Thursday 24 February 2011

Chocolate and Orange Cake


 This weekend at the at Food Blogger Indaba 2011, I learnt the importance of giving my readers what they want, without sacrificing my own need to express my own personality and passions. I think that chocolate is a safe bet on both accounts.

I also learnt to play with flavours and ensure that while they must be creative, they still need to work well together. I decided to add a new flavour to my classic Martha's Chocolate Cake. I wasn't too adventurous, adding orange with chocolate, but I will say that the result was a huge success. Chocolate and Orange work so well together, it's a marriage made in heaven -Homemade Heaven!

Chocolate and Orange Cake

Chocolate and Orange Cake

4 eggs separated
4 Teaspoons of Baking Powder
1¼ Cup of Sugar
1 cup of Milk
200ml of Soft Butter
1¾ cups of Flour
2 Tablespoons Coco powder (do yourself a favour and buy the expensive one) I only use Nomu.
1 Tablespoon of corn flour (cornstarch)
Finely Grated zest of 2 un-waxed Oranges - about 2 packed teaspoons.

Pre Heat your oven to 180ºC
Separate 4 large eggs.
Whisk the whites until they come to soft peaks.
Keep the whisk running and . . . .
Add 1 teaspoon of baking powder,
Add 1¼ cup of sugar,
Add the egg yolks and whisk for 1 more minute.
Stop the whisk
Put 1 cup of milk and 200ml of soft butter in the microwave for 1 minute.
Sift together 1¾ cups of flour,
2 dessert spoons coco powder
1 dessert spoon of corn flour (cornstarch)
3 teaspoons baking powder

Alternatively add the milk mixture and the flour mixture to the egg and sugar mixture,
stirring well after each addition.
Stir in the Orange Zest.
Pour the mixture into 2 prepared cake tins and bake for 35 minutes at 180°C.
Once it has cooled you can sandwich it together and frost with your favourite topping.

I adapted this wonderful "cheat" filling recipe from my good friend Nina at My Easy Cooking.

Filling
1 Packet chocolate instant pudding
250ml Cream
 50g Chopped 70% dark Chocolate

Mix the above together and fill and frost the cake.
Decorate the top with the chopped chocolate.

This is a very moist cake, and when you use the Dutch process cocoa it comes out very dark and chocolaty.

9 comments:

Kit said...

Now if we could just taste it, that really would be what we want!!
Looks delicious!

I love your plank background too.

Marisa said...

Have to agree on the cocoa powder - the Nomu one tastes soo much better than the more generic versions.

Your photos are looking really lovely Rosemary - I want a slice of that cake, stat!

Homemade Heaven said...

Thanks Kit, it got 2 thumbs up from everyone!
I changed the background, I had some comments (which I appreciated) that the pink hurt people's eyes.

olivia's kitchen said...

Great pic, it looks moist and chocolatey, the perfect cake slice.

Olivia's kitchen said...

It looks moist and chocalatey, a perfect slice of cake!

Homemade Heaven said...

Thank you so much Olivia. Such kind words.

polkadotcupcake said...

mmm chocolate orange is one of my favourite flavour combinations EVER.. What a stunner, and the photies are looking great too!

envirogirl said...

Wow Rose - that photo is great! you must have picked up some tricks at the photo workshop! re the rest of your blog, i agree the answer is chocolate, lots of it. deni-Food With A Story

Koek! said...

Golly that cake looks so moist and delicious... Sinful!

Jeremiah 17: 7-8

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water."

It is not your business to succeed, but to do what is right : when you have done so, the rest lies with God.
C.S. Lewis

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