The Oven Project: Chocolate Orange Cream Cheese Pound Cake by Joy the Baker

This is my 2^nd favorite recipe after the super easy Choc Chip Muffin recipe which I posted a while ago. The cake turned up moist and irresistible. Once you tried it you’ll crave for more! Please try it & you’ll never regret (ecececeh…dah macam iklan la pulak).

Chocolate Orange Cream Cheese Pound Cake – my version

Recipe from Joy the Baker

Chocolate Orange Pound Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 tablespoons orange zest

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup (1 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup dark chocolate pieces

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.  Grease a 9×5-inch baking pan and dust with flour.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

On a clean cutting board or counter, place the granulated sugar.  Add the orange zest.  With a bench scraper or the back of the spoon, work the zest into the granulated sugar, creating a fragrant and orange flavored sugar.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together softened butter and cream cheese.  Stop the mixer occasionally to scrape down the bowl and make sure that the butter and cream cheese are evenly mixed.  Add the citrus zest to the butter and cream cheese mixture, and beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes.

Stop the mixer.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  On medium speed, beat in one egg at a time, beating for one minute after each addition.  Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.  Beat in vanilla extract.

Add dry ingredients all at once.  Beat on low speed until dry ingredients are completely incorporated.  Fold in the chocolate pieces.

Spoon batter into prepared pan.  Bake for 50-60 minutes, rotating once or twice during baking.  Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, or with just a few crumbs.

This is how the batter looks like – creamy and gooey...yumm2

My loaf pan can’t fit it the entire batter, hence the cupcake version

Not so Wordless Wednesday [10]: Upin & Ipin love Green

Upin dan Ipin versi Hijau
(Rara and her cousin)

…less angry birds hit the road to Genting Highland

We went for a short trip to Genting Highland somewhere around April for Rara birthday’s trip. At first, I was contemplating to choose either Genting or Damai Laut Pangkor (they have Groupon’s promotion!). In the end after considering the amount of travel that we need to go through, we choose the nearest which is Genting.

Go Go Genting!

Paparil and I have been there twice as a couple. So I guess this is a trip back to memory lane when we were still young and lovey-dovey. Ahaks! Will the feeling still be the same? (Alhamdulillah…)

We stayed at Theme Park Hotel for RM128 per night via Agoda. It’s a new hotel and VERY near to the Outdoor Theme Park. It is just a jump away from the window..Hahahaha.

Our little girl is beyond excited, especially during the Skyway trip. However, when we reached the theme park she refused to take any of the rides! Why Rara why? So, we took the fun train ride as a warming up. She always loves taking the lrt. So this is definitely her most favorite thing to do in Genting. In the end after a few persuading & forcing session, we managed to get her on a few rides (with either one of us accompanying her…).

The Solere shot is definitely not for me and Rara :-P

The winner of Rara’s heart is their Rainforest Splash pool (water park). This is among the new attraction in Genting. Even though it’s just a basic heated water park with a few slides and limited space, she really enjoys it. We have to drag her out in order to get her out of the pool. She loves water! (But not the beach…).

Rainforest Splash pool, Rara's favorite

We have fun and a little bit of drama (when ‘someone left the car security’s lock key in the hotel room after checkout *ahemm*). Other than that, I would say this is among the best trip we had (not that we have many). We are getting less angry than our previous Cherating/Kuantan trips. Job well done!