Sometimes you have one of those months where it snows 10 inches in one day which makes your roof start to leak, bad, and it doesn't get fixed for 2 and a half weeks. Meanwhile, at the same time, the kitchen sink starts to grow a leak of its own and is out of use for 2 days. (I was actually having withdrawal symtpoms from not being able to wash dishes- never thought I'd see that day). This was my latter half of January. Fun, right!?
Needless to say, we tried to make the best of a bad situation by watching this video non-stop and by taking a trip to Eataly to buy a nice big bag of sunny citrus. They have the freshest fruits and veggies there and these seasonal, bright beauties helped make this cake which was a much needed pick-me-up. This chocolate orange cake was seriously a ray of sunshine in this snowy and leaky chapter of our lives.
I'm always amazed at how well chocolate and orange pair together and I hope to take advantage of it more so in the next few weeks, starting with this delicious and tangy chocolate cake with an orange frosting.
Chocolate Orange Cake
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two round 9-inch baking pans. Beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Stir in sour cream. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cocoa and salt. Combine baking soda and buttermilk in a medium bowl; add alternately with dry ingredients to butter mixture. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Pour batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into certain of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes then remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.
To Frost:
Combine 4 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 cup melted butter, 1/4 cup orange juice, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange peel in a medium bowl. Beat until smooth. Makes about 2 cups. Frost as desired.