The cake at the end of the rainbow

I could at this moment say that this cake is "solid gold", you know the British love puns, but I will resist the temptation. After all, you all know that I will have thought about this play on words, and you can get there on your own ;-)

What I will say is that this is what I call great cake; worthy of a cup of nice English Breakfast tea and a comfy sofa. It is moist, chocolatey, sticky (you'll need a napkin for that lap tray) with a bit of crunch on the top. It also has an orangey tang (no, not an Orangutan, that is something quite different) which is to die for (Orangutans aren't nearly so attractive).

The original recipe came from a special issue of Better Homes and Gardens, which I was flicking through whilst waiting for one of those doctor's appointments that seems to run later than humanly possible, given that the appointment was for 8am. I have tweaked the original recipe slightly, as they use butterscotch chips, but I personally love the combination of chocolate and orange, and chocolate is more widely available (for the original combo just switch out the chocolate chips for butterscotch chips, and it is also pretty delicious. Trust me, I've eaten a lot of it... for err... research purposes!).  I have a friend who baulks at the idea of chocolate with fruit and claims vehemently that "It is just wrong". Well, this cake is a testament to the fact that she is wrong. Sorry darling. There is nothing like the combination of chocolate and orange. Game, set, match.

Chocolate Orange Cake

1 3/4 cups boiling water
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened and cut up
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups AP flour
1 tsp baking soda
Finely shredded/grated peel of one orange (around 1 1/2-2 tsp)
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Put oatmeal in a large bowl and pour over boiling water. Leave to stand for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, grease and lightly flour a 9" x 13" pan.
4. Add butter to oatmeal and stir to melt. Then add both sugars and stir to combine.
5. Stir in eggs until combined, then add flour, baking soda, orange peel and salt and mix in.
6. Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips.
7. Pour mixture into prepared tin, spreading evenly, then sprinkle over pecans and remaining chocolate chips.
8. Bake in oven for 40 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Cool in pan before cutting into portions (I usually cut it into 18 or 24 slices, depending on how greedy I'm feeling :-) )