Chocolate Orange Cake with Orange Glaze

At my work place, we have a tradition of celebrating everyone's birthdays. Recently it was one of my co-worker's birthday. She has dairy allergy and therefore cannot eat regular cakes. I wanted to make her something pretty that didn't have dairy in it. I then decided to make her a Chocolate-Orange Marble Bundt Cake with orange glaze. As you can see I have made Chocolate-Orange Marble Bundt Cake before but without the glaze. I used powdered sugar and royal icing flowers to decorate the cake. 

This time I decided to try a slightly different cake recipe. I must proudly admit that this was an experiment that was successful. The cake was moist, light and with the right amount of sweetness.

 I was proud of the end result and the testimony to that is not only my friend whose birthday it was liked it but all my other co-workers did too and the cake was gone in no time!! Bonus: it looked so pretty. 

This is a cake that is easy to make and decorate, especially on a weekday. It is perfect for the upcoming holiday season where you attend so many holiday parties and may have to bring something or have to host one and have so many items to prepare !

Servings: 10-12

Prep time: 30 minsCook time: 45 mins-60 mindTotal time: 75-90 mins

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

All purpose flour: 2 cups

Baking powder: 1 tsp

Baking soda: 1 and 1/2 tsp

Salt: pinch

Cocoa powder: 1/2 cup

Instant coffee: 1 and 1/2 tbsp

Milk: 1 cup

Hot water: 1/2 cup

Powdered sugar: 1 and 1/2 cups

Cooking oil : 1 cup 

Eggs: 3 large

Orange juice: 1/4 cup 

Orange zest: 2 tbsp ( from 1 medium orange) 

Raisins: 1/2 cup

Vanilla essence: 1 tsp

For the glaze:

butter: 1/2 cup 

orange juice: 1/4 cup 

powdered sugar: 1 cup 

orange zest: 1 tsp + 1 tsp

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degree F.

Grease the Bundt pan thoroughly and keep ready.

Seive together flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt and keep aside. You could also just whisk it using a whisk. Whisk thoroughly.

Mix the instant coffee and cocoa powder in hot water and keep aside.

In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs, with the oil, milk and vanilla essence. 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix well. Do not overmix!

Divide the batter into two equal portions. 

To the first half add the water, coffee and cocoa mixture and mix well. Again, do not overmix! If the batter is too thick, add a tbsp of milk.

To the other bowl,  add the orange juice, orange zest and raisins. Mix gently but thoroughly. Do not over mix!

Now pour the batter into the Bundt  pan little at a time alternating between the chocolate and the orange flavored ones. Start and end with the chocolate batter.

Tap the Bundt pan against the kitchen countertop to get rid of any air bubbles. 

Place it in the center rack of the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes it until a skewer comes out clean.

My oven took 40 minutes. Keep checking after 35 minutes and adjust the time accordingly.

When done, take the pan out and let it cool down for atleast 30 minutes before taking it out of the pan and place it on the wire-rack.

Let it cool completely before decorating it.

While the cake is cooling, prepare the glaze.

For the glaze: 

Add the butter to a pan. Once it is melted, add the orange juice, sugar and bring it to a boil. Reduce the flame and simmer for 5 mins stirring continuously. Turn off the flame. Stir in the zest.

Glazing the cake: 

Once the cake is completely cooled, place it on the serving plate/tray. Spoon the glaze on top of the cake. Sprinkle the remaining zest on top. The glaze thickens once it cools down. 

Enjoy! 

I am bringing this to my friends at Angie's Fiesta Friday#202. Angie's cohosts this week are two awesome bloggers,Judi @ cookingwithauntjuju.com and Laurena @ Life Diet Health. Do check out Angie's Fiesta if you have not already!!

Cooking made easy:

You could make this cake spiked by adding orange liqueur. To do this, add 1/2 cup Curacao or Triple Sec to the glaze with the orange zest once the flame is turned off.

Tip for healthy living:

Since Bundt cakes are not layered with frosting or iced, they are a great alternative to iced cakes thereby reducing the sugar intake. 

Food for thought:

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. Theodore Roosevelt 

Please do share your thoughts. Your opinion matters!

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Meatless Monday Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

I have always been fascinated with chocolate-dipped fruits. I find the chocolate-dipped strawberries the prettiest. With my new interest in baking I have all new ingredients in my pantry. This include a big bag of chocolate chips that I use to make chocolate- chip cookies. Both my kids love the home-made chocolate-chip cookies :) and so I make it all the time! Strawberries have a perennial presence in my refrigerator as my daughter loves them. Hence strawberries was the obvious choice of fruit to be dipped in chocolate when I decided to make chocolate-dipped strawberries. I decided to try a small batch in case I failed. The result of course was a resounding success. My kids loved it, my neighbor loved it. I even made a batch for my neighbor to take for her Easter party! These make a great healthy dessert!

This is how I made it:

Servings: 10

Ingredients:

Fresh strawberries: 30
Semi-sweet chocolate morsels: 1 cup

Method:

Wash the strawberries and air dry them thoroughly on a paper towel.

Line a tray with parchment paper and keep ready.

Take one cup chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and warm it at 100% power for 1 1/2 minutes(90 seconds). The chocolate should melt by now. You may see a few whole pieces, which when stirred will melt. If needed you can add additional 15-20 seconds in the microwave. Overheating the chocolate will harden it and render it useless for dipping.

Once the chocolate is completely melted, dip the strawberry into the chocolate until it is half-way in. Twirl it two times to coat it well. Remove, shake off the excess chocolate and place on parchment paper.

Do the same with all the strawberries.

Place the strawberries for 30-60 minutes (or until time of serving) in the refrigerator to allow them to harden.

These are best made the same day as the day you intend to serve.

Serve chilled.

Enjoy!

Cooking made easy:

The best way to wash strawberries is by mixing 1 part of vinegar with 10 parts cold water. Soak the strawberries for 2-4 minutes and then air dry them.

Strawberries are extremely delicate and go bad quick. The best way to store them after cleaning and drying them is by keeping it in the refrigerator in a container that is lined with paper and is vented.

Tip for healthy living:

Strawberries are one of the dirty dozen fruits and vegetables. What that means is that strawberries have a high content of pesticide and insecticides in them since they have a very thin skin. Whenever possible and if one can afford, it is best to buy organic strawberries as opposed to regular ones.

The dirty dozen group of vegetables are all the one that are high in pesticide content. This can have a negative impact on a growing child's development.

Food for thought:

Try to leave the Earth a better place than when you arrived. Sidney Sheldon