Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake

I've done this cake quite a few times now and it's always a success, the recipe is taken from Nigella Lawson's 'Kitchen' book, which is another brilliant book of hers!

CHOCOLATE ORANGE LOAF CAKE

150g soft butter (plus some for greasing)

2 tblsps golden syrup

175g dark sugar

150g plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

25g cocoa powder

2 eggs

zest of 2 oranges and juice of 1

1 x 900g loaf tin

Preheat the oven and line your loaf tin with baking parcement.

Beat the already soft butter with the syrup (if you dab a bit of oil on your tablespoon first your syrup shouldn't stick to the spoon) and the sugar until you have a fairly smooth mix.

Mix the flour, bicarb and cocoa powder together and beat into the syrup mixture 1 tablespoon of these dry ingredients before beating in 1 egg.  Then add another couple of spoonfuls of the dry ingredients before beating in the second egg.

Carry on beating in the remaining dry ingredients and then add, still beating, the orange zest and finally the juice.

Pour and scrape into the prepared tin and bake for approx. 45 minutes, test before taking out. 

Leave to cool and take out of tin and leave on a wire rack to cool completely.