So you know those Terry Chocolate Oranges that you see around Christmas time? They come in a ball wrapped in paper. You wind up, and then smash them on the table. When you open them up they unfold into perfect orange slices. It’s the right amount of chocolate to orange ratio. And it’s not just that, but chocolate and oranges have been an awesome pairing, for as long as anyone can remember.
Every Wednesday, for the past couple of weeks, I have been baking something. So I have decided I’m naming Wednesday’s, “Baking Wednesday’s”. I mean you have Meatless Monday’s, Taco Tuesday’s, Wednesday was apparently Wacky Wednesday ( cook fun food for kids), Thrift Thursday (left overs) Fun Friday ( takeout). So I’m changing it. Who is on board with me? Come join the fun!
So today on Baking Wednesday, I pulled out the chocolate and oranges. I wanted something else though. I had a small amount of pistachios left, so I said whatever I have I’m using. Oh Boy! I’m glad I did. This was a perfect pairing, among the chocolate orang and pistachios. The perfect balance of it all. Also to top it all off. It’s a full on vegan cake. I prefer vegan cakes more so then cakes that are not vegan. I find vegan cakes to be more moist and lighter. Plus I guess you could justify it as being healthier and you can have more then one slice. Ha!
I mixed all my dry ingredients together first. I’m not a big sifter of dry ingredients. Instead I like to whisk. I find it does the exact same job as the sifting. And it’s not as messy.
Next I mixed all the wet ingredients. Now I zested 2 nice sized oranges, and used half of an orange juiced, for the batter. I put this in with the wet ingredients.
Once all the wet ingredients were incorporated throughly, I add the dry mix. I mixed it all up and then added the chopped up pistachios.
I poured it all into a loaf pan and baked in the oven at 350 for about 40 mins or until the toothpick came out clean. When it was cooling down I made an chocolate Orange ganache. Where I finished the cake by then adding some chopped up pistachios on top. Just the right amount in every bite. And the kicker…it tastes like a Terry’s Chocolate Orange.
Bake Time – 1.5hrs
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
• 1 1/2 cups of All Purpose flour (I used King Authors)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, and about 1/8 cup for dusting the loaf pan
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 large oranges zested and juice of half an orange
• 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp sunflower oil, plus more for the pan
• 1 Tbsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups of warm water
• 1/2 cup chopped salted pistachios
• 1/3 cup half and half
• 3oz of semi sweet chocolate chopped up
• 1/2 Tbsp corn syrup
Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl whisk together the dry ingredients, flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder set aside
2) In a large bowl using and electric beater/whisk or a standardized mixer with the whisk attachment, pour in all the wet ingredients. This includes, Orange juice and zest, sunflower oil, vanilla and the warm water. Whisk on medium- high speed until well combined. Make sure you scrape down the sides.
3) Pour all the dry ingredients in and mix, scraping down the sides as needed. Make sure all the dry ingredients are incorporated well into the wet ingredients.
4) Take your 1/2 cup of pistachios and remove 1 1/2 Tbsp from the measuring cup and set aside. Take the remaining pistachios that are in the measuring up and pour into the batter. Mix up again for a couple of rotations.
5) In a 9”x5” loaf pan, take some sunflower oil with paper towel and coat the sides and corners. Now take the rest of your cocoa powder and coat every inch. You may need more as you move it around. This is so the cake doesn’t stick to the pan.
6) Pour the batter into the pan. Bake for 40 mins. Each oven is different and each pan is different. Once a tooth pick comes out clean it’s ready. Remove form oven let cool on a rack for about 10 mins. Take a knife and go around the edge to loosen it up. Take the cooking rack and place on top. Flip the cake over and let cool for another 10-15 mins.
7) Meanwhile make the chocolate orange ganache. Chop up the chocolate and place in a heat proof bowl. In a small sauce pan over medium- high heat, add the half and half and the corn syrup. Bring to a boil and then remove from the heat. Pour over the chocolate and let stand for about 2 minutes, until chocolate starts to melt. Then stir the chocolate until it forms a beautiful ganache.
8) place the cake right side up on a plate or platter. Gently pour the ganache over the cake. It will run down and over flow, that is is ok. Sprinkle with remaining pistachios and extra orange zest. You are now ready to serve. Enjoy!
