KITTY'S ORANGE CAKE

This is another recipe from one of Joanne Fluke's novels, Joanne Fluke's Lake Eden Cookbook. It sounded like a good one for me to make and let my husband take to the tax office at Fort Leavenworth yesterday. 

It was a big success. He called me from work wanting the recipe. I was in the car and couldn't remember it precisely so I told him to tell the ladies it would be on my blog next. When he walked in carrying the empty cake container, he said, "Well, they ate it all but one piece and I gave it away when I left." It is really good. Now what will I make for him to take on Thursday????? 

* I buy orange juice in the 10 - oz bottles. That way I always have orange juice when I need it for a recipe. The 10 - ounce bottle works perfectly for the recipes.

KITTY'S ORANGE CAKE

1       box yellow cake mix w/o the pudding added
1       pkg (3 - ounces) orange Jell-O (not sugar - free)
1       cup orange juice*
1       teaspoon orange extract
1/2   cup canola oil
1       teaspoon orange zest (I used McCormick's Valencia Orange Peel)
4      eggs
1       cup semi-sweet mini chocolate morsels (6 - oz pkg)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a Bundt pan. (I used my Pan Grease I mixed up. Be generous.)

Stir the dry cake mix and the dry Jell-O mix together in a large mixing bowl with electric mixer.

Add the orange juice, orange extract, oil, and orange zest. Mix together til well blended. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Beat 2 minutes on medium speed.

Fold in the mini chocolate morsels with a spoon or rubber spatula.

Pour the cake batter into the pan. TIP! A good way to do this is to hold the bowl with the batter in one place and pour. As you pour rotate the pan around using the other hand. This will ensure you are pouring the batter evenly in the pan. I didn't have an extra hand to take the picture. Sorry, but hopefully you understand.

Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until a cake tester (toothpick) comes out dry. (45 minutes was perfect in my oven) I wish you could have smelled it cooking in the oven. Oh! My!

Cool on a rack for 20 to 25 minutes.

Loosen the outside edges and the middle, if necessary, and invert the cake on a wire rack or cake plate to finish cooling.






When the cake is cool, drizzle Orange-Fudge Frosting over the crest and let it run down the edges.

ORANGE - FUDGE FROSTING

2       tablespoons chilled butter
1        cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (6 - oz bag)
1        teaspoon orange extract
2       tablespoons cold orange juice *

Place the butter in the bottom of a 2 - cup microwave-safe bowl. (A 2 - cup glass measuring cup works really great. You can easily pour the frosting out when finished with the spout.)

Add the chocolate chips.

Heat on HIGH for 60 seconds.

Stir to see if the chips have melted. They hold there shape even though they are melted. If they are not completely melted, heat for 15 more seconds on HIGH. The 1 minute is usually enough for me. 

I just continue to stir until they are smooth.

Add the orange extract and stir it in.

Add the orange juice 1 tablespoon at a time stirring well after each addition. 

Note: If you forget like I did and add the extract and juice all at once, it works fine. Just make sure you stir with a spoon until nice and smooth.

Pour the frosting over the crest of the cake letting it run down the sides. You need to work quickly with this as the frosting will cool and start to thicken. You can just enjoy that last little bit in the measuring cup that starts to harden. I did. : )

Place the cake in the refrigerator for 20 to 25 minutes to "set" the frosting. 







After that the cake can be left out at room temperature.

Serve...and enjoy that orange and chocolate blend.