I have managed to stop stuffing my face for long enough to share another recipe with you, though I do this dunking the last of the Christmas biscuits into my tea… If you’re in need of a good pudding , or have a glut of Christmas chocolate you need to rid of (if this is the case, you have too much will power), then this moist chocolate cake with a moreish orange twist if for you.

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 1 large orange
• 100g plain chocolate, broken into pieces
• 3 eggs
• 280g caster sugar
• 240ml sunflower oil
• 25g cocoa powder
• 250g plain flour
• 1.5 tsp baking powder

For the Ganache

• 200g plain chocolate, broken into pieces
• 225ml double cream

For the Candied Orange Peel (optional)

• 1 large orange
• 110g of granulated or caster sugar
• 60 ml of water

Method

1. Pierce through the orange a couple of times with a skewer. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Cook in boiling water for 30 minutes, or until soft.
2. Cut the orange into smaller segments and place in a food processor. Take out all of your rage by blitzing the orange into a smooth pulp.
3. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4/fan 160C.Grease a 23cm/9in round cake tin, and line with greaseproof paper. Make sure you have a ‘sleeve’ of paper coming out the top of the cake tin, as this will allow you to pour in a smooth, thick layer of chocolate ganache later on.
4. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until melted. Put aside to cool.
5. In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs, sugar and oil. Gradually beat in the puréed orange and then stir in the cooled melted chocolate.
6. Sift in the cocoa, flour and baking powder. Mix well and pour into the tin.
7. Bake in the centre of the oven for 55 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly pressed in the middle. If the cake is browning to quickly, cover with foil until cooked. Leave to cool, leaving the cake in the tin.
8. For the ganache, bring the cream to the boil. Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl, and then pour over the boiling cream. Stir until smooth.
9. Pour on top of the cake. The sleeve of greaseproof paper will stop the ganache dripping down the sides. Put in the fridge for a couple of hours to set.

Method – Candied Orange Peel

1. Rinse the orange and cut of the top and bottom of the orange.
2. Score the skin into quarters, then peel away each quarter.
3. Cut the skin into narrow strips, about half a centimetre wide.
4. Place the strips of skin into a small pan. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Once boiling, remove from the heat and repeat another two times. This removes the bitterness from the peel.
5. Pour the 60ml of water into the pan with 110g of sugar with the peel and stir. Bring to simmer. Stir just until the sugar has dissolved into the water.
6. Cook for about half an hour, maintaining the simmer and avoiding stirring. If necessary, swirl the pan to cover any peel that is uncovered.
7. Drain the syrup away, there should be very little left.
8. Dust a large plate with a moderate amount of sugar. Tip the peel into the sugar, separating them out with a fork. Roll each piece of peel in sugar, and on a rack to dry.
9. Sprinkle on the cake.

You can buy candied orange peel to save time, but as a student I like to save money where possible. This cake will stay moist for about four or five days, so there is no rush to eat it, though there may be some competition to do so before the last slice goes…

Katie Dawtry