Blood Orange and Dark Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake

Believe it or not, we're still eating and juicing the blood oranges from our trees.  It's been a long season, and by the time we're sipping the last drop of juice and eating the last segment, the trees will be loaded with near-mature fruit again.  One thing's for sure, we'll never go hungry, thirsty or get scurvy .

Blood Orange and Dark Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake

For the Cake:

1/2 cup fresh blood orange juice

Finely grated zest of 1 blood orange

1/2 cup Greek yoghurt

3 eggs

2/3 cup grape seed oil

150g caster sugar

240g plain flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon sea salt flakes

100g dark chocolate, finely chopped

For the Blood Orange Glaze:

1/4 cup fresh blood orange juice

Finely grated zest of 1 blood orange

170g icing sugar, sifted

Make the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 23 cm x 13 cm loaf pan with baking paper.  Set aside.

Put the blood orange juice into a small saucepan set over medium-high heat and simmer until it is reduced by half and has become thick and syrupy.  Set aside to cool.

Put the zest, yoghurt, eggs and oil into a bowl and add the cooled blood orange syrup.  Whisk to mix. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and stir well to combine.  Fold in the chopped chocolate.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 50 - 55 minutes, until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

When done, leave the cake in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the Blood Orange Glaze:

Put the zest and icing sugar into a bowl and use enough of the blood orange juice to create a glaze of drizzling consistency.

Drizzle half of the glaze over the cake and pour the rest into a pretty jug to serve along side the cake. Let the eaters pour a little extra over a slice... or two.