Orange Chocolate Bundt cake

I needed to bake a cake for Sunday dinner dessert, but I could not figure out just what I wanted to bake. I went searching around my favorite blogs and I found a recipe for this orange chocolate bundt cake on Joy the Baker's site. I love her blog and her recipes. Not to mention, she takes the most beautiful pictures. If you get a chance check it out.

Here is the cake in one of my favorite Nordic Ware pans. I think I've mentioned here before my love for Nordic Ware. Everyone kept asking me where the chocolate was when I said it was an orange chocolate cake.




They were surprised when I cut into the cake and they saw the chocolate ring. It was moist and delicious. The perfect cake for a warm spring Sunday dinner.




You can find the recipe on Joy's blog.

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

I made chutney but I still had some fresh cranberries left. I have been wanting to try new cranberry recipes so I went on a search. This one looked easy and delicious. I decided to give it a try, on a week night even. After all, who doesn't come home after working all day and having an afternoon class to make dinner and bake a cake for dessert? Don't look at me, this was a one time moment of crazy, but a tasty crazy.

Actually this came together easily and it had time to bake while I put the pork tenderloins on the grill, made dirty rice, and steamed some broccoli. Multitasking is the only way to get things done, especially on week nights.

This will probably be the dessert I take to our Thanksgiving feast.




Recipe found on recipezaar
Ingredients:

4 tablespoons sweet butter, very soft
3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon orange zest, finely grated (optional)
2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen (If using frozen, thaw first)

Cake

* 12 tablespoons sweet butter, very soft
* 7/8 cup white sugar (1 cup minus 2 tablespoons)
* 1 large egg yolk
* 2 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2/3 cup sour cream, room temperature
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 3/4 cups cake flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place 4 tablespoons of butter in a 9 inch cake pan. (The pan should have at least a 2 1/2 inch rim.) Place the pan in heated oven for 4 to 5 minutes until the butter is fully melted. Stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon and orange zest (optional). Spread the sugar mixture evenly across the bottom of the cake pan. Spread out the cranberries in an even layer over the butter and sugar mix.
3. To make the cake, begin by using a wooden spoon to cream together the butter, sugar and egg yolk for about 30 seconds. Switching over to a whisk, stir in the eggs one at a time. Continue to whisk another minute until the sugar crystals dissolve. Whisk in the vanilla extract, salt and sour cream.
4. Sift the flour, baking soda and baking powder into the bowl with the wet ingredients. Whisk everything together until the batter is smooth and lump-free.
5. Pour the batter over the cranberries and bake for 50 to 65 minutes. When done, the center of the cake should be dry to the touch and spring back when lightly poked.
6. Remove the cake from the oven and set on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes (no longer as the bottom begins to set as it cools).
7. Run a knife around the edge of the pan. Invert cake onto a serving plate and remove pan. Let it rest an additional 15 minutes before serving.
8. Best served warm.

Spicy Orange Grilled Chicken

Chicken, chicken, chicken. We eat a lot of chicken here because let's face it, it's cheap compared to the rising costs of everything else. This week at IGA, they have leg quarters for 59cents a pound. In a 10 pound bag, there were 15 leg quarters. Divided up, we will get 3 meals with leftovers for $5.90. You just can not beat it. I'll probably be picking up several bags and give my food saver a work out to stock our freezer.

On to the first meal out of this batch of chicken. We love orange, the color (it's my husband's favorite) and the flavors. We also love spicy so this is what I did for this meal:

Spicy Orange Grilled Chicken

6 oz orange juice concentrate
1/2 jar spicy pepper jelly
1-2 Tablespoons butter

Melt these together in a small pot until thickened.

Salt and Pepper for the chicken.

Grill the chicken and when almost done, brush the glaze on both sides. Use remaining glaze for a dipping sauce. Make sure you have lots of napkins handy because the glaze gets sticky on the grill. Serve with lots of grilled vegetables.


Check out the sauce, it's a pretty orange. I think that makes it even better.