Orange & poppy seed cake with chocolate sauce

Orange & poppy seed cake with chocolate sauce

A light, zingy cake with a drizzle of chocolate and candied zest for a special finishing touch

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 8

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 15 mins

Cook time

Cook 50 mins

Vegetarian Freezable

Vegetarian

Can be frozen without sauce

Method

  1. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Grease a 20cm springform cake tin or line a similar-size cake tin with baking paper. Using an electric mixer, combine 200g butter and 200g sugar in a large bowl. Beat until light and creamy, about 2 mins, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after you add each one. Tip in the flour and baking powder, mix for a few secs, then add the orange juice, zest of 2 oranges and poppy seeds. Stir everything together, then pour into the cake tin. Bake for 50 mins, then remove from the oven. Cool completely in the tin.
  2. Meanwhile, make the candied orange zest by combining the remaining zest (finely sliced), 25g sugar and 100ml water in a small pan. Bring to the boil and cook for 5 mins until thick. Remove the zest with a slotted spoon onto a sheet of non-stick baking paper.
  3. For the sauce, heat the cream in a small pan until nearly boiling. Put the chocolate and remaining butter into a bowl, then pour the hot cream over it and leave for 1 min to melt. Stir together until smooth, then let it sit until the cake is cool (if it hardens, just reheat gently). Drizzle the sauce over the cake, sprinkle with the candied zest and serve.

PER SERVING

650 kcalories, protein 8.0g, carbohydrate 65.0g, fat 42.0 g, saturated fat 23.0g, fibre 0.0g, sugar 39.0g, salt 0.86 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, November 2008.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • Binder photo Nicola

    28 October 2008

    Nicola rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Wow - this cake is amazing! I made it a bit bigger by adding 50% to the ingredients and putting it in a bigger cake tin as I was making it for a crowd. It took a little longer to bake, but worked perfectly and everyone loved it. There was quite a lot of the chocolate, so I spread it over the whole top of the cake and still had some left. I'll definately be making this cake again...moist, flavourful and unusual!

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  • Binder photo Robyn

    01 November 2008

    Robyn rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Really tasty easy cake! I didnt do the toppings, instead i added 1 orange juice to the cake mix and then poured over the rest like a drizzle cake with some sugar once it had come out of the oven. I used 200g butter in the mix- unlike the 225g suggested in the recipe as i thought the extra 25g might make it a little heavy. Very light.. nice change to a sponge!

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  • Binder photo Ami

    12 February 2009

    Ami rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Very easy to make and incredibly delicious. Roasting the poppy seeds is a very good idea, it releases all those great flavors. I also used just 200g butter. Be careful not to chose a bitter chocolate for the cream, unless you want it so.

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  • Binder photo Jo H

    14 April 2009

    Jo H rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    An amazing soft and moisty cake with a lot of taste. I skipped the topping as I had not enough time and I served it with frozen berries and some cream. Totally amazing!!

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  • Binder photo Penny Tolley

    16 April 2009

    Penny Tolley commented on this recipe

    I want to try this recipe but I'm having trouble finding poppy seeds - Sainsburys/Tesco/Morrisons don't seem to have them - can you advise where I can buy anyone?

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  • Binder photo David Barkham

    16 April 2009

    David Barkham commented on this recipe

    Penny, you can definitely get them from Waitrose. Making this with my son this afternoon so will post back with results. Thanks for the tips.

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  • Binder photo Kay

    17 April 2009

    Kay rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    my cake was rather dry and unfortunately I did use very dark chocolate so not very popular.....

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  • Binder photo Theresa

    22 April 2009

    Theresa commented on this recipe

    Penny, I found poppy seeds at a Julian Graves shop after seeing them on their website.

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  • Binder photo luv2eat

    23 April 2009

    luv2eat commented on this recipe

    Great cake, very easy. I too only used 200 gms butter in cake and a tablespoon of butter in the chocolate sauce. For an even moister cake you can boil up orange juice and sugar and when it cools, tip over hot cake when it comes out of the oven (first stab small skewer holes in cake) Syrup will then seep into cake and keep it lovely and moist. Then decorate as per recipe above. Oranges can also be substituted with mandarin juice and zest.

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  • Binder photo Orla

    05 May 2009

    Orla rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Very yummy cake and very easy to make. The topping looks impressive and was suprisingly easy to create.

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  • Binder photo SaraO

    07 May 2009

    SaraO commented on this recipe

    I made this for a cake sale at work, and it sold out within minutes! The glossy chocolate on top and candied zest make it look really impressive, and the flavours got a big thumbs up too! Lots of people commented on how light and moist it was, and that the orange isn't overpowering at all. Would definitely make this again. In fact, I wish I had some to eat now!

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  • Binder photo SaraO

    07 May 2009

    SaraO rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Forgot the stars!

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  • Binder photo Lianne

    18 May 2009

    Lianne rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Fantastic, went down a treat!

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  • Binder photo HollyWoozle

    19 July 2009

    HollyWoozle rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I just baked this cake and was pleased with the results. I didn't have cream for the topping so I just mixed orange juice with sugar and drizzled it over the top. I would use more orange zest next time as the flavour of the cake isn't that strong, however it has turned out soft, moist and moreish. I bought my poppy seeds in the baking section of sainsburys, they are in an orange and red packet.

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  • Binder photo Helen

    23 September 2009

    Helen rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I make this without the topping and it's fab. I just drizzle some melted chocolate over the top. I'm thinking about trying it with lemons - will report back!

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  • Binder photo Beth

    19 December 2009

    Beth rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Very yummy. Only need to do half the icing though if you are doing the drizzle topping. Didn't make the candied zest.

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  • Binder photo FinestGinger

    11 May 2010

    FinestGinger rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Maisam

    10 June 2010

    Maisam commented on this recipe

    This was absolutely lovely! I had a bit of trouble doing the caramel zest but it didn't matter. I shall most certainly be making this again.

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  • Binder photo broldham

    08 October 2010

    broldham rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    A nice enough cake but the use of poppy seed seems totally pointless, even toasted, as the delicate flavour is overwhelmed by the heavier aromas of the other ingredients. I've tried this recipe using ground poppyseed and the difference in flavour is quite different.

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  • Binder photo Rich

    01 November 2010

    Rich rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    What a fantastic cake!!! So easy to make with such a brilliant outcome. Everyone couldn't get enough! Forget the chocolate...cover with an orange icing and it is even better!

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 8

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 15 mins

Cook time

Cook 50 mins

Vegetarian Freezable

Vegetarian

Can be frozen without sauce

Ingredients

  • 250g butter , at room temperature, plus 1 tbsp extra
  • 200g golden caster sugar , plus 25g
  • 3 eggs
  • 250g plain flour , sifted
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • juice of 2 oranges , zest of 4
  • 50g poppy seeds , toasted

FOR THE SAUCE

  • 100ml double cream
  • 100g chocolate , chopped
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PER SERVING

650 kcalories, protein 8.0g, carbohydrate 65.0g, fat 42.0 g, saturated fat 23.0g, fibre 0.0g, sugar 39.0g, salt 0.86 g

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