Chocolate Orange Drizzle Cake

I think my words to my boyfriend when I took my first bite of this cake were "Amazeballs nomtastic omigod" (I was instant messaging, not talking, that would just be weird otherwise).

Yes, it's that good. All the other sites said that this cake had immediately gone into their top 10 favourites when they first cooked it, and I thought "ok, it's probably good, but not THAT good."

I was wrong, I freely admit it. This is one of the best cakes I have ever eaten and if you do not cook this NOW then you are being cruel to yourself by denying yourself a bite of this luscious cake.

Chocolate orange drizzle cake


I originally found the recipe here but it can also be seen here, at "The Goddess's Kitchen" which has quickly become one of my favourite blogs - I have bookmarked probably 30 recipes going through her archives today. It originally came from here, "Baking Cakes Galore", another wonderful blog. Look at all of these because then you can see just how much people like this cake! There's also a wonderful roundup here so you can get some decorating ideas. I haz no sprinkles. But I think that would probably spoil the texture anyway. Just chocolate worked for me!

For The cake
175g (6 oz) softened butter
175g (6 oz) caster sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
Finely grated zest of 2 oranges
175g (6 oz) self-raising flour, sifted
2 tbsp milk
For The Orange Syrup
Juice of 1 orange
100g (4 oz) granulated sugar
For The Topping
50g (2 oz) dark chocolate or milk chocolate – your choice
Sprinkles of choice (optional, I didn't bother)

CALORIES PER CAKE: ~3250

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
2. In a mixing bowl, add the butter and sugar and beat together until light and fluffy in appearance.

3. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well until fully incorporated. 

4. Add the orange zest, flour and milk and fold in gently with a spatula or large metal spoon. 

I lack a grater and therefore had to peel my orange with a potato peeler.

Don't worry, I didn't put it in like that. I chopped it up smaller. It still wasn't as thin as it would be grated, but that meant it had a slightly more rustic feel, with big chunks of zest (but not so big as to be unpleasant).

5. Turn into the prepared tin. If you're not sure how big your loaf tin is (like me), you want it about 3/4 full, which is what I mercifully ended up with. It ends up beautiful then.

6. Smooth the top of the mixture and bake in the oven on middle shelf 35 -45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

7. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin. When cool make little holes in the cake with a skewer (I don't have a skewer, as such. I used a fork... quicker too!). This is important for pouring the syrup onto the cake to ensure the syrup soaks in fully.

I didn't let it cool fully because I was feeling a bit impatient. I put the syrup in (next stage) and took it out, and it came out of my silicone tin whilst syrupy and still fairly warm with no problems, though it was a bit nerve racking!

For The Orange Syrup

1. Put the orange juice and granulated sugar into a pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. 

2. Bring to the boil and boil for a couple of minutes. (It will come to the boil fairly quickly as there's not a huge volume of liquid, so keep a close eye on it)

3. Pour over the top of the cake. 

4. When all the juice has soaked in, carefully remove the cake from the tin.

For The Topping

1. Melt the chocolate by placing a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. 

2. Once the chocolate has melted, pour over the top of the cake. Either smooth the top over with a spatula or make a little pattern with the prongs of a fork. 

3. Add sprinkles if desired, leave chocolate to set before cutting into the cake. 

Is it bad that I didn't let it set? I wanted it NOW. I still want it NOW. I could have eaten the whole cake. Let me tell you, it's good warm. You don't reeaaaaaly have to let it set. Honest. 

I'll know tomorrow whether it's good cold because I have another slice to look forward to!

p.s. Please excuse the camera, the situation worsens and the noise on it today was terrible. I am really looking seriously for a cheapish digital compact - anything has to be better than my mobile...