Do you ever bake, just to use a particular ingredient up? Like if the ingredient goes to waste, you’ve failed some kind of kitchen based test?
Sometimes much of my baking is inspired by a tub of yoghurt nearing the end of its life, eggs that need to be used as I over estimated how much I would actually be able to bake or an in season fruit I can’t stand to waste since it’s at its best right now and it would just be rude for it to end up in the bin.
This chocolate orange cake came about for just that kind of reason. I got a big delivery of citrus later last month, and while I was more interested in the yuzu and bergamots, it also came with some oranges and mandarins. I don’t eat either of these citrus as they make me quite unwell so I had to come up with an idea to use some of them - as even though I don’t eat them, I still don’t want them to go to waste.
Since I also have a very large supply of cocoa for someone who can’t eat chocolate, I decided to make the ultimate cake that I would never be able to eat - a chocolate and orange cake*! I am told it tastes like Jaffa (a choc orange lolly/candy common in Australia and New Zealand), which is exactly what I was going for. It’s based on the Chocolate Sheet Cake from my cookbook Everyday Bakes, and the recipe is below if you feel like a choc orange inspired bake!
*no cake was harmed during the development of this recipe - it was largely gifted to a good friend who I am glad to say hasn’t got sick of me offloading baked goods onto her and her family. They also took some of the citrus I couldn’t eat, and I now feel like the kitchen test of not wasting food has been passed for another week. Phew!
Chocolate Orange Sheet Cake
Ingredients:
125g unsalted butter, softened
165g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
finely grated zest of one orange
2 eggs
230g self raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
135g Greek style yoghurt
Ingredients for the Icing:
170g icing mixture
1-2 tbsp fresh orange juice
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius, and grease and line a 30x20cm rectangular slice or lamington tin with baking paper.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour and cocoa powder, then set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla and orange zest until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the flour and the yoghurt and slowly mix until combined.
Tip the mixture into the prepared tray and smooth the top.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cake spring backs when touched lightly and a skewer comes out clean. The cake will be lightly golden when done. Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack.
To make the icing, mix 1 tbsp of the orange juice with the icing mixture in a medium bowl. Continue to add more orange juice, a little at a time until you have a smooth icing that you can spread over the cake - a slightly thinner consistency is good for this cake as there is more surface area to spread over, if the icing is too thick it might not cover the entire cake!
The big delivery of citrus I bought featuring blood limes, limes, bergamot, yuzu, lemons, mardarins, oranges, a buddhas hand and custard apple.