It is the end of January 2017.  It’s my birthday week. It has been a rocky month politically. Today I had to turn inside myself and away from the never-ending news feeds that seem to break a little piece of my heart every time I listen.  I took the afternoon off from being vigilant. I went for a walk in the wintry gloom listening to music to clear my head and heart. I baked an easy chocolate cake to sooth my soul. Baking helps.

This lovely cake is one dense, moist layer glazed with a really great chocolate bar melted on top and sprinkled with dried candied orange peels. 

I broke this bar of chocolate into pieces and scattered over the top of the hot cake to melt. Any good bar of chocolate would do.

Ingredients for this cake are all mixed together in a blender. Easy and quick.

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup dark cocoa
• 1 tablespoon espresso powder
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 4-6 ounce dark chocolate baking bar or flavored candy bar
• 1/2 cup candied orange peels

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Melt butter in a glass deep dish pie or cake pan in the microwave and then pour melted butter into a blender.
3. To blender add eggs, sugar, cocoa, espresso powder, flour and vanilla extract. Pulse to blend ingredients together well, scraping down blender as needed.
4. Scrape cake batter into buttered glass dish and bake for 30-35  minutes or until cake is just done in the middle. Remove dish from oven to cool for a few minutes on a cooking rack. Turn hot cake out onto a plate.
5. Break bar of chocolate into small pieces and scatter over top of hot cake. Let melt and then spread over top to glaze.
6. Sprinkle candied orange peel over the top. Serve warm or room temperature.

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