Saturday 24 December 2011

Cream cheese chocolate orange cake - We Should Cocoa


After last month's apple chocolate challenge, this month Choclette has been kind to us and given us orange to pair with chocolate, a classic combo. Chocolate and orange work so well together that this month the challenge has been to come up with something different. Well, I haven't really done something different, but I have made a really rather good cake, and that should be counted a successful challenge I think!


It came about as I found I had half a tub of cream cheese in the fridge with no immediate plans. Trawling round I found that I had made a cake containing cream cheese relatively recently. It was a good cake and deserved another outing, but in a modified form.

This is based (heavily) on Dan Lepard's Ginger chocolate chip pound cake, modified to suit my requirements.

Cream Cheese Chocolate Orange Cake
Ingredients
100g unsalted butter, melted
200g caster sugar
125g full fat cream cheese
3 medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
220g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
100g dark chocolate, chopped,
grated zest of one large orange

Chocolate fudge frosting
100g dark chocolate, chopped
50g unsalted butter
1 rounded tbsp golden syrup

Sprinkles to decorate

Method
- Preheat the oven to Gas4/180C. Grease and line an 8"/20cm square cake tin.
- Mix together the butter and caster sugar. While the butter is still warm, beat in the cream cheese. This was really satisfying, and gave a beautifully creamy, glossy mixture.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time until combined then add the vanilla and orange zest.
- Sift in the flour and cocoa powder and beat until combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Spoon into the tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until a skewer/cake tester comes out clean or with only a few crumbs remaining.
- Leave to cool on a wire rack and in the meantime, make the frosting.
- Melt the butter, chocolate and golden syrup over a pan of hot water.
- Allow to cool until spreading consistency, this will take a couple of hours.
- Spread the frosting over the cake and sprinkle with decorations as desired.

My cake took 45 minutes to bake, and then I partially covered it with foil and gave it another 5 mins or so to finish cooking the centre.


This was a lovely cake and the orange flavour came through really well without being overpowering or artificial, which is something I sometimes find with orange flavoured chocolate items.

It was a little dry though, and would probably have been better eaten with either a big blob of vanilla ice cream, or some pouring cream as a dessert, or perhaps even better than both of those, with some orange flavoured custard - hot enough to make the topping go all gooey. Mmmm, yum! However, there were no complaints, and it disappeared rapidly enough when taken in to work!

9 comments:

Johanna GGG said...

great idea for a cake - I love using alternative dairy to milk - esp because it saves me from throwing out the leftover tubs I seem to acquire in my kitchen so easily - love the white chips on the chocolate ganache

MissCakeBaker said...

Looks great. Just the thing for Boxing Day!

Shu Han said...

that looks amazing! I also made a chocolate orange ginger cake for the challenge, but must admit yours look so much more sinfully delicious. hope you had a great christmas, and happy holidays! (:

Hazel - Chicken in a Cherry Sauce said...

I've actually never seen cream cheese in a cake before! Chocolate and orange is always a winner - looks tasty!

Chele said...

That does look like a pretty amazing cake alright ;0)
Loving the moist chocolatey centre topped with even more chocolatey goodness!

The Caked Crusader said...

This is what Christmas does to one (i.e. me) I'm reading this at 9.30am thinking, "ooh, I could go a big slice of this right now!"

Choclette said...

Now this sounds like a lovely festive cake and I want to go and bake with cream cheese immediately! Thanks for being such a loyal WSCer.

Hope you had a great Christmas.

Caroline said...

Johanna - yes, it's very satisfying to use tubs of things up!

MissCakeBaker - indeed - a change from Christmas pud!

Shu Han - chocolate orange ginger sounds amazing, I must check it out!

Hazel - thanks!

Chele - yes, the chocolate topping was really good!

CC - yep, all in the spirit of Christmas. And chocolate must become healthier at Christmas-time, surely?!

Choclette - thanks. Looking forward to another good year for WSC!

Mannequins Dream said...

omgosh i HAVE to make this, it looks delicious!! :D Xx

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