Orange Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Orange and chocolate seem to be this year's favorite flavor in our household.

Every so often, I get a detailed request from my husband to cook or bake something specific. A couple of months ago, after trying out an orange-chocolate cake at a restaurant out of town, I received a detailed text about how my next express task was to make the afore mentioned dessert. I appreciate such requests - it makes me feel useful, and it gives me a great excuse to bake ;)

However, I was honestly tired of making yet another citrus based treat with chocolate on top. Especially since I had just made a batch of chocolate brownies with orange zest. How many more orange-chocolate treats could the husband hanker for? Why couldn't he ask me for something more exotic?

Anyway, after rifling through my recipes, I realized I had never actually made a bold, stand-alone orange cake. So, I decided to use utilize this excuse to make a cake packed with as much orange flavor as possible. And of course, to appease the husband, I added chocolate on top.

Ingredients:

1. 1 1/4 cups flour
2. 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup), at room temperature
3. 1 cup sugar
4. 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
5. 1.25 teaspoons baking soda
6. 1/4 teaspoon salt
7. 2 eggs, at room temperature
8. 1/2 cup yogurt
9. 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
10. 2 tablespoons orange zest
11. 1 teaspoon orange extract
12. 1 tablespoon grand marnier /orange liqueur
13. 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
14. 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks 

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour a 9 inch spring form pan
2.  Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and creamy
3. Add eggs and beat until fluffy
4. Add yogurt, orange zest, orange extract, and grand marnier and beat until incoporated
5. Add orange juice and  mix
6. In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt
7. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a spatula. Do not over mix
8. Finally stir in the chocolate chips. 
9. Transfer batter to the pan and bake for 40 minutes or until a tester comes out clean
10. Let the cake cool in a cooling rack for 10-15 minutes, then remove the sides of the spring form pan.
11. Glaze the cake with melted chocolate chunks (microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute)

This is a really moist cake with an intense burst of orange flavor!