Chocolate Orange Loaf

This chocolate loaf recipe is originally from Nigella's cookbook Feasts.  It has four kinds of chocolate and the result is a super moist, dense, chocoholic's dream.  I especially love the sticky, dense, almost rich frosting texture that the top of the cake gets when you pour the chocolate syrup over it...all without the uber sweetness of frosting.  As a result,  I used to make it ALL THE TIME.  When I started back at my former company, now current company, several coworkers wasted no time in asking when this cake was coming back too.  

I used to make many of the chocolate cakes from this cookbook quite often, so much so that the cookbook falls open to the chocolate cake section (Guinness chocolate cake page to be precise).  Not sure why I stopped there for awhile.  Nigella's cake making style is pure rock star since is all about making cakes as easy and fuss-free as possible. Love Nigella and love this cookbook...it's one of my most used. The Guinness cake all goes into a pan on the stove...melt the butter, pour in the Guinness and add the other ingredients.  This recipe is almost as simple. 

While the butter is not melted and you do have to bring all of the ingredients to room temp, to make this cake you simply put  the ingredients to the food processor and pulse, blitz, mix. I've made this recipe a bazillion times and have tried variation upon variation.  You can add mint extract, Oreos instead of chocolate chips, chopped up candy bars (especially Reeses PB cups), coconut and coconut extract or just about any extract you can think of. It's all good.

I'd recently seen a recipe for an orange chocolate loaf in a cookbook that I couldn't stop thinking about but couldn't remember which cookbook I was looking through at the time.  Very often the case.  I figured that the chocolate loaf in the recipe I saw in passing probably couldn't hold a candle to this chocolate loaf so I made this with an orange variation. If you are not making the orange version, you would replace the orange juice with 1/2 cup of boiling water. 

Cocoa powder, chocolate chips, chocolate syrup and chocolate shavings. 

Seriously good cake. 

Spring has sprung here in Denver.  Hooray!

• Chocolate Orange Loaf
adapted from Nigella Feast

1 cup ap flour
2/3 c whole wheat pastry flour (plus 2 tbsp for high altitude)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/3 cups sugar
zest of 2 med-large oranges
1 1/2 sticks softened unsalted butter
2 eggs, room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup greek yogurt, room temp
1/2 cup orange juice heated to almost boiling
1 cup chocolate chips

Syrup:
1 teaspoon cocoa
1/4 cup water

1/4 cup OJ
1/2 cup sugar
chocolate bar grated for topping

candied orange peels (optional)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and grease and flour large loaf pan
Place  the flour, cocoa, baking soda, sugar, butter, eggs, yogurt and vanilla,  into the bowl of food processor and mix until a smooth

Scrape sides with rubber spatula and turn processor back on  

Gently pour the heated OJ down the spout and continue mixing until smooth

Turn processor off, remove lid and scrape sides again with rubber spatula.  Pour in chips and mix well
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-55 mins.  When ready, the loaf will be risen and split down the middle and a toothpick will come out clean
About 15 mins before the loaf is done, put the syrup ingredients of cocoa, water, OJ and sugar into a small saucepan and boil gently for about 5 minutes, until syrup is thickened
Take the cake out of the oven and while still in the pan, pierce randomly with a cake tester or toothpick 

Pour the syrup over the cake
Cool completely before removing from pan onto plate.  Sprinkle the grated chocolate over the top and garnish with orange peels if desired