Chocolate Orange Cake

Last month, my nephew left for an LDS mission, and I made him a cake to say "good luck."  This month, his brother is leaving, so I asked him what kind of cake he would like.  He said, "Surprise me!"  So, I decided to make a chocolate orange cake.  I used my favorite chocolate cake recipe, and added in a teaspoon of pure orange extract and the zest of an orange.  Then I filled and frosted the cake with tangy vanilla cream cheese frosting, and topped it with homemade chocolate curls and candied orange peel.  Making the chocolate curls was really fun.  I found a video online that showed how to do it.  I added 1/4 teaspoon of orange extract to the chocolate before I melted it, so the curls would be chocolate orange flavored.

The candied orange peel was fun to make too, and the texture and flavor is a lot like those sugar coated gummy orange candies, except less sweet, and with just a hint of bitterness.

After these decorative elements were done, I put them on the cake, and really liked the final effect.

Congratulations on your mission, Anthony!  I hope you like your cake!