Tuesday 8 January 2019

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.

21 comments:

  1. I eat expired food all the time so you can give your home baked cakes to me even if they are baked with expired ingredients, hahahaha! lolx!

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  2. moist chocolate cake for me anytime. he wants to bring to office so means he thinks it is tasty lah! *thumbs up*!

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  3. I love to eat Chocolate Cakes and Orange Cakes but never tried Chocolate Orange Cake. I cannot imagine the combo taste but should be delightful.

    Hey, you are more scary than me in consuming expired food! Don't play play with milk based items! Let me frighten you with some facts because you may not die now but have other complications. Dried food is quite safe to eat even 6 months after expiry as the government insists on putting a label to show expiry otherwise some shops might sell them for 5 years. When it comes to milk and yoghurt, they will hatch new bacteria after some weeks and not showing any fermentation or busuk smell. The bacteria will live and swim happily inside the buttermilk until they are overcrowded. Now that you have swallowed them, many bacteria won't die completely after baking or being boiled, they can reactive itself in your tummy and become alive. Just like the Chinese black fungus which many people had food poisoning as they didn't know that the fungus could come alive many hours after being cooked. Am I scary?

    Muahahahaha

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    1. LOL! Thanks for the information. Actually I am aware and remember what I learnt in microbiology class. But this kiamsiap auntie refuse to throw out the expensive buttermilk!

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  4. I have expired chocolates in my fridge too!! Wanted to throw then my son mentioned that it is best eaten before such and such a date, even if expired, can still eat but only that they don't guarantee the taste to be as good as it is before the date expiry. hmmm.. room for thought? So now I don't throw away expired cookies.. can still be eaten if no masuk angin or busuk.. but not so sure about liquids..

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    1. Chocolates mostly still OK and cookies too. Liquids depends what they are. Me, I taste first hah..hah...

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  5. Thanks but no for the cake haha...

    I always immediately throw expired items in my kitchen because I dare not take any risk even though the item still look/taste/smell the same. As long as they're expired, I say babai to them. Definitely I'm not a risk taker :p

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    1. Don't worry, Puan Hazel. I don't give away food made with expired ingredients, that would be bad form. Sendiri makan OK lah hah...hah... You are doing the right thing. Never take chances especially with the kids. Me just kedekut, that's all LOL!

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  6. there's a positive perspective to eating 'expired' food - we're not wasting food! :) ya, i also generally don't have inhibitions about expired food. i used to eat expired mouldy bread in university and was fine. i also think it helps to build up our resistance to bacteria :)

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    1. You are even more extreme than I am! Mouldy bread, oh dear. LOL!

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  7. Comment but still want to eat more. I'm like that too!

    And yeah, I consume expired products too occasionally. Hehehe

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    1. LOL! Hmmm... I am not the only one :)

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  8. I wonder if he bakes. Come to think of it, many food bloggers don't cook, they only know how to eat. LOL!!!

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  9. I do consume some expired food. It all depends on the type of food.

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  10. No no to expired food for me hee hee

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  11. Hihi,.... sayang kan nak buang. As long as tak sakit perut sudah! Ngap sampai habis hhihi.... Tapi nampak sedaplah LL. Tingin pulak nak makan kek

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