Recipe Time!~VEGAN Orange Chocolate Chunk Bundt Cake

Today is the birthday of one of my coworkers who I happen to like a lot, we'll call her *Ellen. Every birthday in my department the team leads usually buy a bundt cake from the bakery a few stores down from us, but the cakes are not vegan and I can never take part in the festivities. However, Ellen really likes my baking and is the type of person who appreciates a homemade touch so I decided instead of buying her a bundt cake, I'd bake her one. I chose to make this Orange Chocolate Chunk Bundt Cake. It's an orange bundt cake with chunks of dark chocolate and an orange glaze topped with chocolate shavings. The best part is...it's vegan!

Here's the recipe:

For the cake
-1 1/2 cups maple syrup
-3/4 cup vegan margarine
-4 1/2 cups unbleached flour
-1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-2 1/2 cups orange juice
-1 tablespoon orange extract
-1 vegan chocolate bar chopped into smallish chunks (I used an Orange Dark Chocolate Chocolove bar)

For the glaze
-3/4 cup powdered sugar
-2 tablespoons orange juice

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray bundt pan with cook spray (I used spray olive oil)
2. Put vegan margarine in a large mixing bowl and let it soften to room temperature [do NOT melt]. Cream margarine with a spoon.
3. Add maple syrup to the margarine and stir (if you have an electric mixer this will work much faster).
4. Add orange extract and stir.
5. In another large bowl mix your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until combined.
6. Take turns adding some of the flour mixture and some of the orange juice to the margarine mixture and stir. The flour makes it dry but the orange juice helps soften things up. Add the chocolate chunks at intervals during this time too. Mix well.
7. Pour batter into bundt pan and bake 55-60 minutes. Use the traditional toothpick test to check for doneness (if you stick a toothpick in the middle of the cake and it comes out clean it's done, if you have batter stuck to it, it needs more time).
8. When done, let cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes you can remove the cake from the pan (just turn the pan upsidedown) onto a wire cooling rack (if you have one).
9. Allow the cake to cool completely (about an hour) and then pour the glaze on top. Feel free to add some chocolate shavings for garnish.

I suggest curling up with a good book while the cake is in the oven. :)

Comment with your bundt cake pictures if you try this recipe!

Until next time,
Gothcupcake