Orange Chocolate Marble Cake

This gorgeous Orange Chocolate Marble Cake celebrates the classic combination of citrus-y tart oranges and rich dark chocolate like no other! Don’t believe me? Try this recipe out! 😀

I know it sounds odd, but I have many fond memories of Oranges. Growing up, the fruit was a staple after-lunch munch in our home. I always loved the after-lunch fruit ritual. But my brother was a whole different story. He detested the humble orange. I don’t know what it was about oranges that irked him, but one way or another he refused to eat them. There were several times when he paid me to eat his share – a bribe to shut my mouth when my mother asked. And on days when he was broke, he would push his share of oranges right to the behind of his desk drawer, where it would lay for weeks until the foul smell tipped someone off! 😛

Though I’ve always loved Oranges, the combination of oranges and chocolate never excited me. On some level, I believed that they couldn’t possibly go well together. Man, was I wrong! Having refused a bite of mom’s favourite Lindt Intense Orange Dark Chocolate bar several times, I can’t quite put my finger on why I decided to bake an Orange Chocolate Marble Cake (Don’t you just love marble cakes?). All I can say is, I’m super glad I did. More so, I’m happy that this cake was my introduction to the classic combination of Orange and Chocolate. Now, I believe it’s a match made in heaven! 😀

Without further ado, here’s the recipe for this lovely Orange Chocolate Marble Cake.

Here’s what you need:

• Unsalted Butter – 150 g
• Sugar – 125 g
• Eggs – 2
• All Purpose Flour – 150 g
• Milk – 4 tbsp
• Baking Powder – 1 tsp
• Orange Juice – 3 tbsp, freshly squeezed
• Zest of one Orange
• Cocoa Powder – 3 tbsp

Here’s how you make this yum cake:

• Preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
• In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
• Add in the eggs one at a time and beat well between each addition.
• Add in the flour, milk and baking powder and give it a good mix.
• Divide the batter into two halves. In one half, add in the orange zest and juice and mix until well incorporated. Sift the cocoa into the other half and mix well. (This addition of cocoa makes for an intense chocolate-y cake. If you would like it a little less intense, you can reduce the cocoa to 2 tablespoons. If at this point the chocolate batter is too thick, you can use a little bit of milk or water to thin it out.)
• Pour the chocolate cake batter into a greased and lined loaf tin, leaving a little behind. Pour a bit of the orange cake batter in and swirl with a knife or skewer. Then pour in the remaining orange cake batter and top it with the remaining chocolate cake batter. Swirl with a knife or skewer again.
• Pop the tin into the oven and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
• Once done, pull it out of the oven and allow to cool completely. Then slice and EAT!

This Orange Chocolate Marble Cake is such a winner! It is sweet and tangy, complete with the goodness of rich dark chocolate with the welcome interruption of citrus-y oranges. And the crumb, oh the crumb! It is beeeyoootiful! It is moist, and melt-in-the-mouth, with a not-too-sticky crumb; just the way a cake should be. Oh, and it’s one of those cakes that won’t leave you feeling heavy and bloated. Au contraire, it’s the kind of cake that you can indulge in sans the guilt, simply because… Oranges! Hello, that’s a fruit! The last time I checked, fruits are good for health! 😉

Give this recipe a try, NOW! 😀 One bite of this cake, and you’ll be thanking me!

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