Daring Bakers February 2012 - Jaffa Drizzle Loaf

                 Jaffa Drizzle Loaf in all its glory!

Another month is coming to an end so it means this month’s Daring Baker’s challenge is about to be unveiled. Can you believe we’ve gone through TWO months of 2012 already?

Anyway the Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavour profiles. There were three rules we had to adhere to

1. No yeast is to be used
2. The process of making and baking cannot take more than 1.5 hours
3. Only loaves, muffins or popovers (Which I only just discovered is the American versions of Yorkshire Puddings)

So with these rules in mind I made

1. Jaffa inspired Orange Chocolate Drizzle Cake
2. Cheese and Onion Muffins
3. Sour Cherries and Chocolate Muffins  

As you can tell I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge and I loved playing around with new flavours. I won’t be posting all the recipes today but will stagger it out throughout the week.

I’ll start off with my favourite out of the list: Orange Chocolate Drizzle Cake. I’m not sure what to say about this loaf...Just look at it in all its chocolatey orange goodness! If you have the ability to say no to a slice of this then you must be MAD! 

 It's so easy to throw together as well; add all the ingredients to a bowl, mix together and bake!

The interior of this loaf is moist and very flavourful thanks to the orange syrup that is the drizzled over it post-baking. The chocolate drizzle is slightly indulgent but by this point you wouldn’t care! I made an extra loaf for my friend, Adlin and her parents and they absolutely loved it. Even my mother, who is quite the critic, could not stop eating slices of it!

Chocolate and orange is a match made in heaven!

Also it is worth noting that the flavours develop over the days so it might be advisable to make this loaf a day before you intend on serving it. That's if you can resist not tucking into it straight away...!

Jaffa Drizzle Loaf

Adapted from BBC Good Food

Ingredients

Loaf

140g butter, softened

200g self raising flour

200g caster sugar

1.5 tsp baking powder

3 large eggs

6 tbsp cold milk

Finely grated zest of 1 orange

Topping

3 tbsp orange juice

50g caster sugar

50g dark chocolate, melted

Orange slices to decorate

Method

1. Butter and line a loaf tin. Pre-heat oven to 180C

2. Put all cake ingredients into a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon for 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy.

3. Spoon mixture into tin and even out the top.

4. Bake for 50 mins until golden brown and cooked on the inside.

5. While the loaf cools in the tin, heat orange juice and sugar in a pan to create a syrup. Bring to a boil.

6. Remove from heat and pour all over evenly. Don't worry if the syrup looks excessive as the loaf will absorb all the moisture.

7. Once the loaf has cooled significantly, melt chocolate and pour or drizzle all over the cake. If you want, you could cover the entire cake with melted chocolate.

8. Decorate with orange slices.