Orange Chocolate Marble Bundt Cake #BundtaMonth

One of our group´s founders, Lora from Cake Duchess, is not joining us today due to personal reasons. I hope she and her family are surfing through this hard time in the best possible way, knowing they are in all of their friend´s thoughts.

Citrus and bundt cake go so well together that the minute I found out it was this month´s pairing for Bundt a Month, I decided I would bake something original, stay away from the lemon poppy or orange rum combinations that immediately popped into my mind. You know, they are so obvious, I said to myself, and I believe I´m capable of interesting combinations, a bit unexpected, like the cardamom saffron bundt or chocolate port.

I had started thinking grapefruit, because I want to use it more, it´s such a neglected citrus, but that obviously didn´t happen. Sometimes when I try so hard to come up with a clever idea I end up with a basic one. Orange and chocolate. And a marble bundt. Orange chocolate marble bundt cake, doesn´t get much less original than that.

It seemed almost outdated, the marble part, not even hip-retro, the kind of simple cake that nobody cares for anymore, now that olive oil cakes are considered the new little black dress and old fashioned layer ones consist of four or five layers, filled and frosted, and considered to be in the plain category. Ah, food blogging.

But after making this cake, brainstorming was definitely over. This is a solid bundt cake with wonderful flavors that took me a long time to get to. I wasn´t consciously looking for it, or so I thought, but now I know that it was in the back of my mind, that recipe that will be good anytime I want to make a citrus bundt cake, with or without the marble effect, or a regular marble cake flavored with vanilla instead of citrus. 

This will be my go-to recipe, just like the chocolate port bundt cake recipe is the one in that chocolate category, this might be the best citrus one I came across. The crumb is moist but slightly dense, almost like a good pound cake.

And, of course, it unmolds like a d.r.e.a.m. Which might be the reason I have so few favorite bundt cake recipes and get so overly excited when I try one that gets me into sort of an eureka! moment, when flavor, texture and unmolding come together perfectly.

My idea of chocolate and orange is usually a chocolate cake with orange flavor, be it zest or candied fruit or a glaze with orange juice. Here it´s a hint of cocoa with the right amount of orange tartness.

It turned out that when I made this cake different friends came over, at different times, and they all went away with a few slices and an assortment of other sweets I had lying around, like these truffles and this monkey bread. All of them called to tell me that they liked everything but the best part was the cake.

ORANGE CHOCOLATE MARBLE POUND CAKE

adapted from The Buttercup Bakeshop Cookbook, by Jennifer Appel

Ingredients 

1 ½ cups (340g) unsalted butter, room tº

3 cups (600g) sugar

5 large eggs, at room tº

3 cups (400g) flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Zest of 2 oranges

3 Tbs brandy or cognac

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

Glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar

           1 or 2 Tbs cognac

Directions

Preheat oven to 350º F /180ºC. Butter or spray a large bundt cake pan. Coat the entire surface with dry breadcrumbs, shaking off excess.

In a large bowl beat butter until creamy and slowly add sugar, beating for 2 or 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add orange zest, brandy or cognac, and vanilla.

Sift flour and baking soda together in a small bowl (I do this directly over the butter mixture).

Add dry ingredients in three additions alternating with milk in two additions. Don´t overbeat.

Transfer 1 cup of this mixture to a small bowl and mix into it the sifted cocoa. Gently mix until well incorporated.

Add half the orange batter to the pan, spreading evenly. Drop half the cocoa mixture over it, and swirl a few times with a knife. Repeat with remaining batters.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a tester inserted comes clean. Transfer to wire rack and let cool. Unmold onto serving platter and glaze.

For the glaze: in a small bowl mix powdered sugar with cognac.

We have some amazing citrus recipes for you this month:

Almond Clementine Bundt Cake by Carrie from Poet In The Pantry
Citrus Bundt Cake with Sparkling Wine and Fiori di Sicilia by Laura from The Spiced Life
Citrus Cocktail Mini Bundt Cakes by Renee from Magnolia Days
Citrus Lust Mini Bundt Cakes with Lemon Curd by Stacy from Food Lust People Love
Dried Tomato Cherry & Yuzu Cake by Ann from Anncoo Journal
Glazed Lemon Bundt Cake by Alice from Hip Foodie Mom
Grapefruit Poppyseed Bundt Cake by Deb from Knitstamatic
Grapefruit Yogurt Bundt Cake by Kate from Food Babbles
Lemon Bundt with Lemon Curd by Holly from A Baker’s House
Mini Orange Bundts with a Grand Marnier Glaze by Tara from Noshing With The Nolands
Orange Chocolate Marble Bundt by Paula from Vintage Kitchen
Orange Olive Oil Cake by Katerina from Diethood
Orange Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Bundt Cake by Anuradha from Baker Street
Soaked and Glazed Lemon Cake by Dorothy from Shockingly Delicious
Zesty Lemon Bundt Cake by Anita from Hungry Couple NYC

Here’s how you can be a part of Bundt-a-Month:                   

Simple rule: Use mandarin, orange, Citrus lime, yuzu, lemons, Key lime or ANYTHING citrus – and bake us a Bundt for Tangy January   

Post it before January 31, 2013

Use the #BundtaMonth hashtag in your title. (For ex: title could read – #BundtaMonth: Lemon Surprise Bundt)

Add your entry to the Linky tool below

 Link back to our announcement posts

Even more bundt fun! Follow Bundt-a-Month on Facebook where we feature all our gorgeous bundt cakes. Or head over to our Pinterest board for inspiration and choose from over 350 Bundt cake recipes.