Chocolate Orange Marbled Loaf Cake (TWD)

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) recipe was chosen by Carol of The Bake More: Basic Marbled Loaf Cake. Dorie gives several "playing around" options, with the peppermint version being her favorite.  I would have loved to have tried it but did not have any peppermint extract on hand.  Instead, I decided to make the chocolate orange marbled loaf cake. 

My loaf cake only had a hint of orange to it because I did not have any orange extract, either.  However, to bring out as much orange flavor as possible, I rubbed the orange zest with the sugar before mixing it in with the creamed butter.  I took the loaf out right at 1 hour and 20 minutes, and it was nice and moist, although I wonder if I may have over baked it by just a few minutes because I had envisioned the cake being more moist than it was.  Still, it was good and enjoyed by all. 

I was especially pleased with how the marbling turned out with this one, as it was only my third attempt at marbling a cake (and I failed the first and second attempts miserably!).  Overall, I enjoyed this cake but probably won't be making it again.  There's nothing wrong with it per se, I just feel like there are so many other recipes that I enjoy more than this one.

Thanks Carol, for hosting this week. If you would like the recipe, you can find it here. Make sure you check out the TWD Blogroll, to see how everyone else enjoyed this swirly treat!