Orange Chocolate Sour Cream Cake with Orange Chocolate Ganache | he turns 9m

Orange and chocolate dark chocolate are a match made in heaven!!!
No one can oppose this and I would say that the combination works out to the fullest only with dark chocolate. The tang just tickles your taste buds and makes you salivate for more. My first bite of an orange flavored chocolate was the Lindt Orange Intense which was one among the big basket of chocolates that the huss gifted me for my birthday. (... I am a chocolate freak and nothing elevates my mood like chocolate). It was love at first bite and its been a joyous relationship since then.

When Cadbury's India launched their Orange peel, I was one among the fans who had happy feet. Its not that I like Cadbury's Silk as I find it too sweet (BTW any dark chocolate lover will think that eating milk chocolate is a sin) but an occasional bite never seemed a crime. But the product never lived to my expectations, I found it lacking that orange punch. No offense Cadbury's guys but its just my personal opinion. The here-and-there orange tit-bits just didn't satisfy me.

With the huss not around, cooking and baking has taken a backseat in my life. And if I do something then it is just to feed the blog. I have turned into this scavenger who feeds on anything edible available in my pantry, in short am just scraping through days. Thinking intensely, cooking has appealed to me just because of 'him' and I have felt contented only when he and 'only he' not my mom, dad or anyone but 'he' takes a bite and gives a thumbs up.

So when the kid turned a month older, I just thought of making a simple chocolate sour cream cake but then one thing led to another and it was this magnificent cake that I made. Its filled with flavor and the fruity punch that the orange zest lends to the cake when you bite through is just bliss!!! Give it a try if you are an orange and chocolate combo lover. You will love it...

Adapted from The Pillsbury Complete cookbook ~*What U Need*~ All purpose flour - 1 cup Baking powder - 1/2 tsp Baking soda - 1/4 tsp Salt - a pinch Sugar - 3/4 cup Dark Chocolate - 2 oz, chopped Cocoa powder - 1/4 cup Sour cream - 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp Oil - 2 tbsp Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp Egg - 1 Orange zest - 1 tsp Water - 1/4 cup For the orange chocolate ganache Cream - 1/4 cup Dark chocolate - 1/2 cup Orange zest - 1/2 tsp

How I Made it:
Lets make the orange chocolate ganache first. Heat cream with the orange zest. Remove from flame, pour over the chopped chocolate. Let stand for 5 mins. Then whisk till smooth and shiny. Reserve and set aside.

Boil water, to this add the cocoa powder and whisk till smooth and lump-free. Now add the chopped chocolate and let stand for 5 mins. Whisk till smooth and shiny.

Sieve all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt thrice. Combine oil, sour cream, vanilla essence and orange zest. Add the egg and beat well.

Add sugar and whisk till smooth. Now add the chocolate mixture and mix well. Grease two pans with butter and dust with flour.

Add the flour and fold gently. Pour into the baking pans and bake at 175C for 30-35 mins or till a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove the cake from the pan and cool on a wire rack.

Level one of the two cakes. Spread chocolate ganache on it. Place the second cake on top and finish with the remaining ganache. Decorate with colored sugar balls, chocolate sprinkles and dust with icing sugar.

Do you wanna slice???

** My Notes:
** If you need an intense orange flavor, then replace the water with freshly squeezed orange juice.
** The cake turned out to be so chocolaty(..ah, just my type). If you prefer a less chocolaty cake, then reduce the dark chocolate to 1 oz.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

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Can u believe he's 4 months already | Vanilla Pound cake with Orange Caramel Drizzle

Yesterday was pretty hectic. It was time to bake another cake and with no one around to help me with the kid, I was pretty sure that baking a cake was a big no-no. Added to that the kid is down with flu. Running nose and dry cough, he hardly sleeps. Poor thing finds it hard to breathe and its been sleepless nights for me holding him to sleep. God how I want the week to end... Not to worry, he is recovering great.
But I didn't want to break the ritual... A cake had to be made. I wanted to bake something new and I had the right recipe in mind with tangy touches. Also I wanted my bundt pan to be put in use... Its been a year since I got it and not a single bundt cake on the blog. But with the sudden onset of the flu in the family every plan took a backseat. Yes, the flu took the family as a ring ~ first the huss, then me and now the kid.

