Buttermilk Chocolate Orange Cake : What My Food Critic Had to Say

This grimy looking cake came about due to two things. (1) An expired carton of buttermilk (expiry 25-12-2018) and (2) an expired bar of dark chocolate (expiry August 2018). 

Yup, this madam is still dicing with death, consuming expired goods. At the time of writing, I wish I could say that the unsuspecting people who received my blessings of chocolate cake baked with expired ingredients are still kicking, still euphoric from the awesomeness of the moist chocolate cake. But no, I did not give this away to anyone (cannot lah, got expired ingredients) except that I fed it to my partner. 

So people, you do not want to beg me for cake. Eat at your own risk. Hah! Actually, as I have said before, some (not all) foodstuff are still good to go after expiry. Buttermilk is after all, sour milk, so a week or so after, I think is still ok. I smelled it, I tasted it, I survived.

Same with the chocolate. It still smelled good and tasted good. 

I modified the recipe from a buttermilk quick bread recipe. Since I still had a few oranges in the fridge, I decided on a chocolate orange cake because chocolate + orange is a heavenly combination as I have discovered here and here.

Instead of melting the chocolate, I put it in the fridge (because it was soft and melty in the current hot weather) to firm up and grated the whole bar. That was hard work! I was sweating away.

I reckon that I would fold in the grated chocolate into the batter and let the chocolate melt in the cake while it was baking. Of course it worked but the look is not so appealing. But it doesn't bother me because this cake turned out moist, fluffy (thanks to the buttermilk) and very chocolaty with a hint of citrus.

But what did my partner have to say? This is how it went down last Sunday :

Me : Can you taste this and let me know what you think.

Him : (Took the teaspoon from his coffee (haiz...) and dug into the cake, chewing deep in thought)

Me : (Aiyo, this can't be good)

Him : It feels heavy, like eating chocolate powder (stuck out his tongue to show me the muddy looking masticated cake, gah!). Too much chocolate....and I can't taste the orange. (more chewing ensued) I don't know how to describe it (pulak...........)

Me : Okkkk.......... do you want the cake? (meaning take to office).

Him : Yes. (uiks??)

Well, as far as I am concerned, this is a decent cake. Don't listen to him. He is not much of a chocolate cake fan. 

Buttermilk Chocolate Orange Cake

Recipe source : Phong Hong

Ingredients :

- 240g self-raising flour, sifted

- 1/2 cup caster sugar

- 125g butter, softened

- 1 cup buttermilk

- zest of one orange

- 1 large egg

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 165g dark chocolate, grated

Method :

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add orange zest, vanilla extract and egg and continue to cream until well mixed.

3. Add flour into the creamed butter in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk (flour, buttermilk, flour, buttermilk, flour).

4. Fold in the grated chocolate.

5. Pour the batter into a lined and greased 9x5" loaf pan.

6. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.