The Baking Biker Chic

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I was planning to go out on my bike for a run this afternoon however the best plans and all that good stuff. The temperature has barely risen above zero and when I got home from the hairdressers, our little cat Sophie was demanding attention. I can’t refuse – she’s just so gorgeous (look at that wee face) I feel the need to pander to her every whim.

So the bike will wait another day because before I knew it, it was time to prepare for a wee girl’s night in. I could have gone to the shops and bought some cakes, but then I wouldn’t be able to eat any. So baking tins out I decided upon a chocolate orange gateau.

My husband made the orange filling for the sponges from the miniature oranges we grew this summer.

This is a decadent chocolate cake, sandwiched with a rich orange cream topped with chocolate, more orange cream and chocolate orange sponges. My husband made the orange filling for the sponges from the miniature oranges we grew this summer. It’s absolutely gorgeous but don’t worry, shop bought marmalade would work just fine too.

This is why I’m the baking biker chic by the way – when I can’t ride my bike I retreat to the kitchen. I really don’t like the cleaning up bit though – it took ages today as there was chocolate everywhere. I don’t like cleaning my bike either hence why the Harley will be in the garage whenever there is salt on the ground (we had our first snowfall last night) and my trusty Honda Transalp will be coming out to play instead.

Anyway back to cakes. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.

In a bowl mix the dry ingredients below, add the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly but don’t over mix it.

• 1 ½ cups of self-raising flour (you can use gluten free flour too but add an extra 1/4 cup of water to the mixture if doing this)
• ¾ cup of caster sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 generous tbsp. cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. vinegar
• 1 tbsp vanilla essence or chocolate essence
• 1 cup cold water

I use Wilton Easy Layer pans – there are five six inch pans in the box, which are so easy to use and allows you to bake the whole cake together. For this recipe I used four of the pans.

Put the cakes in the oven and bake for about 12 mins – depending on your oven and the tins you’ve used.

While the cakes are baking, you can get to work on your orange ‘cream’.

• 80g TREX
• 80g veg or soya spread
• Icing sugar
• Orange essence (or juice of an orange and rind)
• Orange gel colouring
• Soy milk or other dairy alternative

I use my stand mixer to make the cream – it works way better than my arms. First cream the fats together until white and fluffy. Then carefully add the icing sugar – add enough until you get a crumb like mixture. Add your orange essence or juice, colouring and a splash of soy milk. Mix thoroughly -taste and ensure you add enough flavouring to give your mix a ‘zing’. Use the soy milk to mix into a smooth creamy almost mouse like texture.

Once your cakes have cooled, use the orange cream and spread between the layers. You can add orange jam/marmalade too and or chocolate chips for extra luxury.

Then you want to cover the whole cake in the orange cream, drizzle melted chocolate over the top and decorate as you want to.

I made the chocolate orange sponges based loosely on a recipe for Jaffa cakes by Ms Cupcake. I wanted something a bit softer so by adjusting some of the ingredients (40g of sugar and 60ml oil) I was able to get this spongy texture.

The cake is now ready, just a wee bottle of wine to get, put my lippy on and I’m ready.