So when the kid took his paracatemol and was fast asleep by mid-day, it gave me ample amount of time to whip the cake batter and make the caramel. Since the huss is around this time, I made it a bit exotic by drizzling chocolate over the cake. A touch which was perfect with the vanilla. Sprinkled some sugar balls and a beautiful cake was ready for my sugarplum.

Buttery Vanilla cake with dark chocolate and tangy orange caramel drizzle and studded with sugar balls...

The cake was super soft with a mild hit of orange tang to the palate counteracted beautifully by the dark chocolate. A winner...
And to those who have no idea why the name pound cake, here is the fact... Pound cake refers to a type of cake traditionally made with a pound of each of four ingredients: flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. Hence, any cake made with a 1:1:1:1 ratio of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar is called a pound cake.

~*What U Need*~ All purpose flour - 1 cup Butter - 100 gms Sugar - 3/4 cup Eggs - 2 Vanilla extract - 1 1/2 tsp Baking powder - 1 tsp Baking soda - a pinch Salt - a pinch (optional) Milk - 2 tbsp (if the mix is thick) For the orange caramel drizzle (Inspired from Pain Perdu by Philippe Mouchel - Masterclass) Sugar - 1/4 cup Water - 2 tbsp Orange juice - 3/4 cup Melted dark chocolate, sugar sprinkles

How I made it:
Lets make the orange drizzle first. Heat a heavy bottomed skillet, add sugar and water and allow to caramelize. Once the mixture turns to amber, add the orange juice and mix well. Reduce to a syrup of pouring consistency. Set aside and allow to cool.

Sieve flour, baking soda and baking powder thrice. Set aside. Beat eggs untill light and fluffy. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.

Add milk to eggs if using. Add this to the creamed butter and mix well. Add vanilla essence and mix.

Add flour mix in batches and combine well. Preheat oven to 175C. Grease the pan with butter. Pour the batter into the pan and bake the cake for 35-40mins or until the top turns golden brown (inserted tooth pick will come out clean). Cool for 10mins and then unmould.

Cool down completely and then drizzle melted dark chocolate followed by orange caramel evenly. Decorate with sugar balls.

Slice and enjoy.

** My Notes:
** Always use butter at room temperature.
** Skip salt if using salted butter like Amul.
** I reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup as I had the orange caramel drizzle over the cake. Increase to 1 cup if making the cake plain.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

Interested!!! Click to read more...

Upside Down Orange Cake | Easter Special

Happy Easter to everyone!!!
Easter's here and it calls for merriment and CAKES... What would be better than a simple upside down orange cake to celebrate the day. There were a few oranges sitting idle in my pantry and I wanted to put them into a tasty and immediate use... So here it is!!! Orangey Cake
The aroma of the orange coming out of the cake was heavenly and the flavor in the cake was yummy.

~* What U Need *~

All purpose flour - 1 1/4 cups
Sugar - 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp
Butter - 1 stick
Egg - 1
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Orange juice - 3/4 cup
Orange essence - 1 1/2 tsp (optional)
Orange zest - 1 tbsp
Orange pieces - 10 (optional)
Orange cut into circles - 6-7

How I made It

Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda thrice.
Combine butter and sugar with an electric mixer till creamy
Then add the egg and beat well till foamy and creamy.
Add in orange essence and mix well.
Now add in the orange juice and mix well till all is combined.
Next add the flour, baking powder, soda mixture.
Finally fold in orange zest and orange pieces and mix gently. Do not over-mix.

Grease the pan with butter and arrange the orange circles on the bottom of the pan.
Pour the batter into the pan. Set up a steamer and place the pan without touching the water. Steam till done (approx 30 mins) / till a inserted skewer comes out clean.
In case of ovens, preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and bake for 35-40 mins until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
Remove from steamer / oven, cool completely and then slice.

I served this with orange syrup drizzled on top and hence the orange flavor was strong and tangy. But you can skip this cos the overall flavor of the cake itself will be deliciously orange-y.

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