Chocolate Orange Brownie Cake

Chocolate Orange Brownie Cake ~ A delicious treat that’s somewhere between a brownie and a cake with rich chocolate and tangy orange tasted throughout.

Is it a brownie? Or is it a cake?  I have no idea, so it’s a brownie cake.

But does it matter? It’s delicious.

My late former MIL shared a few of her recipes with me over the years. She gave me her recipe for homemade brownies.  I followed the recipe and the brownies were more like cake than the brownies I was used to. But still brownie like that I can’t say it was a cake. Regardless of what it was, it was still utterly delicious.  It was her recipe that I used and tweaked to make this chocolate-orange brownie-cake.

I love playing with flavors, which is apparent in my savory cooking.  But with baking, I felt I wasn’t skilled enough and that I wouldn’t be able to play with flavors like I can with savory foods.  Since October, I have tried to bake once a month.  I know this doesn’t sound like much, but for me, it’s huge progress.  I wanted to make a dessert I was already somewhat familiar with and then just adapt it, trusting in my cooking instincts.  This could have gone terribly awry, I know this.  Baking is much less forgiving than cooking.

This was an exercise in patience, something I don’t have much of.  But as silly as it may sound, it was also an exercise in trusting in myself, putting further aside the notion that I can’t bake. The exercise was a success. Granted what I was doing was NOT rocket science by any means, but we all have our own Everest to tackle, even if just in our minds and over something as inconsequential as baking. Baking is turning out to be easier and more enjoyable than I ever thought.

Chocolate Orange Brownie Cake

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Author: Michelle De La Cerda

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Ingredients

• 2 sticks of butter; very soft
• 6 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 cup orange juice; room temp
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk with 1 tsp white vinegar)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda

Frosting

• 1 stick butter; very soft
• 6 tbsp milk
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 lb powdered sugar
• 1 tsp orange extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan and set it aside
2. Using a hand or stand mixer, beat the butter, sugar and add 2 tbsp cocoa powder.
3. Once combined, add one egg until thoroughly mixed.
4. Add another 2 tbsp of cocoa powder, mix well.
5. Add another egg until thorough mixed
6. Add the final 2 tbsp of cocoa powder.
7. Slowly pour in the orange juice.
8. Add flour, about 1/4 cup at a time, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides.
9. Add the vanilla, baking soda, and buttermilk. Mix well and scrape down the sides.
10. Bake for about 25 minutes or until done.
11. When brownie-cake is done, allow to cool on a wire rack, once cool, frost.

Frosting

1. Whip butter, cocoa, and orange extract together.
2. Alternate adding powdered sugar and the milk until all have been added.
3. Occasionally stop and scrape down the sides.
4. Frost when the brownie cake has cooled.
5. Serve and Enjoy.

She loves the frosting, despite being sick! Poor baby.

Thank you for sharing!