CAKE
4 medium navel oranges, room temperature
3 squares unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 Jumbo eggs
1 cup whole milk
2 cups flour
- Heat oven to 325 degrees.
- Generously grease a Bundt pan (I like a decorative Nordicware or Wilton pan)
- Squeeze oranges, saving pulp
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave. Then add 1/2 cup of the sugar, the cinnamon and 1/2 cup of the orange juice, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Cool.
- Mix the baking soda into 2 teaspoons of orange juice.
- In a large mixing bowl cream the shortening with 1 cup sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
- Alternate the milk and flour, sifting the flour into the cream mixture and blend until smooth.
- Add the baking soda mixture and blend well.
- Add the cooled chocolate mixture and blend well.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Level pan by dropping on counter top to remove air bubbles.
- Bake until springy 55-60 minutes.
- Cool 10 minutes and then invert onto platter.
- Cool before frosting.
FROSTING
1/2 cup butter, softened
5 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, pulp and all
2 teaspoon orange zest
- Beat butter until fluffy.
- Beat in 1/2 of the powdered sugar until smooth.
- Add orange juice, vanilla and orange peel. Blend until smooth.
- Slowly add the remaining sugar and blend until silky.
- Adjust sugar and orange juice until desired consistency and flavor is reached.
If you don’t have this mess in the end,
you did it wrong!
you did it wrong!
Laughing over the “don’t have a mess” quote, very funny and so true for this baker!