Chocolate Orange Miniature Loaves (Nigella Lawson)

If only...

... you are a chocolate cake lover, you will love this extremely moist and delicious chocolate cake.

... you are a fan of orange-chocolate combination, you will enjoy every single bit of this cake.

... you are a fan of Nigella Lawson, you must bake this cake!!!

This chocolate orange loaf cake recipe is originally from the book, Kitchen by Nigella Lawson. Before witnessing how Joyce from Kitchen Flavours baked hers, I would never thought that this cake is so wonderfully moist and beautiful... Many bloggers including Ann from Anncoo Journal and Jeannie from Baking Diary that has baked this recipe, said that this recipe is really really really good!

Today, I have baked mine as miniature bite-size loaves with extra dark-chocolate bits and I'm loving them being so dainty, moist, chocolate-y and beautiful.

If only you can taste these, you will know what I mean...

Very moist and beautiful Nigella's chocolate orange loaves

This chocolate orange loaf cake recipe originates from the book, Kitchen by Nigella Lawson

The butter has to be well-soften if you are mixing the batter with a wooden spoon.

At this stage, there will be grits of sugar in the butter mixture and it really smells like coffee!!!

This tablespoon of dry ingredients helps to prevent the egg from curdling in the butter mixture.

This recipe looks easy, isn't it?

The recipe says NOT to panic if mixture curdled at this stage.

More chocolate, please! I have added these for extra chocolaty taste :)

These cakes are ready just 20 minutes!

If only you can taste this, you will know what I mean...

Here's the recipe from Kitchen Flavours, adapted from the book, Kitchen by Nigella Lawson
(with my modification in blue)

Serves 10-12
160g soft unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
a dab flavorless vegetable oil, for greasing syrup spoon
2 tbsp golden syrup or dark corn syrup
(I used golden syrup)
1 cup dark brown sugar
(I used 60g dark muscovado sugar for half of the recipe)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
(replaced with baking powder)
3 tbsp best-quality unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
(I used 10g Valrhona Dutch processed ones for half of the recipe)
2 eggs
zest of 2 regular orange and juice of 1 (1/3 cup)
My extra addition: 40g chopped Callebaut dark chocolate with 55% cocoa for half of the recipe.

1x 2-pound loaf pan or sixteen 2.5 cm x 7.5 cm miniature loaf pans

Preheat the oven to 325°F or 150°C fan forced and line your loaf pan with parchment paper and grease the sides, or line with a paper loaf-pan liner. - I didn't line my loaf pans as they are made of non-stick silicon.

Beat the already soft butter with the syrup - if you dab a little oil on your tablespoon measure with a sheet of paper towel, the syrup shouldn't stick to the spoon - and the sugar until you have a fairly smooth caffe Americano cream, though the sugar will have a bit of grit about it.

Mix the flour, baking soda (or baking powder), and cocoa powder together, and beat into the syrup mixture 1 tbsp of these dry ingredients before beating in 1 egg. Then add another couple of spoonfuls of the dry ingredients before beating in the second egg.

Carry on beating in the remaining dry ingredients and then add, still beating, the orange zest and finally, gradually, the juice. At this stage, the batter may suddenly look dimpled, as if slightly curdled. No need to panic!

Stir in chopped chocolate if you wish. Pour and scrape into the prepared pan and bake for 45 mins (or 20 mins for smaller loaves), though check 5 mins before and be prepared to keep it in the oven 5 mins longer if need be. A cake tester won't come out entirely clean, as the point of this cake, light though it may be, is to have just a hint of inner stickiness. Let cool a little in its pan on a wire rack, then turn out with care and leave on the rack to cool.

Note: Using half of the recipe, I have baked eight 2.5 cm x 7.5 cm miniature loaves at or 150°C fan forced for 20 mins.

Make Ahead Note :
The cake can be baked up to 3 days ahead. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in airtight container. Will keep for 5 days total.

Freeze Note :
The cake can be frozen, tightly wrapped in a double layer of plastic wrap and a layer of aluminum foil, for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight at room temperature.

Happy Baking
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