This was Hubby's birthday cake. It is an altered and adjusted version of the dark chocolate cake I grew up with, and it came out wonderfully. I was experimenting with making candied orange peel, so the peels themselves and the syrup from making them were used. Two additional oranges were slaughtered in the making of this cake, both semi-blood oranges. This is also one of the most elaborate cake decorations I've tried, and I was quite pleased with it.
Ingredients:
For the cake:
1/2 c butter
1/2 + 2 tbsp sunflower seed oil
6 tbsp cacao powder
1 1/4- 1 1/2 c orange juice
2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c sour milk (milk + 1 tsp vinegar)
2 eggs
2 tsp dried orange peel
For the frosting:
1/3 c soft butter
1/3 c cream cheese
1/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 c (or more) cacao powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp Aloha Chilli Spiced Cacao
1/2 c orange syrup (or orange juice and increase the amount of powdered sugar to taste)
1/4 c milk
1 Tbsp orange zest
Slices of candied orange peel (optional)
1) Melt butter in a small saucepan with oil, cacao and orange juice.
2) Mix dry ingredients, then gradually add milk, vanilla and eggs. Stir in the chocolate mix.
3) Prepare two cake pans and pour the batter into them. Bake 25-30 minutes at 165°C.
4) Cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in the other ingredients, taste testing regularly and adjusting accordingly. If necessary, add a little more orange juice, or some milk for creaminess. Adjust spicing to taste too!
5) Allow both halves of the cake to cool thoroughly before frosting. Sprinkle with orange zest and candied orange slices. Optionally, boil a few orange slices in a syrup until the water cooks off and they begin to caramelise, and arrange on top or the cake.
Rich and sweet, both the chocolate and orange came through. This cake was very tasty, and I am glad I already had started on the candied orange peel as the syrup really added to the frosting, and the candied pieces themselves really added to the cake. It was Little Bit's first time trying chocolate cake, and he was a bit disappointed originally that I was offering him this instead of a rice cake (the only other cake he's ever had). He was quickly converted though! Happy Birthday Hubby!