Orange and chocolate, a match made in heaven

There seems to have been extra things to worry about this week, as 'big school' and the 'big wide world' loom for my daughter.  I'm sure she'll cope fine, but I may be grey haired by Christmas!  Anyway in order to take my mind off such things I have been experimenting again with mixed results.

I tried out a couple of recipes with my oranges before finding something we all really liked.  The first one got an "okay" which translates to "nothing to write home about", whereas this one got the official thumbs up and requests for more.  The topping was an experiment as I've seen other soft cheese used to decorate cakes and ricotta seems to work very well too.  Don't forget to store the cake in the fridge in a sealed plastic box.

 

Chocolate and orange loaf  (Gluten free and lower sugar, though not sugar free)

 

Ingredients:  (makes around 8 slices)

• 50g spreadable butter
• 80g gluten free self raising flour
• 1 tsp gluten free baking powder
• 20g Truvia sweetener
• 50g ground almonds
• 3 medium eggs, separated
• zest of 1 small orange
• juice of 1 small orange - around 4 tbsp
• 25g gluten free dark chocolate, grated
• 25g gluten free dark chocolate chips   

To decorate:  (optional)

• 100g ricotta cheese
• 25g dark chocolate, melted
• 1 dessert spoonful agave nectar (or to taste)
• Gluten free sprinkles or decorations of your choice

1. Preheat the oven to 220C / Gas 7 (Don't be alarmed by this oven temperature, you turn it down once the cake is in - seems to work).  Lightly grease and line a 1lb (450g) loaf tin.
2. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, then add the butter, sweetener, ground almonds, egg yolks, grated orange zest and juice.  Beat together for 1-2 minutes until smooth (I used an electric hand mixer for this).
3. Fold in the grated chocolate and the chocolate chips.
4. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks.  Fold half into the rest of the cake mixture, taking care not to beat out the air you have whisked in.  Then fold in the second half in the same way.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and level the surface.
6. Place in the preheated oven but then immediately reduce the temperature to 170C / Gas 3.  Bake for about half an hour or until a cake testing skewer comes out clean.  Leave to cool for around 10 minutes in the tin, before turning out to cool completely on a wire rack.
7. For the decoration place the chocolate in a small bowl and microwave for a few seconds until melted (this can also be done over a pan of hot water).  Leave to cool slightly then beat into the ricotta cheese until smooth.  Add the agave nectar to taste - I found just one dessert spoonful was enough.  Spread over the top of your cake and sprinkle over decorations of your choice.

My very rough estimate of carbohydrates per slice was 16g but this will depend on the ingredients used.  I used a very dark chocolate with only 33g of carbohydrate per 100g.