Chocolate Orange Quick Bread

The Challange

Make an inaugural bread for my new bread pans

Additional Requirments

Gluten free so my husband can eat it too.

Something I haven’t made before that incorporates skills from my new candy making book.

The Flavors

I love chocolate oranges. Chocolate plus orange is one of my absolute favorite flavors. I decided this would be the basis of my recipe.

In the candy book my little brother got me for Christmas it had a recipe for candied oranges. So I decided I would decorate with candied orange slices, and put finely chopped candied orange peel throughout the bread to give it texture and little bursts of flavor. I also put in chocolate chips because what chocolate bread doesn’t have chocolate chips.

I also opted to use dutch processed cocoa to give more of a dark chocolate flavor, hopefully pushing the recipe more towards bread than cake.

Substitutions and Alternatives

If you don’t want this to be gluten free simply replace the flours with the same weight of plain wheat flour, and remove the xanthum gum.

I did a complicated thing with the cream, powdered milk and orange juice. You can just replace that whole section with 2 cups of buttermilk if you would prefer.

Gluten Free Chocolate and Candied Orange Quick Bread

theelevatedbaker

A gluten free indulgence of dark chocolate, candied orange and chocolate chips in a delicious quick bread.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Candying oranges 2 hours hrs

Total Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 2 loaves

Ingredients

  

Candied Orange

• 2 medium oranges Three if you want to place slices on top
• 2 cup sugar
• 2 cup water
• 1 cup sugar for coating

Orange “Buttermilk”

• 1/4 cup orange juice from fruit of candied oranges
• 2 Tbs lemon juice
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup skim milk powder
• 1 cup water

Batter

• 245 g rice flour half brown half white
• 145 g almond flour
• 100 g arrowroot starch
• 1 tsp xanthum gum
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
• 1 cup butter softened
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup finely chopped candied orange peel see candied orange portion of recipe
• 1/8 tsp orange oil
• 1/2 tsp coffee or vanilla extract

Instructions

 

Candy the oranges

• This will make 6-10 candied orange slices and 1 cup of finely chopped candied orange peel, from 3 oranges.
• Place 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water in a sauce pan
• Heat and stir occasionally over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. 
• Slice one orange into thin slices not using the ends where there is mostly pitch (the white stuff between the peel and meat)
• Place the slices in the hot sugar water and turn up the heat until it begins to simmer
• Peel the remaining two oranges with a potato peeler. This will avoid almost all the pith
• Chop the peels and place in the sugar water with the slices
• Allow to simmer about 30-40 minutes, or until the pith in the slices is translucent 
• Remove the slices with tongs and place on a cooling rack with paper towels, parchment paper, or a baking mat underneath
• Pour remaining sugar with peels into a sieve or sifter so that the syrup goes into a bowl and the peels can dry. 
• Allow slices and peel to dry until tacky (0.5-2 hours depending on climate)
• Toss peels in sugar and dip slices
• Allow to dry  more
• Pour the syrup into a jar and store for 1-2 weeks. The orange syrup is great in cocktails or on waffles.

Make the bread

• Preheat oven to 350 F
• Grease bottom of 2 bread pans (8×4 or 9×5)
• Mix together flours, xanthum gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Set aside
• Mix together “Orange Buttermilk” and set aside
• Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
• Add one egg at a time to the butter and sugar. Add the next egg as soon as the previous is incorporated
• Add in orange oil and extract
• Add in flour and buttermilk to butter mixture. Dry, milk, Dry, milk, Dry

  Add the next part as soon as the previous is incorporated
• Mix an additional 1-2 minutes to get the gum activated and the flours moistened
• Stir in candied orange peel and chocolate chips
• Split batter between the two pans
• Add candied orange slice to the top of each loaf (optional)
• Bake for 60-70 minutes
• If you under bake it will be like a molten lava cake so make sure the middle does not jiggle.

Notes

Feel free to replace the “Orange Buttermilk” with two cups of butter milk. You will need to increase the orange oil just a smidgen though.

 

Increase baking powder and baking soda to 1 tsp each for sea level baking.

Keyword bread, chocolate, Gluten Free, Orange, Quick bread