Chocolate Orange Marble Cake

Ingredients

Marble Cake:

225g unsalted butter

225g caster sugar

4 large eggs

225g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

Split the batter in half:

For 1 half: Zest and juice of 1 large orange

For other half: 2 tbsp whole milk and 3 tbsp cocoa powder

Candied Oranges:

1 or 2 large oranges

200g caster sugar

150ml water

Chocolate Ganache Icing:

165g dark chocolate

85g unsalted butter

Method

1. Start by preheating the oven to 160 C (fan)
2. Cream together the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. 
3. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing between each one.
4. Sift in the flour, add the baking powder and salt and mix until it is just combined. 
5. Divide the mixture into two. I weighed out the whole mixture and then weighed out half into another bowl. They don't have to be spot on, but try to get them as close as possible for a great marble effect! 
6. To one bowl, add the orange zest and juice and mix.
7. To the other, add the cocoa powder and milk and mix.
8. In a greased 2lbs loaf tin, layer up the batters alternating as you go until they are all on top of each other. Then take a skewer or a kebab stick (or a knife!) and swirl the mixture around so that it forms a marble pattern. Don't swirl too much or it will all just mix together! 
9. Bake for around 50 minutes, but check to see if the middle is baked. This is a deep tin so it does take a while. If it needs a little longer then cover the top with foil so it doesn't brown too much. 
10. One baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin and leaving to cool fully! 
11. While the cake is baking, candy the oranges! 
12. Add the water and sugar into a large saucepan and bring to a simmer.
13.  Slice them to around 3/4 a cm thick, and place them into the syrup.
14. Let them simmer for around 20-30 minutes until the rind turns clear. Turn them over every now and again to make sure they are done on each side. 
15. Remove from the syrup and place on a baking sheet to cool off. If you want, use some kitchen towel to soak up any excess syrup. Leave them to cool fully. I put them in the fridge as it then makes them easier to cut! 
16. When the cake is fully cool, it is ready to ice! 
17. Melt the chocolate, either in the microwave or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, and then add the butter and ensure it is all melted and combined. 
18. At this stage it is very runny. If you leave it to cool, it with thicken and reach a spreading consistency. Keep an eye on it as if you let it cool too much it will be too hard to spread! 
19. Cover the cool cake with the icing and then decorate with the candied oranges. 
20. Enjoy! 

Head to my Instagram page @alice.fevronia and check out my story highlights for more information on how to make this!