A Ring Deserves a Great Cake

It was The Fiance's birthday last week.

He loves chocolate orange mud cakes.

Loves a slice of chocolate orange mud cake to bits.

I'm pretty sure he loves that flavour of cake more than he does me.

I like home-made birthday cakes.

I know it's not to everyone's liking (or baking skills) but that was how I was raised.

So I went here and found a great recipe.

Please excuse the lack of appropriate cake stand as I decorated the cake at the Out-Laws and forgot to bring one of mine with me.

The recipe incorporates the orange flavour through boiling and pulping two whole oranges.

While the process may be a little time consuming it gives a better 'orange' flavour than a dash or orange essence.

I was a little stressed over how to decorate the cake.

Do I try a butter cream?

Is the cake rich enough to be left un-iced?

In the end I went with a chocolate ganache which was my first attempt and one I will repeat time and time again.

From such a simple process and using only two ingredients you get an amazing result.

As a finishing touch I dipped some mandarin segments into melted chocolate and placed them upon the ganache'd cake.

The Out-Laws were impressed and there was a hint at making the cake again for The Sister Out-Laws upcoming 21st birthday.

Again please excuse the air bubbles, I'll get there on perfecting my ganache!