A new birthday cake! I had to invent this one, as a search turned up nothing close to what I was hoping for.
CHOCOLATE ORANGE MARBLE BUNDT CAKE
PREHEAT OVEN: 350 DEGREES - MIDDLE RACK of the oven
12 CUP BUNDT PAN: Melt shortening in a cup, and brush the bundt pan with it, making sure to coat all the cracks and crevices. Dust with flour to fully coat the pan, tap out any excess. It’s critical to thoroughly coat the pan well.
FOR THE ORANGE CAKE BATTER:
● 16 tablespoons (1 cup/2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
● 2 cups granulated sugar
● 5 large eggs, at room temperature
● 1 tsp. vanilla extract
● ½ tsp. Fiori de Sicilia (get this on the King Arthur website)
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3 cups (361g) All-Purpose Flour
● 1 tablespoon baking powder
● 3/4 teaspoon salt
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1/2 cup orange juice** **if not enough juice from the fresh oranges, add enough commercial orange juice to make up the difference
● 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
● grated zest of 2 large oranges
● 1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the flat beater, beat the room temperature butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add vanilla and the Fiori de Sicilia and blend in well.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the butter mixture
alternately with the juices.
4. Stir in the orange zest, then scrape off the beaters and mix well by hand until all zest is incorporated.
5. Pour all but one healthy cup of orange cake batter into the prepared bundt pan, and set aside while making the chocolate cake batter. The reserved orange cake batter will be used to cover the chocolate batter later on.
6. Wash the electric mixer bowl and flat beater to use for the chocolate cake batter, next.\
CHOCOLATE CAKE BATTER:
● ½ cup brewed strong coffee
● 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, room temperature
● 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
●●
1 cup sugar
● 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
● 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
● 1/3 teaspoon salt
● 1 cup (241g) all purpose flour
●●
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
● 1 large egg, at room temperature
● 1/4 cup sour cream, full-fat preferred, at room temperature
In a small saucepan, place the coffee, butter, and cocoa, and warm over low heat, stirring, just until the butter melts. Remove from the heat, and whisk until smooth. Let the mixture cool for 10 minutes.
1. While the chocolate mixture is cooling, put the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour into the bowl of an electric mixer, and whisk the dry ingredients to combine.
2. Pour the cooled chocolate mixture into the mixer bowl with the dry ingredients, and blend gently until thoroughly combined. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and mix again to incorporate all.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, eggs, and sour cream until well blended. Mix into the chocolate batter, stirring until thoroughly combined and incorporated, scraping bowl sides and bottom to thoroughly blend.
4. Make a deep trench in the orange cake batter with a large spoon, then dollop the chocolate batter into the trench and cover with the reserved orange cake batter. Swirl the batters together all the way around the pan with a butter knife, then smooth the top with a spoon.
5. Bake the cake for 60 minutes, then check for doneness by inserting a toothpick deeply into the center of one side -- if crumbs adhere or if batter is still raw, bake 5 more minutes and check again with a fresh toothpick. Repeat as necessary just until no crumbs adhere to a new toothpick.
6. Make the glaze for the cake during the last 15 minutes of baking time:
ORANGE GLAZE
¾ cup sugar
⅓ cup orange juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Pinch of salt
Zest of 1 large orange
1 teaspoon lemon zest
In a small saucepan, bring the sugar, orange and lemon juices to a simmer and stir to dissolve all of the sugar over medium low heat. Remove from heat and add salt, and the zests of the orange and lemon.
7. Remove cake from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes, no longer. Loosen cake from the sides and middle of the pan with a thin bladed knife, and invert onto a wire rack. Immediately brush the top and all sides with the hot glaze, repeating the brushing until all the glaze is used.
Let the cake cool completely to room temperature, about 2.5 hours. Transfer the cake to a serving plate that can be easily covered.
CHOCOLATE ORANGE ICING:
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup confectioners sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 teaspoons fresh orange zest
Mix the melted butter with the cocoa, then add confectioners sugar and salt until
combined. Add orange juice and zest, a little at a time, stirring well.Scrape the bowl and
beaters, and blend well. If too thick, add a little more orange juice; if too thin, add more
confectioners sugar until icing is just thick yet pourable. Remove the beaters, and scrape down
any zest adhering to them into the icing by hand. Using a large spoon, drizzle all of the icing
over the top and sides of the cooled cake.
Store cake, covered, overnight, for best flavor before serving. Keep leftover cake covered.
10 - 12 servings
