Although South Americans didn’t typically drink their chocolate drinks hot in the past, I invented this one in order to better sell it. Red bell pepper was substituted for the chili powder in the recipe in order to balance the chocolate’s sweetness. This is a useful approach to update an old recipe for the modern era.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 50 mins |
| Additional Time: | 2 hrs 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs 25 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 12 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond milk, or other non-dairy milk
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
- ½ cup fresh orange juice
- ⅓ cup coconut oil, melted
- ⅓ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 ¼ cups white sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen cranberries, halved or coarsely chopped
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 12-cup fluted tube pan (such as Bundt®).
- Vigorously whisk together milk, zest, juice, oil, applesauce, flax seeds, and cornstarch in a large bowl. Add sugar and whisk until well combined, then whisk in vanilla.
- Use a fine mesh strainer to sift in about half of flour and all of baking powder, salt, and baking soda, then stir until well combined. Sift in remaining flour and stir until smooth. Fold in cranberries. Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Bake until top is puffed and firm to touch, cake starts to pull away from pan sides, and a wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then loosen cake with a small metal spatula, invert on a cooling rack, and cool completely, about 2 hours.
- Put confectioners’ sugar in a large bowl. Add juice, oil, and vanilla and stir vigorously, until thick and smooth but pourable. (Thin with water or a little more juice if needed.)
- Put a sheet of wax paper under rack with cake. Drizzle glaze over cake, letting excess drip off. Let stand until set, about 15 minutes.
- If confectioners’ sugar is clumpy, it needs to be sifted.
- Cake will keep 3 days, chilled, covered. It can also be frozen whole or sliced, well wrapped in plastic wrap and a layer of foil, up to 3 months.
Reviews
I baked this for first time. I didn’t have applesauce so substituted mashed banana. I also had fully liquid coconut oil for baking up to 350 deg. consistency was perfect.
One of my favorites. I use sunflower oil instead of coconut oil in cake and also use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour. Use mandarin oranges for juice and zest. I do not add oil to the glaze.
Love this recipe. It makes a moist cake that freezes well. I also made this with blueberries & apple juice for family members allergic to oranges. Chopped walnuts us a great addition as well.
I needed a vegan dessert for a pot luck dinner. My hostess threw in a kicker needing it to also be gluten-free. This recipe fit perfectly with the only needed modification being the use of Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour. I usually add applesauce to my GF desserts and breads to keep them moist. It was already a part of this recipe adding coconut oil. The cake came out fabulously! The taste was great and it didn’t have the gritty feel that can often accompany GF cakes and breads. I highly recommend this recipe!
I’m just asking a question here – If you wanted to substitute an egg for the flaxseeds, etc. can you do that and how?
I loved this! I did double the orange zest and substituted 2/3 cup GF flour… (Next time I will try all GF flour) I loved the orange zest and fresh cranberry combination. Not too sweet. One note about coconut oil not having used it before. When making the glaze you will want to try to emulsify the oil with the sugar or it will look kind of gross. Dont worry it will still taste great!
I used canned whole cranberries since fresh were not available. This turned out more dense than I expected, but I think it is due to my higher altitude. It kinda reminded me of a fruit cake in looks. I cut a piece from the cake to take to with me. I wasn’t gone long enough to need a lunch. My husband met me at the door when I returned home. He took my piece of cake because he and the other 3 people in the house had eaten the rest of it in the 2 hours I was gone. The 1 bite I did get was good.
Help, I made the Orange-cranberry cake. Results: It didn’t “raise” all that much, it looked nice. it came out of the pan easily, it tasted very good and I would make it again. However, it was so so heavy and dense, it was almost wet (although it was done). I would like to make it again but how do you make it a little lighter and fluffier?
Moist and rich, without eggs or butter, so even your vegan friends can enjoy it. What’s not to love?