake is truly the easiest cake in the world to make. All the ingredients are household staples and they are simply all put in one bowl, mixed together and baked in the oven - what could be simpler?! I love the combination of chocolate and orange and for some reason autumn feels like the perfect time of year for it - maybe it's the orange of falling leaves and pumpkins or maybe it's the fact that Terry's chocolate oranges have started hitting our shelves in the run up to Christmas - either way, you simply HAVE to try this cake and hopefully you can raise some funds for charity too!
Cracking Chocolate Orange Cake
100g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
50g good quality cocoa powder
90ml boiling water
3 large free-range eggs
4 tbsp milk
175g self-raising flour, sifted
1 rounded tsp baking powder, sifted into the flour
300g golden caster sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
For the icing and filling:
150g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
150ml double cream
3 tbsp apricot jam, warmed over a low heat
For decoration:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
Zest of 1 orange
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/fan160°C/gas 4. Grease 2 x 20cm round sandwich tins and line the bases with baking paper.
To make the sponges, measure the cocoa and boiling water into a large bowl and mix to a paste. Add the remaining ingredients and beat again until combined. (You can use a food processor for this but be careful not to over-mix.) Divide the sponge mixture evenly between the prepared tins. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes until the sponges are well risen and shrinking away from the sides of the tin. Remove the sponges from the oven, turn out of their tins onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.
For the icing and filling, put the chocolate and cream in a bowl, Then stand over a pan of simmering water for 10 minutes until melted (don’t let the bowl touch the water), stirring from time to time. Set aside to cool until it thickens to a spreadable consistency.
To finish, spread the tops of both sponges with the apricot jam. Spread the top of one sponge with half the icing and put the other sponge on top. Cover the top of the cake with the remainder of the icing, then, with a small palette knife, make large S shapes in the icing to give a swirl effect.
For the decoration, in a medium saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add zest of 1 orange (peeled into long strips with a vegetable peeler); simmer, swirling occasionally, until zest is tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and transfer to a plate. Allow to cool slightly and thinly slice. Scatter the top liberally with the candied orange and enjoy!
TIP: If you ganache (icing) appears to be greasy/oily/water, add some more cold double cream slowly and stir until it comes back together into a luscious, glossy sauce.
This cake is truly the easiest cake in the world to make. All the ingredients are household staples and they are simply all put in one bowl, mixed together and baked in the oven - what could be simpler?! I love the combination of chocolate and orange and for some reason autumn feels like the perfect time of year for it - maybe it's the orange of falling leaves and pumpkins or maybe it's the fact that Terry's chocolate oranges have started hitting our shelves in the run up to Christmas - either way, you simply HAVE to try this cake and hopefully you can raise some funds for charity too!
Cracking Chocolate Orange Cake
100g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
50g good quality cocoa powder
90ml boiling water
3 large free-range eggs
4 tbsp milk
175g self-raising flour, sifted
1 rounded tsp baking powder, sifted into the flour
300g golden caster sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
For the icing and filling:
150g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
150ml double cream
3 tbsp apricot jam, warmed over a low heat
For decoration:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
Zest of 1 orange
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/fan160°C/gas 4. Grease 2 x 20cm round sandwich tins and line the bases with baking paper.
To make the sponges, measure the cocoa and boiling water into a large bowl and mix to a paste. Add the remaining ingredients and beat again until combined. (You can use a food processor for this but be careful not to over-mix.) Divide the sponge mixture evenly between the prepared tins. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes until the sponges are well risen and shrinking away from the sides of the tin. Remove the sponges from the oven, turn out of their tins onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.
For the icing and filling, put the chocolate and cream in a bowl, Then stand over a pan of simmering water for 10 minutes until melted (don’t let the bowl touch the water), stirring from time to time. Set aside to cool until it thickens to a spreadable consistency.
To finish, spread the tops of both sponges with the apricot jam. Spread the top of one sponge with half the icing and put the other sponge on top. Cover the top of the cake with the remainder of the icing, then, with a small palette knife, make large S shapes in the icing to give a swirl effect.
For the decoration, in a medium saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add zest of 1 orange (peeled into long strips with a vegetable peeler); simmer, swirling occasionally, until zest is tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and transfer to a plate. Allow to cool slightly and thinly slice. Scatter the top liberally with the candied orange and enjoy!
TIP: If you ganache (icing) appears to be greasy/oily/water, add some more cold double cream slowly and stir until it comes back together into a luscious, glossy sauce.
So Yummy! I love chocolate so much!
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