Eggless Orange-Chocolate Cake with Orange Cream cheese Buttercream frosting

Blogging Marathon# 33: Week 3/ Day 1
Theme: Eggless Cakes
Dish: Eggless Orange-Chocolate Cake with Orange Cream cheese Buttercream frosting

September & October are birthday months in my house. Both my kids are September born and my husband is October born. So when I saw the theme 'Eggless Cakes' for this edition of BM, I knew I have to take it up to try new cakes to celebrate the birthdays.

For my daughter's b'day I made - Pistachio Rosewater cupcakes & Chocolate-Vanilla Marble cupcakes. Both of them were a hit at the party.

For my son's birthday which is exactly 15days after my daughter's I knew I had to make a chocolate cake. I asked my son if he had any preference and he said he wanted a orange flavored chocolate cake. His latest favorite show is Pokemon and can talk about the characters for hours. So I made him a Orange-Chocolate Cake with Orange cream cheese-butter cream frosting and I tried to add one of the Pokemon characters in the frosting.

I found this eggless chocolate cake recipe @ Baker in Disguise blog and absolutely loved it. This is a very easy cake to make. Mix wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately, then mix them all together -- no fuss, no mess recipe. And the final cake turned out very moist with a lovely crumb. It also held upto the frosting. I think I'll be using this cake recipe a lot. 

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 3cups
Sugar - 1¾cups
Unsweetened Cocoa powder - ½cup 

Baking Soda - 2tsp
Salt - 1tsp
Water - 1cup*
Soymilk - 1cup*
Oil - ¾cup
Vinegar - 2tbsp**
Orange zest - 2tbsp (from about 1~2 oranges)
Pure Orange extract - 2tsp

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 2 9" round cake pans. I used 2 8" round cake pans that were 3" deep. For added assurance that the cakes come out of the pan without sticking, line the bottom with parchment paper, then grease and flour the parchment as well.
• Sift the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt) in a large mixing bowl.
• Warm water and milk until they are quite hot to touch.
• In a large measuring cup or a medium mixing bowl, add all the wet ingredients (hot water+soymilk, oil, vinegar, orange zest & orange extract) until well combined.
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk until well combined. DO NOT overmix.
• Divide the batter equally between the 2 prepared pans and bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and let cool for 5~10minutes. Then carefully flip the pan over a wire rack, peel off the parchment and let the cakes cool completely on the wire rack. Frost and Enjoy!!

* Original recipe used 2cups of water, I added 1 cup of soymilk to 1cup water.
** Original recipe used White Vinegar, but I used apple cider vinegar.

For the Orange Cream cheese Buttercream Frosting: I am not a big fan of buttercream frosting. I think it is too cloyingly sweet and too heavy. But from my Wilton cake decorating class experience I learnt that to frost a cake with swirls or other decorations, the frosting needs a LOT of confectioners sugar so it can hold its shape. So if you want to be fancy and use icing tips to decorate your cake, then add more confectioners sugar. If you are only looking to frost it simply by spreading it over the cake, then use the lower quantity.

Also I find adding cream cheese to butter tames the buttery-ness and makes it a little tangy and less sweet. This is the similar to the chocolate cream cheese recipe I used on these cupcakes. Recipe from Glorious Treats.

Ingredients:

Butter - ½cup/ 1 stick, kept @ room temperature for 10minutes

Cream cheese - 8 oz. block, straight from the fridge

Pure Orange extract - 1tsp

Confectioners Sugar - 2½ ~ 4cups (depending on the end use of the frosting)

Milk/ Heavy Cream/ Half-n-half or Light Cream - 1~3tbsp

Method:

• In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, beat butter until smooth. Next add the cream cheese and beat until well blended.
• Add the confectioners sugar, orange extract and beat until light and fluffy.
• Add milk to the frosting and beat to get the desired consistency. Use right away or refrigerate until ready to use. Frosting may have to be beaten again to get the right consistency.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked up today for BM# 33.
Update December 2013: Sending this cake over to Valli's Cake Mela.