Orange & Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Orange and chocolate work so beautifully together. Right up there with garlic and butter; hazelnut and chocolate; and vanilla and cinnamon. This post comes a little late. No, it comes a lot late. I should have posted this one right after my chicken stew since it was part of what we ate for Christmas, but then, I got busy eating, drinking and just got lost in the general buzz  of the holiday season.

I have always wanted to make a moist pound cake and I didn’t want a plain vanilla one. I found a recipe for an orange pound cake at The Hungry Mouse, and since I believe that chocolate chips make everything better, decided to throw them in. (My love for chocolate chips is kind of like Gus Vardalos’ love for Windex in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I do believe it can make everything better.)

This is what my cake looked like upside down. Most of the chocolate chips sunk to the bottom, but it didn’t matter.

This recipe for pound cake is different because the butter and sugar aren’t creamed together in the beginning; instead the sugar goes with the dry ingredients and then you add in the butter and eggs. The cake came out light and fluffy and moist and lovely. I highly recommend it!

ORANGE AND CHOCOLATE CHIP POUND CAKE WITH GINGER CREAM (Adapted from The Hungry Mouse)

INGREDIENTS

For The Cake:

• 13 tablespoons butter, at room temp + more for greasing the pan
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour  (As I was searching, I came across this DIY post on how to make your own cake flour. For every 1 cup of regular flour, remove 2 tablespoons and replace that with 2 tablespoons of corn flour. Easy-peasy. )
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
• Juice of half an orange

METHOD

• Pre-heat oven to 180 C. Grease the baking dish/pan with the extra butter and keep aside.
• Zest your orange and keep aside.
• Beat eggs, milk and vanilla extract and keep aside.
• In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, and baking powder and whisk well till evenly combined.
• To the same bowl, add the orange zest, and work it into the dry ingredients with your fingers till the zest is evenly distributed.
• Next, add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, to the dry mix and beat until it resembles fine bread crumbs.
• Add the egg-milk-vanilla mixture and beat some more.
• Now, add the orange juice and chocolate chips and beat a little more till evenly combined.
• Pour batter into greased pan and bake at 180 c for 50 to 60 minutes; or until a toothpick or knife inserted into the cake comes out clean.

For The Whipped Cream Topping:

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup whipped cream (I used an instant whipped topping mix called Dream Whip, but if you can go au naturel, even better.)
• 2-3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger powder

METHOD

Just whisk everything together and spread over the top of the cake once it is cooled!

The only thing I did differently from the original cake recipe was to add some fresh orange juice for a little more flavour and fragrance. It will not curdle the eggs, don’t worry. The ginger in the whipped cream gives a nice little bite and contrast to the sweetness of the chocolate and orange. But, this cake tastes great with or without the whipped cream and it will envelope the whole kitchen with a beautiful chocolatey-floral orange fragrance. Trust me, you will want to make it over and over again!

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