Tate's Bake Shop Chocolate-Orange Marble Cake

 

My friends, at Tate's Bake Shop sent me a copy of their newest Cookbook "Baking For Friends" .  That means I can add this cookbook to their "Tate's Bakeshop Cookbook", where I posted my version of their Signature Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Yay!


In 2011, I was fortunate to receive a sampling of their cookies, granola and Sour Cream Coffee Cake and I can honestly say that their baked goods are quality and delicious.  Tate's Bake Shop is located in the Hamptons, and is owned by Kathleen King. I've seen her featured on Ina Garten's show "The Barefoot Contessa". 

I enjoyed flipping through the recipes, and I bookmarked a few. The one recipe that really stood out to me was the Chocolate-Blood Orange Cake.  The photograph was so pretty, and this marbled cake reminded me of my own mom's version.  One of the signature cakes that my mother often baked was a Marbled Kugel Kuchen, that had a yellow batter with chocolate.  I never did get that recipe from her, so I thought I'd try this version


Blood oranges aren't in season, so I used Navel Oranges for this recipe. The recipe lists 2 ounces, each, of bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate.  The batter ingredients includes two sticks of butter, and one cup of sour cream.  I love adding sour cream to cakes because I can pretty much be guaranteed that the cake will be moist.

Half the batter has orange zest added to it.  My own little addition was to add a little bit of Pure Orange oil and a little bit of Buttery Sweet Dough Flavor.  These are baking ingredients that I use all the time, and I think they add some extra flavor to my baked goods.

The other half of the cake batter has the melted (and cooled) chocolate whipped into it. (I omitted using mini chocolate chips.) The batter is spooned in, alternately.

The recipe suggests to bake for 50 minutes, but when I inserted a long skewer, the cake was done at 40 minutes.

I love this Heritage Bundt Pan, because it makes a really pretty cake. I find that, if sprayed properly with a non-stick baking/flour spray, that cakes pop right out.  The cake is cooled, in the pan, for about 10 minutes.

A simple syrup of orange juice and sugar is very slowly poured over the cake, so that it soaked completely in-- and then is allowed to cool completely.

My husband was more than willing to be my honest taste tester.

I brewed a cup of hot tea, and gingerly touched the slice of cake, before taking my own taste test. It was very soft. Yes!

TASTING NOTES:  My husband immediately detected the orange cake flavor.  He's one of my toughest critics, because he knows I want his honest opinion.  He loved it!  The cake is super moist, and I love the balance of the chocolate with the orange. (Personally, I didn't miss not having added the mini chocolate chips.) You can't taste the sour cream, but I'm sure that ingredient really helps with the tender and moist crumb of this cake.   I think you can easily substitute lemon juice and zest, which is what my mother often did.  Actually, I'd make this cake without the chocolate. The batter is awesome!

I'm so pleased with this recipe that I look forward to trying several others that Kathleen King has created.

Tate's Bake Shop would like to offer a chance for my lovely readers to win a basket of their baked goods.
It features a lemon tea loaf, buttery-rich shortbread squares, an individual coffee cake, a box of our famous crispy chocolate chip cookies and copy of Baking for Friends, with over 120 delicious recipes. 

And until May 12th, 2013 anyone who visits the Tate's Bake Shop website can save 20% on a purchase with discount code: mom13.

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment.  For additional entries:

"Like" their Facebook and come and let me know that you've done so.

"Tweet" this giveaway, and  come and let me know that you've done so.

"Like" my facebook and let me know.
Please be sure that I have a way to contact you. If you don't have a profile with an email, please be sure to leave your email in the comment.

All entries must be entered no later than Thursday, May 9th at 9:00pm PST.

I will announce the winner on Friday, May 10th. 
***Comments have been turned off, the giveaway entry window has closed. A Winner will be announced tomorrow**

Good luck!

Thank you so much Tate's Bake Shop for your cookbook.  I look forward to sharing more recipes, and someday,  I hope to visit the Hamptons.  Here's the recipe for the cake: