Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake

Thanks everyone for all the congratulations on our engagement. =) Very sweet of you all! We're still trying to pick a date, which is kind of hard to do with my school schedule but I'm sure we'll figure something out soon.


I seem to be making a lot of bundt cakes recently - which I think means that I'm justified in buying another bundt pan like the rose shaped Nordic Ware one, don't you agree? This cake turned out quite soft, so for me it wasn't perfect (I prefer dense cakes to fluffy ones) but everyone else loved it. The cake tastes like a Terry's chocolate orange so if you like those you will definitely like this! The cake itself has orange juice and zest, as well as chocolate chunks. (I hate when I forget to zest the orange before juicing it and then have to try to zest a squashed rind.) Then it has an orange syrup that's put on shortly after coming out of the oven (which soaks into the cake) and then a chocolate ganache is spooned on top. It's quite the cake!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Orange Cream Cheese Muffins
Cinnamon Swirl Buttermilk Pound Cake
Orange Berry Muffins
Lemon Lust Cake

Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen adapted from Barefoot Contessa Parties!

2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 extra-large eggs, room temperature
Zest from 4 large oranges
3 cups all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (I used 420 g.)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks

Syrup
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

Ganache
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 10-inch Bundt pan.

2. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, then the orange zest.

3. Sift together 3 cups flour, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine the orange juice, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately in thirds to the creamed butter, beginning and ending with the flour. Toss the chocolate chunks with 2 tablespoons flour and add to the batter. Pour into the pan, smooth the top, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, make the syrup. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, cook the sugar with the orange juice until the sugar dissolves. Remove the cake from the pan, set it on a rack over a tray, and spoon the orange syrup over the cake. Allow the cake to cool completely.

5. For the ganache, melt the chocolate, heavy cream, and coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. Drizzle over the top of the cake.

25 comments:

Snooky doodle said...

wow this cake looks spectacular. I like chocolate an orange and fluffy cakes :)

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

Mmmmmm, that sounds and looks amazing! Nom, nom! And a big congratulations to you both :)

Teanna said...

I missed the announcement! AH! Congratulations on your engagement! What a sweet way to celebrate - that cake looks great!

Tia said...

congrats!!! are you going to bake your own wedding cake? lol :)

Katrina said...

Congrats on your upcoming marriage! And the bundt cake looks fabulous! I love the chocolate/orange combo.

grace said...

i don't think the orange-chocolate combination is used nearly often enough--it's fantastic! your bundt looks lurvely. :)

Chef Aimee said...

Oh delicious! I love orange and chocolate together, and citrus is so wonderful this time of year.

Erin said...

Congratulations on your engagement! This cake looks delicious!

Lea said...

Congrats in advance in your upcoming marriage! You post made my heart simultaneously sing and weep. I’m freakin’ allergic to chocolate these days and can no longer have it. I’m thinking maybe I can replace the chocolate with carob? Probably won’t be as good, but this looks AWESOME.

Dana said...

I'm not usually an orange fan, but I can certainly do orange and chocolate! I definitely think another bundt pan (or two) are justified! :)

Anonymous said...

AWWW! Congratulations!:) *grin* I love hearing such happy news! Anyway, onto other happy things, gorgeous cake. Bundt, chocolate and orange. you've got a winning formula there!!

CookiePie said...

Congratulations and best wishes!!! Beautiful cake, too -- love the chocolate-orange combo!

Steph said...

Congrats Ashley!! I prefer fluffy cakes so I'll probably like this one. About the white background you asked about, I just photographed on a white plate and then when I uploaded to flickr, I increased the contrast, brightness, highlight.

By the way, I just found this Canadian company that makes bakeware. I think they;re a lot better than Chicago Metallic and they look so pretty. I'll let you know what I think when I test them out.

The Food Librarian said...

Yummy! I love the Bundt! :) This is a great recipe.

Yesica N. Cook said...

Terry's chocolate orange! Now you're talking!! :) Sadly I don't have a bundt pan or anywhere to put one, so will just have to dream... Thanks for sharing!

DessertObsessed said...

you got engaged?! OMG congratulations! How fantastic! I can't wait to see what kind of desserts you will have at the wedding! And love the gorgeous cake, as usual!

Pam Walter said...

Orange with chocolate...a winning combination in any form! http://blog.sweetservices.com/sweetscandyblog/

A Crafty Mom said...

This looks amazing!! I was JUST reading through that cookbook last night and saw this recipe. Last week I made Ina's sour cream coffee cake - it was to die for so I'm sure this one is fantastic too!

Ricki said...

Oh my gosh, I'm so behind on blog reading I missed the announcement! CONGRATULATIONS to both of you--such wonderful news!! And the cake looks just stunning. I used to love those chocolate oranges, so I have no doubt this cake would do me in. Wish I had a big occasion(like an engagement, maybe??) for which to bake it! ;)

Deborah said...

love orange and chocolate, LOVE anything with glaze dripping down it like that!

Hannah said...

I am positively drooling over the look of this bundt! Orange and chocolate sound like just the thing to perk up a dreary winter day.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

This reminds me of those chocolate oranges we get in our stockings every year. They are a favourite as I'm sure these would be too.

Unknown said...

I like fluffy cakes, and I love the chocolate and orange combination. So this cake seems tailor-made for me :P

Edana said...

Just commenting...ooh, more than a month later...to let you know that I made your cake and blogged about it. Thanks so much for the recipe, it was delicious (even though it fell apart!)

http://edanacooks.blogspot.com/2010/03/is-pretty-important.html

snowdrop said...

Just tried this recipe last week. It was delicious ....
tasted just like Terry's Chocolate Orange as you had mentioned. Yummm ^o^