THE SECRET RECIPE CLUB: CHOCOLATE ORANGE DRIZZLE CAKE

Posted in Desserts, Sweets, Secret Recipe Club by

Last Monday of the month, and it’s Secret Recipe Reveal Day for my group. For those not familiar with it, the SRC is a monthly event in which food bloggers are paired in secret, and after stalking the assigned blog for a couple of weeks, they cook and blog on a chosen recipe. I was paired with royalty this month:  Lavender and Lovage is a great food blog that I’ve known long before I  joined the group.  Karen, the host, has lived in many different places, teaches cooking classes in the Southwest of France, and does a lot of research on British cooking. In fact, she is writing a cookbook about it! Her About Me page is a must read.   I had four recipes high on my list of possible choices, but finally decided to bake a cake. And one that takes creaming the butter with sugar, which proves I am a very daring person.  😉

CHOCOLATE ORANGE DRIZZLE CAKE
(from Lavender and Lovage)

for the cake:
6 oz (150 g) softened butter
6 oz (150 g) superfine sugar
6 oz (150 g) self-raising flour
3 large eggs, beaten
grated rind from 2 oranges
2 tablespoons milk
(7″ to 8″ round cake pan ~ greased and lined)

for the drizzle:
Juice from 2 oranges
2 oz (50 g) sugar
2 oz (50 g) 85% chocolate

Heat oven to 170C/350F.  Beat the butter and sugar together until
light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten eggs and flour,
alternately, mixing well in between. Add the grated orange rind and
mix well before adding the milk to make a soft dropping consistency.

Pour the cake mixture into a greased and lined pan and bake for 35 to
40 minutes, until risen and light golden brown; test the center of the
cake with a skewer, if it comes out clean, the cake is ready. Cool in the pan.

Make the orange drizzle by gently heating the orange juice and sugar
together in a pan until the sugar has dissolved. When the cake has
cooled, pour the orange drizzle over the cake in the tin. When the
cake is completely cold, take it out of the tin and place it on a
serving plate.

Heat the chocolate in a saucepan over a low heat, do not allow to
boil, and as soon as it has melted, drizzle the chocolate over the
cake, using a fork to make patterns.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

This cake was delicious, and Karen’s description of it was spot on:  some cakes that are drizzled with syrup after baking will end up soggy and overly sweet.  Not this one.  She coated it with a full layer of chocolate and decorated it with chocolate swirls, I stayed with a humble drizzle, as  my chocolate reserves in the pantry were  unexpectedly low.  One wonders why.   😉

To see what my fellow bloggers from group D cooked up this month,  click on the smily frog below.  To see who got my blog and the recipe chosen (it’s delicious!)  click here for Avril’s site.  The Secret Recipe Club will take a break in the month of December, but we’ll be back in full swing next year!

Karen, it was great to spend time stalking your blog!
I hope you are having fun on your Reveal Day…  

ONE YEAR AGO: Turkey Day, Tryptophan, and Fluorescence

TWO YEARS AGO:  The Ultimate Apple Cake

THREE YEARS AGO: Trouble-Free Pizza Dough



51 thoughts on “THE SECRET RECIPE CLUB: CHOCOLATE ORANGE DRIZZLE CAKE”

    • So glad you enjoyed my post! I was set on that chicken curry you had, but ended up going for the cake. Brought it to my department and now everyone thinks I am some kind of a baking goddess… yeah, right… 😉

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    • I must say I haven’t had ANY issues with making this cake, which says a lot. A LOT. Creaming butter with sugar is not my favorite type of activity, but I’m so glad I picked this recipe. I am feeling adventurous and ready for more! 😉

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  10. Gorgeous Sally! I love fresh orange cake and yours turned out so well. I actually think the drizzle is what makes it so seductive. That first photo has a wonderful warmth – the orange is aglow under the drizzle – it reminds me of flames poking through wood. Beautiful and captivating.

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    • You know, I’ve never had orange chocolate, I actually have seen it around, as well as other combinations, blueberries, cinnamon, pepper… will definitely try some in the near future

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  14. Sally! You are a complete GEM! Goodness your mention of me at the end of your post gave me a HUGE smile!…even though I was already smiling with drooling happiness over the recipe your made for you SRC pick!!! What a gorgeous cake! Chocolate and orange are so elegantly d’lish together 🙂

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  15. My nemesis comes when I add the eggs, curdle on baby! But that looks fabulous and I might have to make for Brian who always says the word chocolate when I say the word orange, with a little tremble of his lower lip, and I say no, aniseed, or some such and he sighs a little, his head lowers and he goes off to read about steam trains or something…. so I think I’d better make this one TODAY!!!! Thanks for the inspiration and of course to Karen too !

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    • I wish there was a secret, but it’s more baking under the right season of the moon and the correct alignment of Venus with Saturn. Yeap. I do science for a living. Very rational person, yes I am 😉

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    • THAT IS AWESOME! I hope you get in soon, there’s a waiting line that gets bigger and bigger, but it’s worth waiting for, such a fun event.

      Now, I do hope you fall into group D, that would be even better, so we could at some point get each other’s blog to cook from 😉

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  24. Off topic but I sorted the trembling lip today as I bought not one but two Terry’s Chocolate Oranges ( ancient branded chocolate introduced in 1931) for him today. That apparently was what he thought I meant… I am still going to make this cake though 😉

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  27. Pingback: Orange Kiss Me Cake | familyrecipebooks

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