Chocolate orange marmalade cake

Here’s the recipe for a chocolate orange marmalade cake that became the very first bake after moving house — partly to get to know the new oven and partly to use up a few jars of orange marmalade. Although it’s not exactly seasonal, the cake turned out beautifully. This marmalade cake is rich, dense, wonderfully moist, and keeps fresh for days. Fans of the classic chocolate and orange combination certainly won’t be disappointed — it’s one of those cakes that tastes even better than you expect it to ;).

Ingredients for chocolate orange marmalade cake:

• 125 g butter
• 100 g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
• 300 g good-quality orange marmalade or orange jam
• 100 g caster sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 2 large eggs
• 150 g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

All ingredients should be at room temperature. Sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside.

Place the butter in a small saucepan and melt over low heat. Remove from the heat, add the broken dark chocolate, and stir until fully melted and smooth. Leave aside for a few minutes to cool slightly (the mixture can still remain warm).

Transfer the chocolate mixture to a larger bowl. Add the orange marmalade or jam, caster sugar, salt, and eggs. Whisk gently only until the ingredients are just combined. Add the sifted flour and baking powder, then whisk briefly again until just incorporated — do not overmix.

Line the base of a 23 cm round cake tin with baking parchment. Pour the batter into the tin and level the top.

Bake at 175°C for approximately 45 – 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool completely.

I served the cake with chilled whipped cream made from 300 ml double cream whipped with 2 teaspoons of icing sugar, then finished it with finely grated zest from a scalded orange.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson.