Orange Chocolate Cake..

So this is basically a Terry's Chocolate Orange bar in cake form! I'm not going to name names....but there was plate licking from one of my official taste testers so it must be good!!

The photos speak for themselves...give it a go & let me know how you get on :)

For the cake:

• 150g butter, melted
• 3 tbsp Irish honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• zest of 1 large orange
• juice of 1/2 orange
• 3 large eggs, separated 
• 160g ground almonds
• 2 tsp baking powder 
• 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder & 1 tbsp of reserved orange juice

Line a 7 inch springform cake tin with baking parchment. Preheat oven to 160d (fan).

Start by mixing the melted butter, honey, vanilla, zest & juice together.

Add the yolks & beat well. (Make sure the butter mixture is cooled or the yolks will begin to cook when you add them).

Stir in the ground almonds & baking powder. Mix until just combined.

Next whisk the egg whites in a clean, grease free bowl (sounds obvious that the bowl should be clean right?? well it needs to be sparkling or the egg whites won't form smooth peaks)..

Fold the egg whites into the cake mixture gently. Do this in 3 stages to make it easier to fully incorporate into the mixture.

Finally, divide the mixture between two bowls. Add 3 tbsp of cocoa & 1 tbsp orange juice to one half of the mixture and stir until just combined.

Place heaped spoonfuls of the cake mixture into the prepared tin, alternating between each flavour. When you have used up all the mixture, using a skewer or sharp knife swirl the mixture gently to create a marble effect. Don't overdo it, or you'll over-mix the flavours and there'll be a less defined effect.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes until well risen and firm. I keep saying this, but it's really important to keep an eye on your cake. Oven temperatures really do vary so cooking times will also vary.

Once baked, remove from the tin & allow to cool on a wire rack.

This cake really doesn't need icing or decoration. The addition of the orange zest & juice make it wonderfully moist so it's perfect as it is. You could of course drizzle some melted dark chocolate over the top though!