Cake Disaster - Chocolate Orange Marble Bundt

Bundt cakes are my favorite, when they actually come out of their tins properly. It's so annoying when you have taken the time and lovingly mixed a cake and greased the bundt pan and floured it like you always have only to have the cake stick.

In fact it's infuriating.

When I tell people this they act like it's the craziest reason to be annoyed and/or angry. According to them it's just a cake. In reality that's exactly what it is, cake. But yet it's not just a cake.

You know the saying "it's not the destination, it's the journey' and that's the same for baking. It's not just about the delicious treat at the end it's about the process.

To start with there is a craving or a need to use up an ingredient or two in your cupboard, so there is a need to bake. Then it's gathering, measuring, and mixing all the ingredients in a specific order to make a smooth batter that gets poured into a tin and baked to a perfectly risen golden cake that springs back when gently prodded.

So, after all that time and effort to have your cake ruined because it didn't come out of the tin as expected it's annoying. Then if you are a blogger and like to write about these things you have this pressure that it should be perfect.

Life isn't perfect, but on the internet we like to portray it as such.

Like life this cake isn't perfect either, but it was delicious. There is a perfect balance of orange and chocolate. Because it was a marble cake it pretty much came out in half as you can see below. One half I ate as cake and the other half I made Cake Bombs - want to know more check out the following post.

Chocolate Orange Marble Bundt Cake

228g butter
300g sugar
4 large eggs, separated
340g flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 salt
160ml milk
grated zest of 1 orange
1/4 tsp orange extract (optional)
60g cocoa powder
60ml of water

Heat the oven to 170C/350F - grease the bundt pan with butter or a tasteless oil (veggie/sunflower) and sift a little flour to cover it and gently tap it out, leave to the side.

Then beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Separate the eggs, trying to leave the egg yolks in tact and then beat the egg whites into stiff peaks, leave the egg whites to the side and add the egg yolks one at a time and beat until just combined between each one.  Mix the sifted flour, baking powder, and salt together - then add 1/3 of it to the butter mixture mixing until just combined, then add half of the milk again beating until combined, then the flour, milk and lastly the flour. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.

Split the batter into two - add the zest and extract to one batter and gently fold in and then mix the cocoa powder and water together before adding to the other half of the batter. Alternate adding to your well greased and floured bundt pan - resist the urge to mix them together.
Bake for 50-60 minutes, using the skewer test to make sure it's cooked through. Leave to cool for 10-15 minutes before inverting the bundt pan on a wire rack to cool completely - if using a proper Nordic Ware bundt pan they can take a while to cool so just leave it until cool to the touch.

As mentioned above the cake is actually delicious and worth a go. I have not tested this cake in cake pans, but it is an option, I would stick to the same oven temperature, but would vary the baking time depending on what size cake pans you use. But if it all goes wrong you can make cake bombs! Post to follow on how to make them! Because even after a cake disaster, there is always a way to turn it into a happy accident.