Double chocolate chip & orange bundt cake

I fell off the wagon. Thump, spectacularly to the ground. I was so very nearly there. Just 1.5 stone to go in my 5 stone battle of the bulge. It started with just one night off and ended in a weekend of gluttony. Here’s how I regained 6lb in just 3 days:

• Friday eve. Ordering what can only be described as a bucket of cocktail. Supposed to serve 4, we ordered it for 3. Then I drank more than my fair share.
• Friday eve. Inhaling salted nuts with bucket of cocktail.
• Friday eve. Ordering prawns, seabass and salad and not meaning to eat more than a few salty sharing chips. Cut to the cold bowl of chips being removed by the waitress as I still grabbed at more. (Entirely blame my mother for this one and her pleas of ‘eat up there are children starving in Ethiopia’ line circa 1983).
• Saturday eve. Ordering a family sharing platter in a Turkish barbecue restaurant and again feeling the need to clear the platter. Ditto the bread basket.
• Sunday morn. Cake for breakfast. Still, was apple cake so almost one of 5 a day.
• Sunday lunch. Fish pie for lunch, followed by toffee apple crumble. Followed by a little fizz.
• Sunday eve. Husband’s chicken noddles. May have eaten a bowl large enough for a family of 4.

So there you have it. Impressive, no? I am back on the horse so to speak from now on. I am going to think like a slim person and eat small quantities in a dainty fashion. I have even made croissants in small doll like proportions. Maybe I have the wrong idea after all…

Lots more recipes like this in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, at Waterstones, at Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Waitrose, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.

One year ago: Hazelnut cupcakes with Nutella buttercream and Red root reblochon bake and Simple banana cake

Two years ago: Cherry tomato frittata and Lemon brioche or Death by chocolate cake

Three years ago: Tiramisu profiteroles and Drunken cherry brandy mincemeat or Macarons

Four years ago: Easy cheesy pasta and Almond coated chicken and Mince pies for mince pie haters

Double chocolate chip & orange bundt cake

Ingredients:

• 1 orange
• 180mls milk (approx)
• 225mls vegetable oil (plus a little extra for greasing the tin)
• 300g castor sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 250g self raising flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 80g cocoa powder
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 100g dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 160C/gas mark 3 and grease your bundt tin. (Mine is about 25cm across and 15cm deep – and do feel free to flour the tin too, whatever it says on the packing really.)

Zest the orange and tip into a bowl then juice the orange and tip into a measuring jug. My orange made about 45mls juice. Then top this up to make 225mls of liquid using milk – so for my orange I added 180mls milk. Stir well and add to the bowl. Then add all the ingredients apart from the chocolate chips. Whisk the mixture for about 5 minutes using an electric hand held mixer or a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. If whisking by hand this will take about 10 minutes. You will not see a huge difference in volume of the mixture but the air will help it rise.

Pour into the prepared tin and then sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top and use a fork to swirl them about a bit. This is the best way I have found to stop the chips from sinking to the bottom. Bake for 1 hr 25 minutes in the middle of the oven or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack and then invert and tip out to cool completely. This cake can be left alone or drizzled with some melted chocolate. It seems to improve after a day or so too.

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