Came and Went or The Marvelous Orange-Chocolate Cake Recipe

My bloggy birthday. It was on the 24th of this month. I missed it (which is okay since I have a lot of other important things crowding my brain right now). But still, it is rather momentous to have blogged for over a year now. When I look back at my first posts, I am amazed at how much my writing and photography have improved! Nothing beats practice to improve skills. : )

I have enjoyed having my own little spot to write, write, write and to share my various accomplishments and artistic endeavors. I have enjoyed broadening my perspective on the world through reading others' blogs. I have been amused, inspired, and encouraged as I have read what my fellow-bloggers have written. I have enjoyed making new bloggy-friends with whom I regularly exchange comments. I have managed to document and capture parts of this season of my life in a way that I never would have had I been merely journaling. Who would have guessed that entering the blog world would enrich my life so greatly?

In celebration of my one year blog birthday, I am going to share a wonderfully rich and delicious cake recipe my good friend Sarah Bryce developed and shared with me. Coincidentally, she and I both made it for our mothers' birthdays and we each got rave reviews.

Marbled Chocolate-Orange Cake
Sarah's recipe slightly edited by me
Maybe if she ever writes a cookbook as she suggested,
she will let me be her editor.
Wouldn't that be fun?

Chocolate batter:

1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 Tbsp. oil
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. flour (add an extra 2 tablespoons if you are at a high altitude.)
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Beat butter, sugar, and egg together until smooth. Add vanilla, sour cream, oil, and orange juice. Mix until well combined. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until smooth.

Orange batter:

1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 Tbsp oil
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup + 1 1/2 Tbsp flour (Once again, add an extra two tablespoons if you live at a high altitude.)
1/2 tsp baking soda

Beat butter, sugar, and egg together until smooth. Add vanilla, sour cream, oil, and orange juice. Mix until well combined. Sift together flour and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until smooth.

Butter and flour two 9 inch cake pans. Pour about half of the chocolate batter into each of the pans. Pour about half of the orange batter on top of the chocolate batter in each of the cake pans. (Sarah actually weighs the pans. But I was in a hurry and just eyeballed it, and it worked fine.) Swirl the two batters together slightly with a spatula to get a marbled effect. Avoid mixing the batters too much (remember that the batter at the center of the pan will be more mixed than what is on the top) or scraping the bottom of the pan.

Bake the cake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Decadent Orange-chocolate Frosting

Really, it's so rich and good

that it makes the cake

almost seem

bland.

1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup butter
1 cup chocolate chips
approximately 3 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Mix the sour cream, vanilla, and orange juice in a large bowl and set aside while melting the butter and chocolate chips in a double boiler. Let the chocolate mixture cool for a few minutes. Beat it in with the sour cream mixture. Beat in 3 cups of the powdered sugar until smooth. Gradually beat in the remaining powdered sugar until the consistency reaches your definition of spreadable. : )

Spread some of the frosting between the cake layers and then use the rest to frost the cake. I realize that I'm not being very specific in my directions here, but Brother is getting fussy, and I'm trying to hurry. If you need more instructions than I've given you can Google it or look it up in your favorite cookbook.

After admiring it and taking pictures of the beautiful final product, serve and enjoy!

Incidentally, the lovely domed cake plate is one of my favorite things. My dad got it for me. : )