Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake

Every week I'm supposed to make 3 cakes for the restaurant; two layered, iced cakes, and one uniced cake.

I'm really enjoying making the uniced cakes. They are way less stressful than the frosted cakes, and I love a cake you can eat warm. I usually try some combination of fruit and often chocolate like here, here and here. These are the types of cake that you can eat slice after slice and not feel you've over-indulged! (you decide if this is good or bad.)

Today I present to you Ina Garten's Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake (from Barefoot Contessa Parties!), found on Leite's Culinaria. This extremely moist cake boasts bright orange flavor and smooth, sweet chocolate, and can be baked in loaves, bundt pans or cupcakes. This cake could be yours for your very own this weekend!

four naked oranges and a pile of zest

Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 extra-large eggs (I used most of 5 large eggs)

1/4 cup orange zest (from 3 or 4 orange)

3 cups AP flour, plus 2 T, separated

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t baking powder

1 t salt

1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 t vanilla

2 cups good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips/chunks

For the syrup:

1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

1/4 cup sugar

For the ganache (optional):

8 oz good-quality semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 t instant coffee (optional)

mmm fresh orange juice

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a bundt pan.

Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer for 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, then the orange zest.

Sift together 3 cups of flour, baking soda, powder and salt. In another bowl, combine the vanilla, orange juice and buttermilk. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures, alternating in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

Toss the 2 cups of chocolate with the 2 tablespoons of flour (to make sure it doesn't sink through the cake to the bottom). Stir the chocolate into the cake batter, then pour into the pan, smooth the top and pop into the oven. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour until a tester comes out clean.

I did not wait long enough to remove my first cake...I've realized my lovely bundt pan retains heat longer than usual, so I now I wait about 3 hours before attempting to remove it. Your pan might be different than mine...the recipe recommends only waiting 10 minutes before removing.

The upside of this was that we got to eat the first cake at the restaurant and it was to die for.

prematurely removed cake wreckage.

It is best to apply the syrup while the cake is warm. Make the syrup by boiling together the 1/4 cup OJ with the 1/4 cup sugar and spoon or brush over the cake.

Beautiful, whole, chocolate-speckled orange cake.

Let the cake cool completely. If desired, melt the chocolate, cream and coffee together and pour over the cake. I think it is plenty chocolatey without the ganache.