To paraphrase a well-known and favourite Friend “What’s not to like – chocolate gooooood, orange gooooood, cake gooooood”! You’ve got to love Joey’s thinking when it comes to food.
This is a real favourite of mine because for some reason the flavours of chocolate and orange together just scream “Christmas” to me – probably reminding me of my Terry’s chocolate orange in my stocking every Christmas morning!
But please don’t be alarmed or think this is just a seasonal cake – it’s every bit as good in July as it is in December and if there’s one thing I like more than a slice of this cake it’s…another slice! It’s moist, light and orangey and with the chocolate on top less is definitely more.
I discovered something new about Luna while making this cake to take pictures – she really likes orange flavoured things, who knew?! This is not a dignified story (for Luna) but I’ll tell it anyway! I had made the cake mix and left the kitchen for a few minutes to answer my phone. When I came back, there was a Luna on the work surface in the kitchen with cake batter on her face and whiskers looking extremely sheepish. Sadly she ran away before I could get a picture (a kitty has dignity and a reputation to maintain after all) but that image will certainly be etched in my memory forever! I was so aghast at the sheer cheek of what she’d done that I didn’t even get a chance to tell her off.
Let me share a funny little baking oddity of mine with you. I much prefer making cakes as loaf cakes to round cakes. Is that weird? Maybe a little, but I find that I manage to mess up round cakes – maybe it’s my defective balance or that our house seems to be slightly tilted but they always come out uneven, not thick enough or just wrong. I don’t have these problems with loaf cakes, they come out a perfect shape and depth. If you have similar problems try baking your favourites in a loaf tin!
I think this is the first time I’ve felt the need to do this on the Dizzy Dieter but it seemed prudent with this cake to add a legal disclaimer – I advise that you have a slice with a cup of tea. Then, if you’re short on self control (like me) lock the cake away and hand the key to someone responsible so that you can’t eat it all. I cannot be held responsible if you lose control and voraciously devour the whole cake in one afternoon!
Please let me know what you think via the comments section or by using the Contact Me form. I’d love to hear your thoughts and see your chocolate orange loaves on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Enjoy DDx.
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Chocolate Orange Loaf
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 10 slices 1x
Description
A moist orange-y loaf cake with melted chocolate drizzled over it – try not to eat it all!
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 140 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 200 g self-raising flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 200 g caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 110 ml milk
- 1 orange, zested
To finish the cake:
- 50 ml orange juice (fresh or from a carton is fine)
- 50 g caster sugar
- 50 g milk chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180℃ /fan 160℃ / 350℉. Liberally butter a 2lb loaf tin and line just the bottom with baking paper.
- Put all the cake ingredients into a bowl and beat together for a few minutes (I use an electric whisk). Pour into the tin.
- Bake for 45 mins, until golden and firm to touch. About 5 minutes before the cake is finished, put the orange juice and caster sugar in a small pan and heat very gently, stirring frequently until the sugar has dissolved.
- When the cake is cooked, remove it from the oven and evenly pour the orange mix over it. Let it cool in the tin, then remove and put on a cake tray or plate with raised edges.
- Melt the chocolate and drizzle over the cake. Leave to set and then slice and serve with a cuppa!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Per serving
- Calories: 324.4kcal
