Blood Orange Chocolate Loaf Cake

 

January has gone so. very. very. very. slowly. I couldn't be more glad that it's over. February isn't much better what with its dreary drab miserable weather perpetually teetering on the edge of snow (come on if it hasn't snowed by now it should just try again next year please don't make me walk through a sludgy brown mess to get to uni).

Winter-hating aside I finally located some blood oranges! Like a top plonker I've been searching for them since the summer... (for fellow plonkers winter is blood orange season, duh :P ). Anyway I don't go in for the whole 'new year new me' stuff and if I did my self control definitely doesn't stretch to new year healthy eating, so I cracked out a tin of cocoa and made a delicious, dark, moreish, and dare I say it, moist blood orange chocolate cake with a zesty glaze.

In the interest of long term health and well being for those of you possessing the self control to eat all healthily this cake does have some naturally good-for-ya ingredients so it can be enjoyed by everyone, and those adverse to 'healthy' sweet treats won't suspect a thing. Win win sitch right there.

It was getting pretty night time-y when I took pictures (I was definitely not waiting until the next day to eat this bad boy - it was gone in two days so as always I have no storage info for you! Take it up with my tummy) so they aren't fab but hopefully portray some semblance of the recipe I am sharing with you! Saying that no photo could ever do justice to the warm fuzzy happy feeling in my tummy after five slices a slice or two!

Ingredients

90 g unsalted butter
60 g Greek yoghurt
50 g white granulated sugar
50 g light soft brown sugar
zest of 2 blood oranges
2 medium free-range eggs
1/2 cup blood orange juice
100 g wholegrain spelt
50 g oat flour
50 g ground almonds
50 g cocoa flower
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder

icing sugar and blood orange juice for the glaze

Directions

Pre heat oven to 180 degrees C. In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter, yoghurt, sugars and orange zest then beat in the eggs and the blood orange juice. In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix until just combined. Spoon the mixture into a greased and lined loaf tin and bake for 35 - 40 minutes. To make the glaze, juice half a blood orange and add enough icing sugar to make a zesty glaze of your desired consistency.