Gonna try this recipe this weekend. Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake

[hippywife]

Heard Nigella Lawson talk about it on NPR the other morning.

http://www.npr.org/2010/12/13/131968482/last-minute-holiday-guests-nigella-s-here-to-help#131969067

[Lucinda]

1. Looks yummy!

And chocolate and orange work really well together.

[hippywife]

7. Don't they tho!

Even when I was younger, on Easter I would eat orange jelly beans with pieces of chocolate. :9

[Lucinda]

11. Freak!

:P
I'm a black jelly bean girl all the way.
Now I want some jelly beans.
I think you are evil.
:)

[trud]

12. you can have all my black jelly beans

and all the black jujubes :-) Not my thing :-)

When I was growing up, my hope was to marry a man who owned an orange jelly bean factory.

[Lucinda]

15. Thank you! Yummmm.

Me ♥ black jelly beans!

[hippywife]

13. I saved the black ones for last...

because they were my favorites. :P

Freak, indeed. Takes one to know one, lil' missy! :rofl:














(Thanx for making me laugh this morning. :hug: )

[Lucinda]

16. I am not at all surprised!

Where do you stand on spice drops?

[hippywife]

17. Luv 'em!

Been eating a few each day this week. :)

[Lucinda]

18. I am

soooo jealous. I want! I have to be careful...my tummy doesn't like em...but I loooove them. My favorite sweet.

[grasswire]

2. that looks good

Very dense. I have some premium cocoa powder from belgium that was given to me. Think I'll try this soon. Thanks for the tip!

I am a little bit curious about the fallen middle of the cake in the picture. I would consider myself a failure if my cake came out like that, so it's nice to see them show it!

Nigella's peanut butter hummus sounds interesting, too.

[hippywife]

8. I was curious

about the middle being collapsed, too. They usually do that when the center isn't quite done enough. I would consider that a fail also, but who knows.

I wasn't sure about the hummus at first, but I figure since chickpeas are fairly flavor neutral, it probably tastes just fine.

[hippywife]

19. These are in the oven now (I doubled the batch.)

And they are collapsing in the middle just like in the pic. She does say this in the recipe, tho:

A cake tester won't come out entirely clean, as the point of this cake, light though it may be, is to have just a hint of inner stickiness.

The batter was almost like a mousse but that might have been my fault since on of my chickens are laying these jumbo eggs and the others aren't laying much of anything.

Smells really, really good. We'll see how it tastes.

Edited to add: Half of the batter I put into three mini loaf pans. Don't do this! With what is apparently the predestined collapse in the middle, these three loaves look terrible. Like a total fail. Tastes good, tho.

The bigger loaf I put back into the oven because it was still wobbling like it was totally liquid in the center after 45 minutes of baking.

I wish someone else would try this and see what results they get. :shrug:


Edited again to add that Bill tasted one of the little ones and he says they taste really good. But we've determined that it really isn't any better than a really cakey brownie with orange in it, which I already make once in a while. Better than looking at these strange looking cakes, too. :rofl:

[Lucinda]

21. Hmmm...seems like she came up with a good flavor profile

and just didn't tweak it enough for a final product?

Not quite a gooey cake, not quite "cake" cake etc

I wont be able to try it for a couple of weeks :(

[housewolf]

3. Mmmmmm....

Let us know how it turns out, it looks & sounds delicious! Just the thing for the weekend before Christmas!

[hippywife]

9. That's what I thought, too.

She said in England it's known as a 'cut and come again' cake that people make and have on hand for visitors around the holidays. I kind of took that as something for like a holiday open house.

I will definitely let you know how Bill likes it. :hi:

[Callalily]

4. Looks yummy.

I'm wondering if honey could be substituted for the corn syrup, although the recipe suggests dark corn syrup.

But, I've got a dark honey that my daughter brought back for me from the Dominican Republic, so I may just try that.

Would really hate to purchase a whole jar of corn syrup for just 2T.

Just thinking with my fingers here. ;-)

[hippywife]

10. Good thinking.

It might just work. I don't use corn syrup at all, either, so I would feel the same. Give it a shot, but you might want to do a little googling on the substitution to see if there's anything to be said about it first.

[yellerpup]

23. I substitute honey for corn syrup all the time.

Tried it first in pecan pie. Bakes up a little softer, but miles better in flavor. :hi:

[yellerpup]

5. Chocolate and orange is one of my favorite flavor

combinations. I may use this cake as a base for the Sicilian cassata that I usually make with just plain pound cake. Besides, I have about half a gallon of orange liqueur that I made for my party leftover. I'll use the liqueur to paint each layer (I split the cake in about 6 pieces horizontally) and fill it with cream cheese or marscapone that I've enhanced with liqueur, grated orange peel and chopped chocolate. Let it set up overnight until it's nice and firm, then frost it with the mocha truffle frosting. Making the cake chocolate ought to up the flavor ante right off the planet. Love Nigella Lawson, too! Thanks for the link! :loveya:

[hippywife]

6. That sounds like heaven.

I love chocolate and orange, too. Raspberry and chocolate are also a favorite. :hi:

[yellerpup]

14. Raspberries and chocolate!

Oh, yes! All day long until I'm comatose! :9

[elleng]

20. Recently discovered russell stover rasp/choc 'no sugar' treats,

cheap + easily available at cvs + grocery store among their sugarless assortment. Pretty nice way to appease the demand!

[yellerpup]

22. Thanks for the tip, elleng.

Haven't tried any of the sugarless ones yet. If you like them, they must be good. :hi:

[elleng]

24. YVW. 'pup. Surprised me 'cause I dislike sugar-free stuff, like'soda,'

but don't drink soda anyhow. No bad taste at all.