Jaffa Drizzle Loaf Cake

A cake or a dessert or a bread or something else for my the beginning of my next 100 posts(hopefully!!)?? Briefly I pondered over this (unnecessarily) and not-surprisingly the cake won!

Its the onset of the winter season and I am looking forward to it for more reasons than one. Love the nip in the air, eating piping hot soup, spicy chaat, warm & tender corn on the cob, eating ice-creams wearing woolens (me, not the ice-cream!), the Christmassy feeling when I step into the streets, falling asleep on the couch blissfully when I am watching television (the warmth of the blanket invariably does that to me!) and watching all the baking shows aired during Christmas of course. 

Can expect to see oranges everywhere, in abundance and at not-atrocious prices.  I am gonna have an orange party extending to the whole of winter.. I love, love citrus and in a big way!! It ain't any news, can hear you say:-)... going by the way I keep trying out recipes with oranges every now and then.  Oranges which look like they have spent most of their life in a cold storage don't appeal to me and neither do I fancy paying through my nose for them. I sometimes make do with sweet lime when a recipe calls for oranges. And it works just fine for me. And in this is what I used for the Jaffa Drizzle Loaf Cake when I could not find good oranges at short notice.

 This cake is a gorgeous, gorgeous orange cake baked as a loaf, soaked in orange juice when the cake is still warm in the tin, then drizzled with melted chocolate. It made one wonderful dessert when eaten immediately once cooled. If citrus is your flavor and you are looking for a super easy and impressive winter dessert, there is one here you ought to try!!

Recipe adapted from Good Food Magazine's 101 Chocolate Treats. Forgive me for not giving the cup measures here, as I was in a rush to bake 3 of these so that I could share it with colleagues at office.

Had made this sometime back, am not able to recall the cup measures (which I had then thought I won't forget:-(.

Ingredients: 

140 grams unsalted butter, softened.

225 grams self raising flour (I have used plain flour plus baking powder, refer note).

175 grams golden caster sugar (I have used powdered sugar, the original recipe uses 225 grams)

3 large eggs

6 tbsp milk

1 teaspoon vanilla essence (My addition, am finicky about the eggy smell)

finely grated zest of one orange (about 1 teaspoon)

To drizzle:

4-5 tablespoons orange juice

1 tablespoon powdered sugar (alter this to suit your taste and according to the sweetness of the oranges)

2 tablespoons dark chocolate, melted

Here is how I did it

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / 375 degrees F.Grease, line and dust 1.2 liter loaf tin.( I have used a 7*3 loaf tin and another small square tin)  Sift together all the dry ingredients, put in a large mixing bowl. Lightly whisk together the eggs, milk, essence and orange zest. Pour it on top of the flour mixture. Add the butter and beat with a hand mixer on medium high speed for 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy. (the original recipe says mix all the ingredients together and beat till light and fluffy). Spoon the mixture into the tin, smooth the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch.

When the cake is baking, mix together the orange juice and the sugar. When the cake is out of the oven, transfer the tin to a wire rack. Spoon or brush the orange juice on the loaf generously. I was scared the cake would turn soggy, but it did not!! Leave the cake to cool in the tin. Then gently remove it from the tin and cool completely on a wire rack. Fill the melted chocolate in a disposable piping  bag, snip a small hole at the end, drizzle it over the loaf. Alternatively, use a spoon. 

   

Wait if you can till the chocolate sets. I did not wait before I sliced the cake, that explains the chocolaty mess. The cake tasted best when we ate it within 10 minutes of cooling it. So if you are baking this for guests, better bake it just before you sit down for dinner. Don't bake it ahead or you may have no cake left when they arrive! Don't tell me I did not warn you!!

Can you resist this one??

If you do bake it ahead and manage to save some, guess it would be a good idea to carefully warm it for a few seconds in the microwave (do not forget to place a small dish of water in the microwave, helps retain moisture) and spoon some more orange juice if needed.

Note: 1 Cup Self Raising Flour is equal to one cup plain flour plus 1.5 teaspoons baking powder. I have used the equivalent for 225 grams of this mixture. I have measured out 225 grams in cups, added baking powder accordingly. Somebody knows an easier way to do this??

Original recipe has 1.5 teaspoon baking powder in addition to the SRF. I have not used the extra baking powder as I have previously had a bitter experience using extra baking powder along with this flour-baking powder combo. The proportion I have used here worked just fine.

This cake is on its way to Meeta's Monthly Mingle hosted by  Deeba this month.  The theme is fruit in baking.


This also goes to Champa's Bake-Off.


And I can't miss sending this to Madhuri's  Chocolate Fest. Can I;-)??