Orange and chocolate marble cake that’s soft, fluffy and impressive. The orange juice gives a strong sweet orange flavour and the use of orange zest balances the sweetness to take the orange to the next level. The addition of cacao adds a bitterness that balances the oranges sweetness but you can’t taste it because the orange and chocolate work so well together that it just tastes like chocolate you want more and more of.
WHAT IS MARBLE CAKE
Marble cake also known as geography cake is a sponge cake that has two flavours and colours running through it. You will find marble cake in many Greek Cypriot homes, each recipe a little different but always a family favourite.
HOW TO MARBLE CAKE BATTER
You typically make one cake batter and flavour 1/3 – 1/2 of it with a different flavour. You add the main batter to your baking tin and then your second batter on top and with a skewer or the end of a spoon swirl it between your two batters to create a marble effect.
Watch my video below to see just how easy it is to do.
After the cake has been cooked and cut a beautiful marbling of two different flavours and colours is seen. Which is really impressive.
WHAT DOES ORANGE & CHOCOLATE MARBLE CAKE TASTE LIKE
The most common marble cake recipes you will see are flavoured vanilla and chocolate. But not here at ‘ggmix!’. I don’t like doing what everyone else does and I also don’t like bland predictable flavours. That’s why this marble cake is flavoured with orange and chocolate.
ORANGE
Fresh orange juice gives the orangey sponge a sweet orange taste and orange zest brightens the sweet orange juice giving a real orange punch.
CHOCOATE
Cacao adds a running shot of bitterness throughout the orange sponge balancing it perfectly so when you take a bite of each flavour you are satisfied with the orange and chocolate combo.
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WHY USE CACAO POWDER AND NOT COCOA POWDER
I like to use cacao powder rather than cocoa powder for two reasons:
- Cacao powder is better for you because it is raw and all the nutrients and minerals are still in it. Whereas cocoa powder has been heated to a high temperature and therefore doesn’t have as many nutrients.
- Cacao powder is more bitter which works perfectly with the sweet orange. The two combined balance each other out and the cake isn’t too sweet or too bitter, but a perfect union of chocolate and orange.
If you can’t get cacao powder or you don’t want to use it, you can use cocoa powder; your cake will just taste a little sweeter.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE ORANGE & CHOCOLATE MARBLE CAKE
This is orange and chocolate marble cake is such an easy quick cake recipe. Most of the measurements are in cups and you don’t need any milk. What you do need is:
- 1 cup of sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup of sunflower oil
- Zest 1 1 1/2 oranges
- 1 cup of fresh orange juice
- Zest of 1 1/2 oranges
- 3 cups of self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 4 tbsp cacao powder
The don’t need any fancy equipment, what you do need is:
- A bowl
- Zester/grater
- Electric beaters. If you don’t have any you can mix everything with a spoon, it will just take a little longer to beat in the air and incorporate all your ingredients well.
- A non-stick baking tin
HOW TO MAKE A HOMEMADE PAN RELEASE
Even though I’m using a non-stick baking tin, I don’t trust it. There is nothing worse then a cake you’ve worked hard on and so excited to show off and eat and it ends up getting stuck in the tin. That’s why I like to make my own non-stick coating. It is super easy:
- Rub butter or oil all the way around your pan, make sure it’s all covered.
- Sprinkle over some flour and jiggle it about so it’s all covered.
- Tip out the excess
WHAT TO SERVE WITH GREEK ORANGE & CHOCOLATE MARBLE CAKE
I like to eat my orange and chocolate marble cake as it is, especially when it comes straight out of the oven and so do my girls. My husband and my Dad love it with homemade custard, you can find my crème patissiere recipe by clicking here and my Mum likes to have it with a cup of Greek tea. But you can also drink it with a cup of coffee, maybe a strong Greek coffee to compliment the sweetness or a scoop of homemade ice cream. Click here for my vanilla and peanut butter ice cream recipe.
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS
EQUIPMENT
- 1 Zester/Grater
- 2 Bowls
- 1 Knife
- 1 Hand juicer
- 1 Hand mixer
- 1 Teaspoon
- 1 Tablespoon
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Non-stick ring cake tin
Instructions
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 180'C
- Rub butter or oil all the way around your pan, make sure it's all covered. Sprinkle over some flour and jiggle it about so it's all covered and tip out the excess
- Grate the zest of 1 1/2 oranges into 3 cups of self-raising flour and set to one side
- Juice your oranges to get 1 cup of orange juice
- Add 4 geggs and 1 cup of sugar to a bowl ad bet until light and foamy. It should take about 2 minutes
- Add 1 cup of sunflower oi and beat for 1 minute
- Add 3 cups of orange juice and 1 teaspoon of vanilla and beat for 1 minute
- Add 3 cups of self-raising flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and the zest of 1 1/2 oranges and with a spoon or a spatula fold in your flour a little into your batter, so when you you turn your beaters on your flour doesn't go everywhere. Then beat everything with your mixer until all your flour has been incorporated. It shouldn't take more than a minute
- Get your prepared tin and add 2/3 of your batter
- Add 4 tbsp of cacao powder to the rest of your batter and stir it in really well so your batter has no lumps and is a nice chocolatey colour
- Drizzle your chocolate batter over your orange batter and with a skewer or the end of a spoon swirl your chocolate batter into your orange batter to create a marble effect watch the video below to see how to do it
- Put your cake in your preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes or when you place a skewer inside and it comes out clean
- Leave your cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then place a plate on top and flip your cake over. Now get a cake stand or a plate you want to serve your cake on and place it on top and flip it over again so your cake is the right way
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