Saturday, May 19, 2012

Orange Bundt Cake with Chocolate Icing



I’ve been experimenting with Bundt cake recipes lately.  I started with a recipe for a chocolate Bundt cake from the women at the Post Punk Kitchen.  Their recipes rarely fail me and this one was no exception.  I made their cake and topped it with a coffee icing. It was perfect for one of several family gatherings last weekend.  My brother said it reminded him of the Colonial Donuts he ate in the 70’s.  



(Note: allow the icing to cool completely and thicken up before pouring on the cake or it will run right off.  I had to ice it a second time.)



Another trick when making a chocolate cake: dust the pan with cocoa powder instead of flour and your finished cake will not have specks of white flour on top.




Next, I decided to mix it up a little and make a raspberry swirl Bundt with chocolate ganache icing, so I replaced the coffee in the recipe with rice milk and I swirled 8 oz of raspberry jam into the batter before I baked it.  This really didn’t work out.  It was way too moist and the jam sunk to the bottom in spite of all of the swirling, causing the top of the cake to stick to the pan.  When I inverted the Bundt, the top looked like open wounds.  I know that sounds disgusting but my niece, a nurse, confirmed the diagnosis.  I covered the top with lots of chocolate icing and nobody knew, but the crumb was still not right, more of a pudding cake.  
My third experiment in Bundt cake baking was to make an orange cake with chocolate ganache icing.  I replaced the coffee with orange juice this time.  I think that there may not have been enough acid to react with the baking soda and powder in the raspberry cake, even though I did add a tablespoon of vinegar to the rice milk.  The orange Bundt cake was a success, it had an acceptable crumb and I decorated the top with some extra grated orange zest. 




I have to say that this recipe doesn’t make a really tall cake when you use a 10” pan.  You may want to use an 8” pan for a taller cake and bake it a little longer.




Orange Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache Icing
Makes about 12 servings - Use organic ingredients whenever possible

Oil for greasing the pan
Unbleached white flour for dusting the pan
Zest of one orange, divided (use only organically grown oranges for this or it will be bitter)
1 3/4 cups fresh orange juice
1 1/2 cups unbleached sugar
1/3 cup sunflower or safflower oil
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup organic cornstarch
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or you could sub 1 teaspoon with orange extract)
2 2/3 cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat your oven to 325°
Lightly grease and flour an 8” or 10” Bundt pan.
Add 3/4 of the orange zest to the orange juice and stir, reserve the rest for decorating the finished cake
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, applesauce and cornstarch for about two minutes.
Whisk in the extract(s).
Slowly whisk the orange juice into the sugar mixture.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Whisk the flour mixture into the liquid mixture until it’s well combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  
(If using an 8” pan, bake for 55 minutes or so)
For the Chocolate Icing:
4 oz semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup unflavored soy creamer
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Finely chop the chocolate with a serrated knife and put it into a heat proof bowl.
Warm the creamer to the point that it simmers but do not bring it to a boil
Pour the hot creamer over the chocolate and let it sit for 10 minutes.
Whisk the chocolate and creamer together until smooth.
Allow this mixture to cool completely.
Whisk in the powdered sugar.
When the cake has completely cooled, pour the icing over the top of the cake and let it drip down.
If the icing is too thick to pour, whisk in a teaspoon of creamer at a time until it’s pourable.
I’m also including my version of the PPK’s chocolate Bundt cake.
Chocolate Bundt Cake

Oil for greasing the pan
Cocoa powder for dusting the pan
1 3/4 cups freshly brewed coffee
2/3 cups cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups unbleached sugar
1/3 cup sunflower or safflower oil
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup organic cornstarch
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or you could sub 1 teaspoon with chocolate extract)
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat your oven to 325°
Lightly grease and dust an 8” or 10” Bundt pan.
Bring the coffee to a gentle simmer in a saucepan over medium heat.
Turn down the heat and whisk in the cocoa powder until it has dissolved.
Remove the pan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, applesauce and cornstarch for about two minutes.
Whisk in the extract(s).
Slowly whisk the coffee mixture into the sugar mixture.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Whisk the flour mixture into the liquid mixture until well combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  
(If using an 8” pan, bake for 55 minutes or so)
For the Coffee Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar
3-4 teaspoons of strong coffee
Whisk the coffee into the powdered sugar, one teaspoon at a time, until you have a thick but pourable icing.
Pour over the top of the cake when the cake has completely cooled.

1 comment:

  1. These look great. Love orange cake. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete