Chocolate Orange Cream Loaf Cake

I know, the words “Loaf Cake” don’t suggest much elegance, but this dense triple-layer cake is sure to impress in both looks and taste. The rectangular size is a nice change of pace, and with the creamy orange filling and ganache, it tastes like a million bucks. This cake was born to be eaten with a
steaming cup of coffee.
BattER:
1½ cups flour
cup baking cocoa, sifted
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
cup oil
¼ cup chocolate chips, melted
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon mild-tasting vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Filling:
cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
cup milk
juice of 2 oranges (about cup)
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 to 2 teaspoons orange zest, to taste
½ recipe Chocolate Ganache
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
For Batter: In a medium bowl, combine fl our, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, combine oil, melted chocolate chips, milk, vinegar and vanilla. Mix until  combined; it’s okay if the oil separates a little. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients in two batches until just combined.
Spread batter in loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool on a cooling rack for 20 minutes before running a knife along the edges to loosen and inver ting cake directly onto the rack. Let cake cool completely.
For Filling: While cake is cooling, prepare orange-cream filling. In a saucepan, whisk together sugar and cornstarch.
Whisk in milk and heat over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until boiling, about 7 minutes. Add orange juice.
Lower heat to medium-low and continue whisking until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Add orange zest and vanilla and cook for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl. Let orange cream cool completely in the fridge, stirring every few minutes to keep a skin from forming on top. If fi lling begins to clump, whisk rapidly for a few seconds to make it creamy again.
Prepare Chocolate Ganache.
For Assembly: All elements should be completely cool. Level cake by evenly cutting off the top. Cut cake into three even layers. This is easiest to do using unflavored dental fl oss (fun baking trick!) or a very thin knife. Place bottom layer of cake onto the serving platter you will be using. Spread half of orange-cream fi lling on top. Add the middle layer of cake. Spread on the rest of the orange cream. Put on top cake layer and frost with cooled ganache. To serve, cut into thin slices and turn onto plate.
Store leftover cake covered in the fridge.
Yield: 1 CAKE, 8 TO 10 SLICES
Prep time: 1 HOUR