Happy Tuesday! Things have changed so much since the last time I posted. This CoronaVirus is affecting the whole world. I don’t think people is taking it seriously. I can see people going out with their whole family, playing at parks, etc. Hopefully it doesn’t get too bad until this country put more severe rules.

I haven’t been baking so much because it’s kinda hard to find products like flour, eggs, butter, etc. I’m trying to take care of the ingredients I have and just bake once or twice a week.

On a happier note, I made this cake for my husband’s birthday about a month ago. He gave me the idea of using chocolate and orange. The result of his idea was really really good.

This dark chocolate cake is made with good quality cocoa powder, oil, orange extract, orange juice and other goodies. It’s filled with orange marmalade and covered with orange flavored white chocolate ganache.

Let’s start with the recipe.

Yield two 8 or 9 inch cake pan

Ingredients

For the cake

1 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 cups white granulated sugar

3/4 cup dark cocoa powder

1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 and 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp orange extract (optional)

1 cup fresh orange juice, hot (you can heat it up in the microwave or in a small saucepan)

For the orange filling

orange marmalade (store-bought)

For the white chocolate ganache

10 oz white chocolate chips

2/3 cup cream

2 tablespoons orange liqueur

1/4 teaspoon orange extract

Directions

For the cake

1.- Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Prepare pans: Grease your pans. Dust your pans with some cocoa powder. Also, line the bottom of your pans with parchment paper.

2.- In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder and sugar. Mix. Set aside.

3.- Pour the orange juice in a small sauce pan, bring it to a small simmer. We need our orange juice to be hot.

4.- In another bowl mix milk, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, orange liqueur, orange extract(if using). Mix.

5.- Using a mixer add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix. Pour hot orange juice and mix .

6.- Divide the cake batter into the 2 prepared pans. Bake for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean. Do not overbake.

7.- Let the cakes cool off completely.

For the white chocolate ganache

1.- Bring the heavy whipping cream to a small boil. Then, pour this hot cream on the top of the white chocolate chips (place your chips into a heat proof bowl). Combine the chips and hot cream very well.

2.- Add orange liqueur and extract. It will look a bit weird but if you keep mixing, your ganache will be glossy and nice. Let your chocolate ganache cool off.

Finally…

Spread some orange mermelade on the top of one cake layer. Then, place the other cake layer and press down. Spread the chocolate ganache on the top. That’s it! You can decorate with some orange wedges.

Enjoy!

You can storage this cake at room temperature for a couple of days, just be sure to cover it properly.