Chocolate Orange Cake

This Chocolate Orange Cake Recipe is part homage to the famous pairing of chocolate and orange and, to Green and Black’s Organic Cocoa Powder which is particularly rich, dark and tasty. What makes it different to most recipes is the change in texture for the topping; under the hard, dark chocolate topping is a rich, zesty, soft chocolate orange buttercreammmmmmmmmm.

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Ingredients:

Cake :

8oz (225g) Butter
8oz (225g) Golden caster sugar
4 Eggs
4oz (110g) Self raising flour
4oz (110g) of Dark cocoa powder (Green and Blacks).
1 Orange

Butter Cream Topping:

4oz (110g) Icing sugar
1 oz (30g) Cocoa powder
1 oz (30g) Butter
1 Orange

Hard Chocolate Topping

100g bar of 70% Dark chocolate (Green and Blacks).

Method:

Preheat oven 140c/120c Fan/275F/Gas Mark 1.

Grease two (2lb) loaf tins and line bottom with baking paper. This only fills the tin half way so you can use a smaller tin but I like the depth to topping ratio this gives.

This recipe is enough to make two cakes; one for you to give to a friend and pretend to be generous and, the other for your cake tin.

Cream the sugar and butter together. Whisk in the eggs one at a time. Fold in the flour and cocoa. Add the zest from the orange and the juice. Divide into two loaf tins.

Place in the centre of the oven. Check after 20 minutes. Cook until risen and a skewer comes cleanly out. Allow to cool and make icing.

Simple butter cream – whisk butter, and icing sugar and cocoa powder together. Add a tbsp of the orange juice at a time until smooth enough to spread . Add orange zest for more tang. Now spread over top of cakes.

Chocolate Orange Buttercream Layer

Melt chocolate bar gently and spread over butter cream. I find doing this in two thin coats is easier. Allow to cool slightly and make knife marks on top so that the hard chocolate can be cut into easily. Not terribly attractive at this stage but I usually serve this already cut up into slices where the effect of the two textures looks good.

Options

I enjoyed making this recipe with  Green and Black's Organic Cocoa Powder and it does taste better with a rich dark powder. Also, I would like to make this recipe with  lime zest and juice but I was out voted on the home front again. Definitely one for Chocolate Orange Lovers, or maybe there are other alcoholic possibilities Rum, Cointreau........

Finally

 

Did you know that Green and Blacks are looking for a taster? Applications will close on the 14th December 2010 -  click  fancy a change of job?