Nutella Orange Cake

Happy World Nutella Day! It's one of my favourite days of the year, and this year I decided to create a recipe that uses Nutella, rather than just eat it straight from the jar (OK, I still ate some, but just a little bit. Well, maybe more than a llittle bit).
I tried to make a wholewheat Nutella swirl bread - that was my original idea, but there must be too much water in an ingredient in Nutella that turned to steam in the oven, and my swirl bread swirled, it just didn't stick together. I could literally unwind the bread. In the heat too, something happens to Nutella. It looks like it splits, the solids cook and the liquids soak into the bread. Tasted good, looked horrible. 
Then I remembered a candy called Jaffas that I grew up with in Australia, and they are chocolate balls coated with a candy orange coating. Very delicious, and I thought that would make an excellent combination in a cake. 
I switched up a lemon bread quite a bit to make it an orange loaf, and then marbled Nutella through the middle. Then topped it with a quick fresh orange glaze - the result is so delicious, the cake is moist and orangey with a hint of chocolate. Perfect for that afternoon cup of coffee.


Nutella Orange Cake
Makes one loaf (10" x 3", or 9" x 5")


Cake:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
zest from 1 & 1/2 oranges
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1 & 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 & 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup Nutella
Glaze:
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1/2 cup icing sugar


Preheat oven to 350F and grease pan.
In a large bowl, combine the sugar, oil, orange zest and juice. Beat well until thoroughly combined. Add the sour cream, milk and eggs and mix well. Stir in the dry ingredients and mix well, scraping sides. 
Pour half the batter into prepared pan, spoon over the Nutella and then top with remaining cake batter. Using a skewer, swirl the layers so the Nutella marbles through the cake. 
Bake 50-60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. 
Remove the cake from the oven and place on a rack.
To make glaze: combine juice and icing sugar in a small bowl. Drizzle over top of warm cake. 
Allow cake to cool before slicing. 


Enjoy!