Chocolate Orange Classic Porter Cake

With the evenings getting darker and the weather getting colder, our Classic Porter is the perfect rich, dark winter warmer to enjoy at this time of year.

This cake uses our Classic Porter , imparting its smokey, light roasted characteristics, improving the texture and adding moisture. We accompany the porter with chocolate and orange for a flavoursome and comforting final product.

A bottle of Matlock Wolds Farm Classic Porter in a bowl amongst several oranges

The traditional upside-down method creates a final cake topped with rich, caramelised orange slices.

Chocolate Orange Classic Porter Cake

A chocolate orange upside-down cake with Matlock Wolds Farm Classic Porter
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 40 mins
Total Time 55 mins
Course Dessert
Servings 8 people

Ingredients
  

  • 2 oranges
  • 100 ml Matlock Wolds Farm Classic Porter
  • 150 g butter +extra for greasing the cake tin
  • 225 g caster sugar +extra for dusting
  • 250 g plain flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 200°C
  • Zest and juice 1 of the oranges. Carefully slice the second orange into thin slices.
    A serrated knife works best for this
  • Prepare your cake tin. We used a 20cm diameter round cake tin.
    Add a small amount of butter to the base and place in the oven to melt. There should be enough to thinly coat the base and sides
    It's better to use too much butter than too little here
  • Once the butter is melted, remove from the oven and spread around the pan evenly to grease
  • Sprinkle a small amount of sugar lightly upon the base of the cake tin
  • Arrange your sliced orange pieces around the base of the tray
    Ensure there are no major overlaps to reduce any bitter sections
  • Prepare the cake batter:
    Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
  • Add the eggs and beat into the butter and sugar mixture, followed by the reserved orange juice and zest
  • Gradually incorporate the flour and bicarbonate of soda, mixing thorougly
  • Slowly add the Classic Porter, mixing gently for a smooth batter
  • Pour the cake batter directly over the top of the oranges and gently shake until the mixture lays level
  • Place the cake tin in the centre of your oven and bake for 40 minutes
  • Test your cake is ready by inserting a thin cocktail stick, or similar, into the centre. If it comes out clean, your cake is baked through. Otherwise return it to the oven for further baking.
    Once baking is complete, remove the cake tin from the oven and flip the pan upsidedown over a cooling rack. If the cake does not come out easily, gently run a knife alongside the edges to loosen.
    Leave to stand until fully cooled before serving

Notes

Try this cake served with Crème Fraîche or a scoop of vanilla ice cream
Keyword baking, beer, cake, chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate orange, classic porter, orange, porter cake, recipe, winter, wolds farm

We’d love to hear from you if you decided to give this recipe a go!

Tag us in your photos on Instagram or Twitter.

Introducing our latest brew; Reverence

With its rich marmalade and toasty aromas, bold, strong malty flavours and ruby red body, Reverence is an Extra Special Bitter made using heritage barley variety, Chevallier.

In late September 2021, former Master Brewer of Sharps Brewery Carl Heron, proposed to co-produce a new beer with Matlock Wolds Farm Brewery. Having procured an interest in heritage malts, we considered using Chevallier as the base. Being a variety of barley first cultivated in England during the 1800’s, we decided to make a bold beer strongly associated with the tradition of British brewing; an Extra Special Bitter.

Malted Chevallier Barley

Having chosen the style of beer, we set out to develop the recipe to showcase the deep malty flavours and marmalade sweetness of Chevallier. We added additional speciality malts for caramel aroma and malty sweetness.

All good brews need a name, and for something so special we decided to go with Reverence – meaning to treat something with great respect. This also pays homage to Reverend Dr John Chevallier, the man behind the grain.

Carl joined us for our brew day and utilising his expertise, he helped us to maximise the efficiency of the recipe, ensuring maximum flavour and quality.

Matlock Wolds Farm Brewer, Ed, and Carl Heron; former head brewer at Sharps Brewery

After three weeks of maturation, Reverence was ready for tasting. Carl was very satisfied with the final product:

The Reverence has incredible depth of flavour, the marmalade aromas and flavours from the Chevallier are better than I expected with undertones of light toast from the amber malt. The bitter sweet balance is perfect with sweet tasty caramel from the crystal malt addition and gentle spicy and berry flavoured bitterness from the Northdown and Harmonie hops. We aimed to deliver a tasty, powerful ESB and this beer is a great example of the style. It was an honour and great pleasure to brew with Ed and Rob at the Matlock Wolds Farm Brewery overlooking Riber Castle in beautiful Matlock, and I wish the family continued success and prosperity.

We are equally happy and excited to get this beer out there for people to try, it’s a great winter warmer as the nights are getting darker and colder!

Reverence has exceeded expectations and is proving a popular choice with our customers keen to try something new.

Cans are now available to order through our webshop here.